The Republic of Mali, 6 times the size of the UK, is West Africa's largest country covering an area of more than 1,240,000 sq kms. Formerly called "Bilad es-Sudan" that is "Land of Blacks", Mali lies in the heart of West Africa, at the crossroads of the Sahel, the Gulf of Guinea, North Africa and the Sub-Saharan region. Stretching approximately 1,500 km north to south and 1,800 km east to west, landlocked Mali borders with 7 countries: Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Guinea.
Major topographical features are the Niger and the Senegal - the two main rivers of West Africa - and their tributaries. It is only the central and southern regions of the country, which are irrigated by the two life giving rivers. The vast northern area being exposed to the fast encroaching desert.
The terrain is predominantly savannah and sand-covered plains; 65% being desert or semi-desert. The Niger flows through the heart of Mali, flooding annually and creating pasture land for livestock for six months a year. It is precisely the Niger's amazing size and scope (20,000 sq. km of water in Mali alone) that in part gave the country its reputation as "The granary of West Africa" during colonial times. But despite the potential for irrigation on a colossal scale, population growth, drought and desertification - mostly caused by goats nibbling away at the nation's groundcover -have made the lives of Mali's farmers even harder.
Azalai - In bygone days, before maritime navigation replaced trans-Saharan caravan routes, international trade was carried out overland. It was the time of the "Silk Road" and of its twin sister, the "Salt and Gold Road" which connected West Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. Timbuktu was the main inter-port, the last stop from which fabulous caravans led by mysterious Tuaregs left. Nowadays, of these legendary routes only memory remains. However, the need for salt in West African countries has kept one of these caravans alive, precisely the Azalai.
In the heart of Sahara, 800 km north of Tombouctou, a former lake dried up millions of years ago leaving behind an enormous rock salt seam. Once extracted, the precious "white gold" is taken to the Niger to be later distributed throughout the Sahel. This hard job is carried out by the Tuareg who, from October to March, organize camel caravans of 30 to 40 camels from Tombouctou to the Taoudenni salt mines. The journey lasts 20 days each way and each camel carries 4 to 6 salt bars of 30 kg. The Azalai, which in Tamachek means "nostalgia for the return", is the last great most spectacular caravan of our epoch.
Bamako - Founded in 1640, the city gets its name from the two Bambara words "Bama" and "Ko", meaning respectively crocodile and river. Located at the center of the old Mandingue country on the banks of the Niger, and with more than a million inhabitants, Bamako is a very pleasant and hospitable city. The city presents quite a few old colonial style buildings (1900-1914), an interesting National Museum, a lively market, the Craftsmen's souk, the Cathedral and many good restaurants (local and international cuisine).
Djenne - Tombouctou would not have known the splendour it did, had it not been for its twin city to the south, Djenné. And Djenné would have remained an undistinguished town, if Tombouctou had not existed. In the history of Mali, the towns have maintained exemplary commercial, intellectual and religious links. For long their history was one, and the decline of one soon had repercussions on the other. However, Djenné is not a mere duplicate of Tombouctou, in fact it has acquired a character of its own.
Situated in the heart of the inner delta of the Niger, Djenné is a veritable island emerging from the high waters during the winter floods. Protected by water for several months of the year, and the rest of the time safely guarded by its walls, the town has remained practically untouched by pillage, fire and other catastrophes (from which Tombouctou did not escape). Today Djenné looks almost exactly the same as when the French traveller Réné Caillé first saw it in 1828, and what he saw had scarcely changed since the Middle Ages. He noted the town's power and beauty: Djenné was proud of its mosque (and of the religious and intellectual influence it implied), its trade and its architecture (and of the wealth and taste of its inhabitants).
