ARRIVING AT MALI

Mali, Pais dogonRoyal Air Maroc flies to Bamako every day of the year via Casablanca. Air France has direct flights from Paris TAP Portugal from Lisboa. There are internal flights that communicate throughout the country, unfortunately they undergo many cancellations therefore they are not recommended if we have to fit within the determined dates of trip.

Documentation

In addition the passport must be valid for at least 6 months and is essential to be able to enter the country as well as an International Certificate of Vaccination against the Yellow Fever (consult your regional centre of international vaccination).
Finally, the visa can be obtained in the Embassies of Mali. In case it does not exist in your country, for example Spain, you can obtain one upon your arrival in the airport of Bamako (costing approximately 30 Euros including the extension if the stay is more than 10 days) and by internet through intermediary companies, although at a higher price. We can arrange the obtaining of the visa in the airport for travellers who ask for it however, for this we would need advance notice by sending a scanned passport to us. Furthermore it may be necessary that in Bamako the traveller will be asked for two membership card photos for this reason you should not forget to bring them. Mali

Official time

Mali is always guided by the solar time

Sanidad en Malí

Before going to Mali it is necessary to pay special attention to the sanitary subject.
First you must go to your nearest centre of vaccination. Here you will be vaccinated against the yellow fever and they will give to you the corresponding International Certificate of Vaccination, which is obligatory to be able to enter the country. Here also they will inform you on the medication to take to prevent Malaria.
YELLOW FEVER: You should be vaccinated at least 10 days before beginning the trip.
MALARIA: “Antimalarial Preventive Prophylaxis” can be obtained with a medical prescription depending upon your local community. Use of mosquito nettings to sleep will be provided at your lodgings and if you spend the night camping we will provide mosquito nettings.
Segou, MaliThe period of incubation for this disease is approximately 10 to 15 days for this reason it is improbable it will appear on the short journeys. Upon returning, if you suffer heat stroke, go immediately to the health centre.

Given the nature of the trips that we organize, you will be in close contact with the local population and often outside in the local hotels and restaurants. It is possible that you will be recommended another type of vaccine that generally speaking will be prescribed in trips of more than a months’ duration.
CHOLERA: Although Mali is not considered as a place of risk, the vaccine DUKORAL is quite effective in preventing the typical diarrhoeas to the traveller.
HEPATITIS A: Vaccination should be at least 15 days before the beginning of the trip..

DEHYDRATION: Can be dangerous and a risk to the health of the traveller. In order to prevent you should adopt an active way to look after yourself. Eat healthy even though you don’t feel you should and obviously drink sufficiently and protect your head from the sun.
More information: CDC

Currency

Rio Niger, MaliThe currency of Mali is the Franc of Western Africa (CFA), 1 euro= 656 CFA. To calculate the equivalent in a quick way remember to convert 10,000 CFAs, which is approximately equivalent to 15 Euros. Outside of Western Africa it is only possible to buy CFA’s in France. Arriving to Mali you can change your currency later in the airport of Bamako and in any bank.
Currency consultation: OANDA

LANGUAGES

The official language of Mali is French. There exists more than 30 different local languages Bambara being the most used. Vocabulary English-Dogon-Bambara.

Food

The climate and the lack of suitable development of the agricultural industry and conservation of foods, causes shortage of certain products that to the western eye is completely normal. Milk only can be found in powder form. There are not many fresh vegetables and the coffee always is in sachets. However, according to the season of the year you can enjoy the delicious mangos, pineapples, papayas and some of the delicious fish that the Niger provides.
In the margins of the highway you will find simple stores where you find meats, usually of lamb, roasted generally in firewood furnaces.
At local markets you will find the appreciated salt stones, extracted from the famous mines of the Sahara.
In almost all the cities there exists restaurants where you can enjoy a variety of dishes but once you approach the quiet rural areas you will only see local products, Mijo fundamentally. These will basically consist of paste and rice dressing with a sauce of tomato and onion. It is necessary therefore, to take foods with you when travelling to the country of Dogón or embark on a journey for several days through the Niger MaliDiet can get to be tedious and probably a little imbalanced. We recommend you bring some vitamin supplements also it would be good if you have vacuum packed food. A package of lentils could be your “salvation” after several days of trekking.

Weather

Generally speaking in Mali you can find the monsoon period (heavy rains) between July and September, a dry time of moderate temperatures between October to March and a dry time of high temperatures between Aprils to June.
To programme the dates for the trip (the time of rains, monsoon, between the second fortnight of June and at the end of September), are dates adapted by the slope of temperatures that cause rains and to find a green landscape in all its splendour; from the second fortnight of October to the first of March temperatures are mild and is the best moment to visit Mali; April, May and the first fortnight of June is a very warm time and as such is completely not recommended.

The table (data of the 2008, degrees Celsius), corresponding to the city of Bamako, average Temperatura (T), Maxima temperature (TM), minimum Temperature (Tm) of the month, and days of rain, (RA), it is enough graph of the climate throughout the year in Mali:

  I II III IV V VI
T
22,3
27,8
30,4
31,3
31,2
29,2
TM
30,3
36,4
38,6
39,1
38,1
35,9
Tm
15,2
19,6
22,5
24
25,2
23,4
RA
0
0
3
6
5
11

  VII VIII IX X XI XII
T
26
24,7
26
26,8
25,7
24,7
TM
31,1
30,8
32,8
34
36
33,6
Tm
21,9
18,8
21,7
21,2
15,6
16,3
RA
18
19
14
10
0
0

Green landscape of Mali

Rio Niger, Mali

The amount of precipitations, that diminishes/decreases drastically of the south to the north, is the one that is going to determine the different landscapes that you will find in Mali:
1 Sahara:the greater Earth desert. The vegetation is little or nonexistent here.
2 Sahel: zone of transition between the desert of the north and the savannah to the south. It is a very heterogeneous zone, where the environmental factors, like the water availability, vary considerably. The most characteristic tree of the Sahel and which defines this landscape to a great extent, is the Acacia.
3 Savanna: la the greater amount of rains allows the establishment of a savanna that is not more than the result of the human activity in a primitive forest. A tree that locates to us clearly in the scope of the Savanna is the impressive Baobab.
4 Guinean area: it occupies a strip of about 650 km. long to the south of the country. The greater precipitations distributed in one release time of rains of more than 6 months of duration, form a clarified Savannah landscape, forests and forests closed inside valleys.

Details of contact

Malí:
Abdoulaye Guindo (francés y español) Tel. 00223 76399666 abdoulaye@kasbahitran.com

Spain:
Angel García (español e inglés) Tel. 0034 620984000 angel@kasbahitran.com