Trip to Mali
 

I'm in Mali with my fellow interns working with a NGO and we are discovering a very unsettling and beautiful country. We are in Bamako, the capital, a fairly modern city where you can find very kind and hospitable people. In fact, we have never seen this kind of hospitality anywhere on all our trips.

We visited recently the Commune of Siby, which is 45 km from Bamako, on route de la Guinée. The landscape there is breathtaking, between the red cliffs and the stone arc on top of it, and the century's old shea and mango trees. Climbing fans can easily find guides to reach Siby's finest routes, for all levels (high quality sandstone). In the back country, at the very end of a very bumpy road (4x4 trucks is a must!!!), lies a beautiful little lagoon where you can swim all year long.

For eco-friendly and fair trade enthusiasts, La Maison du Karité is the place to go. The house is the property of a women's cooperative that takes care of every step of production of shea butter and is derivatives (soap, hair treatment...), from picking to sales. They've been in business since 2003 and are flourishing right now. They help the members to increase their family incomes and generally raise their quality of life. They are FLO-Certified since july 2011 and are aiming at a more international market.

Here's the Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ft...2&spn=0,0&z=12
More on this trip in future post!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd like to hear more. Good luck with your work.

Looking forward to more from this country.

I, too, am looking forward to hearing more about Mali here. I visited the country for 2+ weeks in 1996 and although I would be hard pressed to find just one outstanding feature of my trip (there were so many--camping along the Niger River, Djenne mosque, Dogon countryside, Tombouktou, etc etc)--the one constant was the warmth and friendliness of the Malians. How I would like to return someday.

I also would like to visit Mali so look forward to hearing more.

We are going to Mali in January and would definitely LOVE to hear more about your trip, Nicolas!!

Are you going in a group JaneB or independently? I still really would like to visit Mali.

We're going in January, 2012 with a company called Adventures Abroad which has offices in Blaine, Washington. There are only a few companies that go to Mali and this seemed like the best for the money.

We are using FF miles for air.

Hope you will report back! Have a great trip.