Passport and visa
You need a valid passport. A visa is obligatory for everybody except for subjects of the CEDEAO. Contact the Malian Consulate or Embassy in your country for information concerning the obtainment of a visa:
In the United States: Embassy of Mali, 2130 R Street NW , Washington , DC 20008 , Tel: (202) 332 22 49 , Fax: (202) 332 66 03, www.maliembassy.us

In Canada: Malian Embassy, 50 Goulburn Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1Z, 7S3, tel. 1613 232 1501, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it website: www.ambamalicanada.org  On this website you can find the addresses of different consulates.

If you’re British, you can contact the Embassy of Mali in Belgium: Ambassade du Mali, Av. Molière 487, Brussels 1060, tel. 02 354 74 32, fax 02 344 57 00, open from 9 till 12 am from Monday till Friday.

Germany: www.konsulate.de

 
Flight
From mid-December till the end of April "Point-Afrique" assures weekly connections between Paris-Bamako for very reasonable prices. For more information:

Point-Afrique,Le Village 07700 Bidon
tel: 0 820 000 154 ou 04 75 97 20 40
ou 26, rue de la Grande Truanderie,75001 Paris,
www.point-afrique.com

"Nouvelles Frontières" flies weekly from Paris to Bamako with Corsair. For more information:

87, Bd de Grenelle, 75015 Paris, tel. 0825 000 825, www.nouvelles-frontieres.fr, minitel 36-15 code NF

Air Algeria has flights from Brussels or Paris to Bamako for reasonable prices www.airalgerie.dz

Afriqiyah has flights from different towns for good prices www.afriqiyah.be

When traveling from the UK, look at http://www.justtheflight.co.uk/cheap-flights/BKO-bamako.html

When traveling from the USA, look at www.cheap-flight-to.com

You can also fly with Air France www.airfrance.com or Air Maroc www.royalairmaroc.com but these flights are more expensive.

To obtain the tariffs for a direct flight Barcelona-Bamako, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Journey Bamako-Segou
There are buses leaving Bamako for Segou every hour. This journey takes about 3 hours on a good asphalt road. If you arrive at night in Bamako, we recommend to spend the first night in Bamako, and take the bus next morning. Every taxi driver can bring you to the bus station. The Festival offers you this bus trip for free, please see below the bus planning 2010.

Insurance
Contact your insurance company for a travel insurance and ask the airline company to insure your flight.

Money
We advise you to travel with francs CFA or with Euros, which you can easily change into FCFA (1 euro = 655 FCFA) in all banks in the country. Other currencies, credit cards or cheques aren't easy to change.
For lunch and dinner, plan a total sum of ± 10.000 FCFA (16 euro) a day. The price of your room depends on the hotel where you booked. If you want to buy souvenirs, you naturally have to plan your budget a bit larger.

Climate
Mali has a dry tropical climate, which is influenced by the harmattan (a hot and dry wind) and a monsoon wind (humid wind which brings rain).
One distinguishes three seasons :
The rainy season (from June to October) is the period of agricultural activity ; The rivers are navigable and the landscape becomes green ; the temperatures are supportable (± 25°C, 77° F); the disadvantage is that many small roads are not practicable;
The cold season ( November - February ) is the best tourist season ; all roads are practicable and temperatures are agreeable in the whole country (± 20-25°C, 68-77°F );
The warm and dry season (March - June) is a period of great warmth (± 38-40°C, 100-104°F).

Handy to bring
You should bring enough light clothes. Women are supposed to cover their legs till the knee. Bring a jumper for the evening in the cold season (November - February). It's agreeable to wear trousers, a blouse with long sleeves and stockings in the evening to prevent mosquitoes to bite you. You can also bring anti-mosquito milk. If you choose a sportive and adventurous or a natural tour have to bring a sleeping bag because the nights can be cold in the villages!

Where to eat ?

Restaurants / bars :
Le Soleil de minuit, town center, (00 223) 21 23 21 505
Ariane, town center, (00 223) 21 23 20 950
Le Golfe, town center, (00 223) 21 23 20 698
Lavazza, (00 223) 21 23 22 260
Djigimadon, (00 223) 21 23 20 596

Hôtels / restaurants / bars
Motel Savane, quartier administratif, (00 223) 21 23 20 974 ou 21 23 21 804
Hotel Djoliba, town center, (00 223) 21 23 21 572 ou 21 23 21 659
Hotel Riverain, (00 223) 21 23 20 795 ou 21 23 20 257
Hotel l’Auberge, town center (00 223) 21 23 20 145
Hotel l’Indépendance, quartier Pélenguana, (00 223) 21 23 20 462
Hotel l’Esplanade, town center, (00 223) 21 23 20 127
Delta hotel, quartier administratif (00 223) 21 23 20 272
Motel Mivera, quartier Pélenguana (00 223) 21 23 20 331
Hotel Kaarta, (00 223) 21 23 21 080
Hotel Tériya, (00 223) 21 23 21 075
Hotel Wawa, (00 223) 21 23 21 885
Hotel Mobasso, center ville, (00 223) 21 23 21 790
Hotel de France, center ville, (00 223) 21 23 20 315

Sundry items
In Mali it's universal time.
The telephone number of Mali is 223