Timbuktu

Travel Blogs from Timbuktu, Mali

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The call of Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

The call of Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by the-rambler

This is a top pick!
7
19

... , to the mystique of Dogon country (reknowned for its mystical animism and carving culture), up the Niger River to Mopti (Mali central) and on to Timbuktu and beyond. Prices screech rip-off, theft, gouge, grift. 2,500 Euros for a 10 day excursion. Excuse ...

Bamako was quite nice although sian didn't ..., Timbuktu (Tombouctou), Mali travel blog

Bamako was quite nice although sian didn't ...

A travel blog entry by kevandsian

This is a top pick!
6

... off for Timbuktu. Sophie and Tijn have taken a short break from the truck and have travelled on to Burkina Faso and we travelled to Timbuktu with Tim and Pascal alongside in their landrover, 2 guys we first met at the Zebra Bar in St Louis. We bushcamped ...

Money problems and marriage proposal !, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Money problems and marriage proposal !

A travel blog entry by sueblueginger

2
5

... killed. Things calmed down when a lasting peace agreement was made and it culminated in the ceremonial burning of 3000 weapons in Timbuktu, and the monument, apparently funded by the Chinese government , was built on the spot, and some of the weapons are ...

The Ugly Traveller, Korioumé, Mali travel blog

The Ugly Traveller

A travel blog entry by tdv95

2

... Europeans with the Ugly American dropping well down. We had seen some evidence to support this, but a French tour group waiting in the Timbuktu ferry queue with us was about to put on a show like none we had seen before. All road vehicles have to cross ...

Boating up the river, Niger River, Mali travel blog

Boating up the river

A travel blog entry by thechans

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2

... : 17550 We're on a pinasse, an oversized canoe with an outboard motor, chugging slowly down the Niger River toward Timbuktu. The journey is quite peaceful, though the pinasse is quite long and narrow and has an uncomfortable tendency to roll quite a ...

Welcome To The Middle Of Nowhere, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Welcome To The Middle Of Nowhere

A travel blog entry by tdv95

32

... picture in front of the sign pointing to Timbuktu. We had to struggle to find a suitable sign and in this respect, Timbuktu remains surprisingly untouched by the kitch that seems to afflict similar destinations. We didn’t see any “I made it ...

Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by arlash

103

Timbuktu!    I never thought I would actually walk the streets of Timbuktu.  The three day boat trip here was ....interesting.  The city itself is not very interesting. Outside of the Mosque and some other local sites, there is ...

Afternoon Tea and Camel Rides, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Afternoon Tea and Camel Rides

A travel blog entry by sueblueginger

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21

... too with the four Hay students who had had a fabulous week, and when we left they were dancing to the Mali band with their Timbuktu penfriends. The next morning we got up early to catch the ferry, but a truck had broken down at the ferry landing ...

the middle of no where, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

the middle of no where

A travel blog entry by weasel

12

entry to ...

Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by thechans

2
3

Miles Travelled: 17600 Yes, we're here in Timbuktu (Tombouctou in French), on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. The place does exist, and was a major terminal for trans-Sahara camel caravans trading salt and spices, beginning in about 1100 and ...

Desert et dromadaire, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Desert et dromadaire

A travel blog entry by vmarchal

Arrivé a Tombouctou, je n avais qu une hate aller dans le desert. Je suis donc parti 8 jours dans le desert (en realite, on a fait le circuit en 6 jours). Le dromadaire est assez confortable meme s il faut renforcer son posterieur pour pouvoir le ...

ROAD TO TIMBUKTU, TIMBUKTU, Mali travel blog

ROAD TO TIMBUKTU

A travel blog entry by sgaudun

... another vehicle started,  Many times we wondered if we were going to breakdown or tip over from being top heavy.  Stopped by the Timbuktu River to wait for the morning ferry.  And with only 2 shirts to keep me warm, I managed to fight off ...

A night in a Tuareg tent in the desert, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

A night in a Tuareg tent in the desert

A travel blog entry by sueblueginger

1
22

... a mobile phone and trying to get a signal! Too slow with the camera, and we miss a great photo opportunity. Before reaching Timbuktu we have to cross the wide Niger River by ferry, and we are  not expected to reach it before the ...

Troubleshooting with the Tuareg in Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Troubleshooting with the Tuareg in Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by sueblueginger

1
27

... members of his family. Then, suddenly everyone was up and away. This seemed to be common practise after any hospitality in Timbuktu - no protracted departures- all the guests get up and take their leave as one. We were invited to take Tuareg ...

