After a week in Bamako we decided to explore the rest of Mali.  We left without Heike and Didi as Heike was getting no better and needed to be flown home to Germany to recover properly.  Didi would join us during the week.  We set off with Juan, Nene and his workforce who would accompany us as far as Djenne. 

The road to Segou 200km outside Bamako is tree lined and lush the whole way. It seemed to be market day in every village that we passed with an abundance of watermelons, tomatoes, goats and people everywhere.  The goats are transported in a unique way here, their legs tied together and then packed upside down on the roof of the trucks. A good stopping place, although a bit pricey, is the Hotel Independent in Segou which has a pool with water in it.

All the swimming meant we arrived in the outskirts of Djenne in the dark. Juan went off to Mopti and we pulled off into the bush. We always try and get away from the road or else we will find pop ups. As we were really close to the Niger River there were loads of mozzies everywhere so we quickly sought refuge in our tents. The following morning we awoke to the sounds of the road which ran practically next to our camp, oops we hadn019t realized that we had parked so close to the highway. We'd walked in a circle the night before looking for a camp.

To get to Djenne you need to catch the ferry because the town is on an island.  Being a Monday and therefore market day we had visions of loads of people trying to get across the river.  However, since it was only the crack of dawn we boarded with no worries and had a lovely crossing next to the captain who invited us to join him.   The town is then approached through rice fields before you become surrounded by Djennes infamous mud buildings and mosque. Apparantly the mosque is one of the largest mud buildings in the world.  Every year everyone has a big mud party recoating the mosque and the other buildings in town to stop them washing away.  The women make the mud and the men slap it on.   We hired a guide to take us around who told us interesting stories ranging between human sacrifices required for the first building in Djenne, the influence of Moroccan and Sudanese architecture and the best prices for dried fish in the market.  Definitely recommend Djenne as it's a unique place but the tourist buses do come here in there droves and make you feel like a typical tourist looking for Kodak moments.

From Djenne we moved onto Sevare, having picked up two South African tourists who needed a lift towards Mopti.  In Sevare we met up with Juan again who let us set up camp outside his garage.  This was better than it sounds although we got woken up very early by an extremely bad trumpet player as well as by the usual farm animals and bird life.

We spent the day in Mopti which is directly on the Niger River. We wanted to have a look at the town and check out Juans Pinasse (sounds very amusing but is a motored long boat that has been kitted out to transport tourists up and down the river).  It is common practice to take a three day river journey up the Niger to Timbuktoo in one of these machines. It looked great and we had spent lots of time discussing whether we should use this mode of transport to get us to that infamous place. The recent rains had apparently made the road to Timbuktoo impassable and a river journey was one of the only ways to reach it. However, it was going to be expensive, almost £1000 pounds for seven of us and plus we then needed to spend another three days sailing back to Mopti.  A long time on a small boat, someone could end up overboard.  We held on that decision and took a one hour boat ride instead.  Really nice to go up the river and see all the villages and get away from the bracelet, necklace and trouser sellers.  In the wet season the river is a couple of kilometers wide but in the dry season it is only 15 metres across and the villagers can walk across the river bed to Mopti.  What we saw was lots of tiny villages surrounded by water with many of the houses submerged. Many of the mud buildings have to be completely rebuilt every year.

Didi had caught up with us that evening so we could make a move towards Timbuktoo or Dogon country the next day. Over a fantastic fish dinner we discussed with a very persistent Dogon guide a price and route for a three day walking tour in the area.  It all got rather complicated and after a proper look at the map we realized it would make more sense to do Dogon on the way to Burkina Faso rather than before going to Timbuktoo.  We left the disappointed guide and went back to the garage for a second night.

The road to Timbuktoo was grand.  The road was completely dry, although made of dirt with some holes it was no problem.  Experience is now telling us to treat all information about roads and places with caution.  Often the news is out of date and one persons opinion of difficult or impossible is different than your own. Slade, the bush man, found a great camp spot that night hidden behind some trees that shielded us completely from the road. We stopped early to have some time to set up before it gets dark around 7 and do some car repairs.  Slade dug some holes under a tree and set up the toilet seat (a plastic stool with a hole in it!) and hung a toilet roll from a branch, very civilized.  