Djenné, on the banks of a tributary river of the Niger called the Bani, was founded at the beginning of the IX century. It was named "Little Dia" after a town in the ancient Empire of Ghana. However, it started to develop only in the XII century, when Timbuktu started to flower. The town was converted to Islam, acquired a mosque and merchants from the south flocked here with their loads of gold, ivory, cola nuts and wool. Heavy canoes were built to carry tens of tons of these products to Tombouctou, which traded with the north. Thus in the Middle Ages there emerged a refined urban civilization of which Es-Sadi - author of the Tarikh-es-Soudan and native of Timbuktu - wrote "This town is large, flourishing and prosperous; it is rich and blessed and favoured by Heaven."
The decline of Djenné in the XIX century was not unconnected with the attempt to restore Islamic fundamentalism led by Cheikhou Amadou. This political and religious leader literally chased the merchants out of the temple, transferred the markets of Djenné further east (it was he who created Mopti) and demolished the centuries old mosque to build one more to his taste. Today's mosque was built in 1907 on the foundations of the old one and has by now acquired a well-deserved fame. Back-cloth to the colourful market, the great banco mosque is itself very impressive with its earthen walls smoothed by hand, a real miracle of Sudanese-Sahelian architecture.
The town at present delights the eye with the splendid architecture of its houses and buildings, and is a rare example in West Africa of an area completely preserved from ravages of time and outrages of modernity. UNESCO lists old Djenné as a World heritage site. The most impressive day to arrive is Monday, market day. As noon approaches the bright light brings the colours of the native garments to life and the noise of the crowd fills the space in front of the mosque. Especially striking is the extraordinary variety of ethnic groups….. Buyers and sellers mingle in the narrow passages between the stalls. Among them are Dioulas, merchants from the south; Bambara peasants selling their rice, millet and cotton; the little Dogon women standing solemnly behind their piles of onions. But since the XIX century Djenné is mostly a Peulh town. Every Peulh is a nobleman, but he cares for nothing except what for him represents real wealth, livestock. Peulh women are identifiable from afar: they sell butter and fresh or curdled milk, all contained in three or four calabashes gracefully carried on their head. But above all, they wear an elegant hair-style and unique jewellery.
In the heart of old Mali, the renown of Djenné will for many years to come draw admiring visitors, as it has done for the past thousands of years.
Dogon Country - Unique site in Africa, land of legends and mysticism, the Land of the Dogons is one of the last outposts of African ancient wisdom. Entering this region is indeed like entering a temple. The comparison is valid geographically, for the area occupies a plateau, which rises chaotically from the low-lying Macina territory and culminates with the famous Cliffs of Bandiagara, several hundred meters above the volcanic plain. Yet the analogy is also apt because when you enter the Dogon country, you have to accept the radical strangeness of a cultural universe whose values rest on an extraordinary rich and complex philosophy and religion.
Whereas Djenné and Timbuktu have been known to Europe for centuries, the Land of the Dogons has only been studied from 1931 with the ethnological mission led by Prof. Marcel Griaule. The material and cultural universes are both of quite difficult access. Everything in fact, even the most banal objects, have a sacred character and carry symbolic value. Even the shape of the humble Dogon basket is symbolic: its square bottom evokes the cardinal points while its circular top refers to the celestial vault.
The "Dogon cosmogony" as it was explained by the old blind hunter Ogotemmeli to Griaule is recounted in the book "Dieu d'eau". It is indeed of great help in understanding the life of these incredible people whose secret is their faith: the permanent presence of a belief which accompanies every action of their day-to-day existence. The sacred is inextricably mingled with reality. The extremely complex Dogon myths constitute the very basis of existence, and religion leaves its mark strongly even on the village architecture.
