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Background: The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 with a transitional government and in 1992 when Mali's first democratic presidential election was held. After his reelection in 1997, President Alpha KONARE continued to push through political and economic reforms and to fight corruption. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE.

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By petcul
November 26th 2008

Travels with a Dakar Africa » Mali » Dogon Country » Bandiagara

215a Ferry from Djenne IMG 0005

Tuesday 11th November I leave Djenne in the early morning and recross the river Bani on the ferry. I travel through rice fields across the causeway to join the main road to Gao to arrive in Mopti late morning. Mopti is also surrounded by rice fields. In between, yes, you've guessed it. Millet and cattle! The good surface continues but, as it's only 120 miles, I don't have time to get bored. There is also a lot of activity on and at the side of the road. Herds of cattle are being driven to water. There is an endless stream of [View Full Entry]

By petcul
November 26th 2008

Travels with a Dakar Africa » Mali » Dogon Country » Bandiagara

219 Dogon Plateau1 IMG 0016

Thursday 13th November I am now a regular and pay an early visit to the cybernet cafe to find out what has happened to my fellow travellers. Geoff is in Mopti and might call today to Sevare. Mark is making progress and should be in Sevare tomorrow and Migo is still stuck in Ziguinchor. As time is starting to run out for me I decide to head into Dogon country, one of the main reasons for coming this far. I pack the bike and am about to say goodbye to Kay and Amadou when Geoff arrives. He's had Mopti. Too much [View Full Entry]

By petcul
November 23rd 2008

Travels with a Dakar Africa » Mali » Dogon Country » Mopti

197 Djene1 IMG 0068

Monday 10 November In the cool of the morning you dig four holes in the earth, put in your poles, tie up an awning, put up your table and your are ready for business. Even at 0700 the Monday market in front of the Djenne mosque is alive with trucks, traders, tourists and very worried sheep. Armed with the camera I shoot anything that moves. I'll never have the time to process a fraction of these. J-M is restless. He has a bad feeling about the place and I sympathise. There is the Djenne of the local population who come to [View Full Entry]

By petcul
November 21st 2008

Travels with a Dakar Africa » Mali » Dogon Country » Mopti

191 Mosque IMG 0047

Saturday 08th November After a coffee and an indifferent bun at the overpriced patisserie we leave Kayes. The dust is just as bad in the morning as it is in the evening. We cross the Senegal river which is alive with activity. People washing, small piroques getting ready for the day, it seems like all human life is there. If it's not on the river it's on the bridge which starts with a sand trap. The road is good. Too good in the sense that our day is going to be a long one, 400 miles, and there is little [View Full Entry]

By chicagobackpacker
November 21st 2008

Enjoying the city of Segou on the Niger River Africa » Mali » District of Bamako

I made my way to Segou, which was the 3rd largest city in Mali and located on the Niger River. I had heard it was a relaxed place for a big city and I was not disappointed. I liked the vibe of the place right away and that my hotel was just a few minutes walk from the Niger River. It was the weekend and there were quite a few tourists in Segou for the weekend. I had to get used to the many calls of "hello my friend" in my direction from the guides, CD music seller, souvenir shops and [View Full Entry]

By chicagobackpacker
November 20th 2008

Arriving in Mali- 3 long travel days from Casamance to Bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako

When I researched for this trip I kept reading that many people considered Mali one of the highlights of West Africa. It is known for it's music, hiking in the Dogon Country, a visit to Timbuktu and trips down the Niger River. However, I had also heard that it was very touristy in main sites of Mali and full of pesky guides. I prefer to travel to a place before it becomes the hot travel destination and changes because of tourism. The main thing being that the people see you a $$$ sign instead as a actual person. I arrived in [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
November 17th 2008

Niono Africa » Mali » Centre » Ségou

Today is our sixth day in Niono, and, I must say, it has grown on me. Last Tuesday, Nora and I woke up at 5:30 in order to be ready to leave by 6am, but that didn’t happen. We probably should have expected that given all of the delays that we had experienced leading up to that day. When the Save The Children SUV finally pulled up to our house at 7:15, it was a relief that the much talked about trip was finally happening. Getting out of Bamako proved to be the tedious part. We navigated through morning traffic for [View Full Entry]

By petcul
November 13th 2008

Travels with a Dakar Africa » Mali » West » Kayes

196 Wreck IMG 0024

Friday 07 November We split up to do various bits and pieces before our starting on our road to Mali. We agree to meet up at the roundabout in the middle of town. I get to a service station to refuel when a 1200 GSA pulls in. Jean-Marie comes from near Avignon, speaks great English as well as quite a few other languages. He is touring around. He wants to go to Mali but was told it would be very hot. We talk. Why not tag along with us? OK. We are on our way. The road to Mali is probably [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
November 9th 2008

Still more... Bamako! Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Well, it’s been far too long since my last entry, and I’m afraid that this one will inadequately capture the past couple of weeks, but here goes… Considering that the days run together so much for me here, of course the big event of the past couple of weeks was the election. We went with a couple of friends to a bar near the Peace Corps (PC) office in a part of town heavily frequented by toubabs (European and American foreigners). We got there around 8 o’clock our time (3pm EST) and settled in for the long night. The bar was [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
October 21st 2008

More news from Bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

At the soccer match

It’s been over a week since my last entry, so I know I have some catching up to do. I believe that I had left off just before last weekend (although I haven’t gotten used to the passage of time here, so it’s hard for me to actually remember). In any case, our big event last weekend was the Saturday game between Mali and Tchad. The big stadium was way across town (there’s a smaller one much closer to our house), and our plan was to take a couple of sotromas (small green buses) to get there, but just before we [View Full Entry]

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