To get to Timbuktoo you have to cross the Niger River again.  We fried in the sun whilst we waited for the ferry to arrive and offered shade to the locals under the awning.  It was tres tranquille here with donkeys, cows and goats up to their bellies in the cool river water munching on the grass.  The ferry crossing took twenty  minutes and the prices was divided by how many cars were on board. We paid 3500 CFAs for each vehicle. There was no hassle like we'd read about and all the prices were fixed and not negotiable.  We were the only boat on the river, Timbuktoos hey day is definitely over but you could imagine what it would have been like full of boats with goods on their way to Europe.  The road got easier on the other side, tarmac the whole way into town.  In fact it was all so easy that Slade and Krissy must have relaxed completely because they drove straight past customs and continued into town.  Only when they realized they were alone did it occur to them that there was a problem.   This however was not the major problem.  Slade then preceded to drive the wrong way around the roundabout which was situated in front of the police station and to make it more obvious everyone else followed. Ooops.  On arriving at the Hotel Colombe we were quickly joined by a local officer who wanted to take us back to the police station to tell us off. Poor Peter, the only French speaker, went with him to apologise on everyones behalf. 

You are allowed to camp for free behind the Hotel Colombe as long as you eat at the restaurant.  This seemed like a good deal to us, however, the meal wasn't much to write home about but it was a great feeling to be having dinner in Timbutoo.

 The town itself is a sprawling maze of low built sandy brick houses. To show us around we had a large choice of guides to choose from.  I think we were the only tourists in town. First stop had to be the bank and there were two that we used between us.  (They change travelers cheques and accept visa cards for cash withdrawals but allow at least an hour for the whole process to be completed. Bank security is interesting, the jewellary sellers can still come behind the cash desks and show their wares).

We walked the sandy streets of town all day and visited the mosque, museum, library and gate to the desert. The library is worth at visit because its probably the only place you can see 1000 year old manuscripts outside of protective glass cabinets.

 At the gate you can catch a glimpse of the desert, as well as the well traveled camels that still take the blue robed Toureg nomads to their villages out in the Sahara.  We were followed round town by these men who had cloth bags full of jewellery and knifes for sale.  At lunch they sat quietly behind us, watching us eat, which was quite disturbing especially as you can only see their eyes. It was an interesting day. We were told about all the European explorers that had tried, succeeded or died whilst trying to find out about this once rich and mysterious town as well as about the towns history.  It was the hottest history lesson ever, well over 40C.

Our final evening will never be forgotton. We were invited to the local school yard which in the evening is used to cook food and music is played. We were apparently the first westerners to dine here.  We sat on a mat on the floor and ate true Timbuctoo style, with our right hand.  After dinner the band started, unbeknown to us it was also story telling night.  They played one song and then the guy (drummer and comedian apparently) started to explain what they were singing about. The third song took an hour to explain.  Didi and Slade were so enthralled that they both fell asleep and Peter translated heroically this long and tedious story, which we won't try and explain because it does take too long.

The following day we left and headed for Douentza and Dogon country. There is a piste marked on the map that goes from Douentza to the northern Dogon area. The piste was hard to find especially as there are loads of donkey tracks heading off in similar directions.  After some conflicting direction advice we found our way and headed off.  By lunchtime we were on the right side of the escarpment that typifies the Dogon lands. This escarpment run for 150 km.  Whilst following the escarpment to Bongo we again had to retrieve the Land Cruiser from a mud hole he had successfully managed to get stuck in. Hee Hee.

The Dogon people are unique because they haven't been influenced by the outside world they are animists and a spiritual people that have lived up in the cliffs for ages.  The best way to see them and their villages is to walk for a couple of days with a guide, which is what we did.

We started off in Sanga and walked to Banini, Ireli, Yaye, Amani and Tireli and then back to Sanga.  The walk started off at 4pm, then the rain started.  We sheltered in the village and watched mud run everywhere.  By the time we got out of the shelter it was late and we had to climb down the steep cliff, canyoning style as it got dark.  It was good fun, arrived in Banini very wet having had to cross several rivers to get into town.  It was a great route over two days, fantastic scenery and very worthwhile. The villages are unique and high up in the cliffs are the remants of an ancient pygmie tribe that somehow survived, no one is sure how they managed to climb up to these dwellings.

We've been in Mali almost three weeks and is definitely a country worth visiting. Loads of bird life, green (whilst we were here), great scenery and people.  We left via the customs at Koro there was no hassle and reached Burkina Faso on Friday 10^th October.