Mali

The Jenne Mosque is built entirely of clay, topped by a tower-like dome, it rises above the surrounding desert like a 'sandcastle' on the banks of a fantastic yellow river. Built in 1905 on the foundations of an 11th century mosque, it is... read more

Bamako is home to one of the best ethnographic museums in West Africa, the Local National Museum. The museum's exhibition has a wide range of tapestries, ritual masks, funerary cult objects and weapons of numerous local tribes.

The city of Niono is known as the "Venice of Mali" because of its system of canals and channels that criss-cross the entire city, and the local brick mosque is almost as famous as the famed Djenné Mosque.

Baule National Park, 130 kilometres northwest of Bamako, is virtually the only bit of greenery to be found in the country, and the few lions, giraffes, wild bulls and hippos to be found here leave a bleak feeling among the parched plains.