Tourist Attractions in Mali

If you wander around the market area in Bamako you will meet many young men coming to you with the classical "Hello my friend", "I just wanna talk to you" etc, that always end up in "come to my shop, only look", "I can be your guide, no big money"...
If you really want a guide, take the first one, he will keep the others apart.
If not, just be polite and say "no, thanks". You will have to say it many tims before they go, but ignoring them is the best way. If you start talking, you will have them with you for a loooooong while.

Although the majority of the kids are not aggressive at all, it can become overbearing, in the heat when you have 30 or 40 of them following you.

Unique Suggestions: Make a break by heading into the artisanal market . Here you can walk around, watch the men making the articles and not be troubled by the hordes of hawkers. They do not have the right to enter here.

Fun Alternatives: Wait until you reach Segou or Djenné for the markets there. Most things will be cheaper anyway, more time for haggling and much, much friendlier.

What a wretched place! I suppose anyone that comes within shouting distance of Tombouctou has to go there just to be able to say, "I've been to Tombouctou and back!" But that's about the extent of the excitement.

Tombouctou was a fabled destination for centuries. Reputed to have houses with gold roofs. It defied successful European exploration until April 25, 1828 when the French adventurer Rene Callie made an appearance on the dusty streets of this outpost. Upon his return to France Callie was awarded a 10,000 franc prize for being the first to venture to Tombouctou and live to tell the tale. Unfortunately, Callie succumbed to sicknesses picked up in Africa and dies at age 39 a few years after his triumphant return.

But Callie was infinitely more fortunate than Major Gordon Laing, an Englishman, who dared to enter the reclusive city in 1826. The sultan of Tombouctou order Laing to remove himself from the city with all possible haste. Laing complied but was ambushed by agents of the sultan just a few miles outside the city gates and was dispossessed of his head.

Given the track record, I can see why we all feel that we must say that our feet walked the ground of Tombouctou, but just know going in that it is hot, dusty, dirty and devoid of any real charm.

We had the misfortune (or ingenuousness) to contact for the location of vehicles and all transportation, including the pinasse, Bani Tours travel in Bamako (http://www.banitours.com/).
We rented the jeeps for three days but we could use them for only 2 days because were not informed that 1 day was used up only to reach us at a village three hours distance from Bamako.
They made us pay 140€ for 5 min transportation from the port to our hotel in Mopti.
They arrived 2 hours late, after 10 phone calls, to take us to the airport when leaving the country. The reason was they were upset we didn’t follow their suggestion to stay in a horrid hotel (hotel Dakan) in Bamako.

Everyone (except nationals of the West African states) needs a visa to enter Mali. There are no embassies in the UK, the nearest are either France or Belgium.

Once in Mali, you need to register with the police in all major twon, who will stamp your passport.

My expectations were a little shattered, when, on our first lunchstop on the plateau of the Bandiagara Escarpment, a motorbike with a young lad appeared, carrying a crate of beer and soft drinks for sale. The same happened every time we stopped for lunch or to camp.

The children greet you with the words 'bonbon, cadeaux, bic' but are not too put off if you just ignore them. They are not as persistent as many other places and lots of them are just happy to shake your hand.

Unique Suggestions: Everywhere the children and the adults want your empty plastic water bottles, which are used for a multitude of things. Great way to recycle!

Bribes: You have to be ready to pay them. It is nearly impossible to avoid. Every 30 to 40 kms, you have to stop at a police control. There is always something wrong with the Visa, with the car... They may let you go after hours of discussion, but everything is quickly arranged if you pay the 'fee'.

Unique Suggestions: Go with a good guide, used to deal with police controls. The most tourist you look like, the higher the price. So try to hide your blond hair and your white skin.

From Tombouctou, you can arrange to spend the night in a Touareg camp. We were taken on a one hour camel ride to the camp (our bags and tents followed us by 4x4) from where we could see the city ligths. The 'camp' was occupied by two young Touareg families not realy eager to communicate. This did not give us any insight into the Touareg's way of life.