From the top of the Cliff a good idea of Dogon style can be obtained. The village is a mosaic of family dwellings called "ginna", featuring square terraces and millet granaries with pointed straw roofs. In respect to its organization and lay-out, each village is arranged so as to represent a human figure (anthropomorphic architecture), and considering the high number of sacred places is actually a temple proper. One can hardly take ten steps without encountering an altar or a rock bearing traces of chicken blood. Neither can one fail to notice the house reserved for menstruating women; it is round and set apart from other dwellings, for the community must have no contact with "impure" women. Then there are the "toguna", buildings where men hold their meetings and councils. Each is supported by 8 pillars (the 8 primitive ancestors) and has a very low ceiling. There are shrines where the mysterious rites of the Binou cult are celebrated and Amma, the creator of all things, is worshipped. The temples facades are periodically ornamented with symbolic geometric designs, the equivalent of actual writing. Building space is very scarce, yet no cliff-dwelling Dogon will be persuaded to built on the plain because this is considered "dangerous" and also reserved for crop cultivation.
All inhabitants live from birth to death in close symbiosis with their mineral universe. When they die, their bodies are wrapped in chequered blankets and are hoisted into cavities in the rock. A few meters below these aerial cemeteries, the living spend their days cultivating their fields (millet on the "unsafe" plains, and onions near their dwellings) and raising their sheep and goats.
The Dogon myth is a living thing and, even though not everybody possesses it to the full, all Dogons know perfectly well which beliefs are attached to particular clothing, carvings, skin scarifications and teeth-filing. The teeth are filed so as to resemble the teeth of a comb and thus evoke the loom: speech issuing from between the teeth is a source of action which weaves the world. The sculptures and bas-reliefs decorating doors and certain buildings have the same functions as those in Middle Age Cathedrals: celebration and instruction.
The master of all mysteries, the great initiate who directs certain forms of worship and lays down the ceremonial rituals, is called the Hogon and each village has this highest spiritual authority. He is the oldest member of the community but it is his being the high priest of Lébé (a primitive ancestor reincarnated as a snake) that confers very strange peculiarities on him. Every night, according to the myth, a snake comes and covers the Hogon with its saliva, granting him his vital strength (as a consequence he must not wash). The same strength would cause the ground to burn if he walked barefoot so he must always wear sandals.
The Dogon profound attachment to their religion is seen most strikingly in the dance of the masks. Originally, all dances in African tribes were connected with religious rites but today most times the religious significance has been forgotten. Not so among the Dogon. Dance is a serious business concerning men only and no departure from the norm is allowed. For every dance - many are the occasions demanding a ritual dance - the steps are as immutable as the working of the universe, which they represent. Even the Dogon ballet, featuring a variable number of dancers, has an absolutely fixed number of masks (animals, girls, gods, the "storied house", the mythical Lébé serpent) and ceremonial.
Markets are another experience not to be missed, but difficult to know where and when because they are held every 5 days, as per the Dogon week of 4 days of work and one of trading. Bustling activities and lots of chatting, for talk is very important in Dogon society: "at the beginning was the word".
Mopti - Mopti, located at the junction of the Niger and Bani rivers, is called the Venice of Africa. The reality however is considerably more chaotic - hundreds of colourfully painted "pinasses" jostle each other, some more than 100 feet long and piled with every kind of animal, vegetable and mineral. The air reeks of fish and other interesting, but unidentified odours (salt, cola nuts, dried onions, …). Located at roughly 650 km from Bamako, the town originally developed as a tiny Bozo village and knew great expansion toward the end of the XVIII century. Today Mopti is the economic capital of Mali's 5th region and is starting/ending point of many tourist circuits. Not to be missed: the Craftsmen's Souk, the colourful market on the port quays, the traditional districts, the "canoe-yard", the teeming port, the Komoguel Mosque (1933) and the sunset over the Bani.
Niger River - The Niger, a world in its own, provides Mali with a connecting link between the savannah and the desert and a valuable means of communication. The strange realm of river waters has its gods - such as those of the Bozo fishermen who are still much attached to animist rites - and its subjects - the same Bozos, whose entire livelihood comes from the river itself, and the Somonos, specialists in manoeuvring dugout canoes. However, all Mali's inhabitants do to some extent depend on the River King who has its own territory and provinces - the vast inner delta. Over an area of 30,000 sq kms, the water hesitates, wanders, breaks up into backwaters and runs together again, thus forming the unique landscape of the Macina where it is difficult to say where the land ends and the water begins. During and immediately after the rainy season, from July to December, the entire plain is flooded, allowing the navigation of ships of considerable tonnage.
The Niger is also the realm of commerce. From the ancient times of the Empire of Ghana until now, traffic on the river has hardly ever stopped. The opportunities provided by this watercourse have always been paramount : a 1,500 km long open road, accessible in all weathers and times, naturally linking north and south, the heart of Black Africa and the extreme limits of North Africa. Today the Niger is the main artery of the state economy, continuing to fulfil its ancestral role of providing a means of communication.
Navigation on the Niger allows the best possible contact with the country as it is: the shores, which slip past within hailing distance, provide numerous scenes of day-to-day life. You see the Mali of days gone-by: rush-built villages, fortified towns nestling around their "banco"-built mosques, dugout canoes, traders, nomadic shepherds, markets, … To sail down the river is to select the most authentic way of assimilating with the country in its many cultural, economic and human aspects. To practice the art of unhurried contemplation, living at the slow speed of the waters and "wasting" a few hours to discover the secret of a century-old wisdom.
Segou - Former capital of the Bambara Kingdom founded in 1852 by Kaladian Coulibaly, Ségou is today the capital of the 4th economic region of Mali and one of the main industrial and commercial centers of the country. 220 km north-east of Bamako and stretching for 8 km along the Niger, Ségou is also an important agricultural center for "karité" nuts and mango fruit. According to tradition, the Ségou region hosts the mysterious "4444 + 1 balanzans (acacia albida)": of these trees - strangely leafy during the dry season - 4444 have been counted but the location of the last one remains unknown.
Timbuktu - "Salt comes from north, gold from south and silver from the land of Whites, but the Word of God, the famous things, histories and fairy tales, we only find them in Timbuktu" (Sudanese proverb of the XVI century).
What are the origins of this Malian city whose name immediately raises enthusiasm and curiosity all over the world? Tombouctou, from the Targuish word Tin-Bouctou, means "the place of Bouctou". It was founded in the XI century when the Imack-Charen Tuaregs, nomads who spent winters in Azaouad and dry seasons near the Niger, discovered this small well slightly north of the riverbanks. When they left for the north, they would leave some of their luggage behind with an old woman to look after it. Bouctou was her name. Thus started a small village that a few centuries later would become one of the most important and famous commercial and religious centers of northern Africa.
Timbuktu was exceptionally well situated and this made it a first class trade center. When Emperor Kankan Moussa returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325, he had been so impressed by Cairo and the other holy cities visited that he decided to transform Tombouctou: he ordered the construction of Djingareiber Mosque and developed the already flourishing commerce. This was the golden age (XIV-XVI centuries) of the town risen from the desert sands. In Tombouctou the White north met the Black south and everything was traded: silk, spices, copper, tin, gold, ivory, ostrich feathers, slaves, salt, etc…Riches poured in and allowed the blossoming of a very refined civilization centred around the art of living. The hearts of the literary flourishing were the University and Mosque of Sankoré. Timbuktu's history mirrors the rise and decline of civilizations in the area. Central spot on the trade routes in medieval times, when ancient Mali declined, Timbuktu was taken over by the Songhai. After their decline, it was briefly occupied by Moroccan forces, then taken over by the Fulani people and later by the French.
But the spirit of Tombouctou, its faith and its pride still mark the inhabitants and its buildings: Djingareiber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya Mosques, the explorers' homes (Caillé, Barth, Mungo Park and Laing), the buildings built in the same style for centuries past, the Museum, the Library, the market, the Azalai caravans, UNESCO listed Timbuktu as a World heritage site in 1988.
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