Achmed the Camel in a dust storm, thats Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Achmed the Camel in a dust storm, thats Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by bradmccartney

5

Leaving for the mysterious and exotic destination of Timbuktu. It conjures up images of an unreachable destination. A place that people have tried to reach for centuries and have failed. Now its my turn. The plan is to take a 2 day boat journey downstream ...

Camels, Crowds and Wish Lists, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Camels, Crowds and Wish Lists

A travel blog entry by sueblueginger

31

...   river is very wide and slow moving here , and the ferry travels upstream for about 40 minutes before arriving at Timbuktu. It's really hot and there's no shelter. Some ladies are on board selling very smelly fish, and it's the first ...

Day 10: The Stig, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Day 10: The Stig

A travel blog entry by tim_buktu2

5

... sports travel (not for the fainthearted - and I include myself) but a fitting way to reach the legendary outpost of Timbuktu. And TMBK2 doesn't disappoint. The streets aren't paved with gold but with sand, and our connecting deal with Aboubacrine Ag ...

Day 11: Night of 100 Gerbils!, North of Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Day 11: Night of 100 Gerbils!

A travel blog entry by tim_buktu2

5

Morning in Timbuktu and we have until 4pm before the desert trek, so we decide to do the tourist thing - photos in front of the town sign, bartering with Touareg and buying the obligatory T-shirt.    At 4pm we rock up at the edge of town ...

ça va? ça va? photo! photo!!!, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

ça va? ça va? photo! photo!!!

A travel blog entry by mocci79

4

... maanen lyser om natten. I dag saa vi 10 flodhester (det vil si toppen av hodene deres) – kult!! Foer jeg reiste var Timbuktu det eneste jeg virkelig hadde hoer tom i denne delen av Afrika. Naa har vi kommet hit og jeg er kjempespent paa morgendagen. ...

LADY WITH LARGE NAVEL, TIMBUKTU, Mali travel blog

LADY WITH LARGE NAVEL

A travel blog entry by sgaudun

Amazing where people travel to just on the romance of a name--Timbuktu, which means lady with a large navel!  Timbuktu is a small sandy dusty town of 15000 people surrounded by nomadic Tuareg tent settlements.  Nothing of great interest or ...

It probably ISN'T like going to Timbuktu!, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

It probably ISN'T like going to Timbuktu!

A travel blog entry by mgibb05

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... was built in the early 1990s (I think) after the Twareg leaders laid down their weapons and agreed to stop fighting to make Timbuktu a separate country.  When the tour was over we went back to the hotel to rest.  Everyone here closes their shops ...

Hideg az ejszaka a sivatagban..., Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Hideg az ejszaka a sivatagban...

A travel blog entry by ahajni

15

... ugyhogy inkabb hagytuk az oreget felkotni a taskakat is, aztan indulas vissza Timbuktuba... Sokaig nem akart kozelebb jonni Timbuktu, attol fuggetlenul, hogy lattuk a tavolbol, ugyhogy kicsit kezdtunk aggodni, hogy jo sokaig fog tartani, mire odaerunk ...

Trip to Tomboctou,Desert,Camel Riding, Timbuktu!, Timbuktu/Tomboctou, Mali travel blog

Trip to Tomboctou,Desert,Camel Riding, Timbuktu!

A travel blog entry by karanshark

... everything you eat, especially the bread and rice - you'll be munching dinner, and you'll be feeling 'crunch,crunch' the whole time in your mouth. Everywhere! Anyways - I'm off to explore Timbuktu for a day then tomorrow I go back to Mopti. Au ...

Timbukto via the Niger River, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Timbukto via the Niger River

A travel blog entry by andrewsinclair

10

... during the day, except stopping at Niafunke for everyone to buy drinks.  Niafunke is the hometown of Ali Fakrah Toure, a famous Mali musician, and I think we even went to his hotel for the drinks. Day Three - Long lazy day on the river, this last ...

Essakane, January 11, 2009 - Sunday, Essakane, Mali travel blog

Essakane, January 11, 2009 - Sunday

A travel blog entry by the_wayfarer

1

... a flight back to Europe to catch in Bamako. From my own experience I knew how important it was to have a generous time margin here in Mali because you could never be certain of what was going to befall you on the road. And as for me, I also wished to ...

Tombouctou, January 8, 2009 - Thursday, Tombouctou, Mali travel blog

Tombouctou, January 8, 2009 - Thursday

A travel blog entry by the_wayfarer

43

... scholarship and scholarly tradition as arguably its strongest legacy. In any event, in minds of many modern travellers, Timbuktu remained synonymous with Africa’s mysterious inaccessibility, a destination at the “end of the road to nowhere", ...

Tombouctou, January 7, 2009 - Wednesday, Tombouctou, Mali travel blog

Tombouctou, January 7, 2009 - Wednesday

A travel blog entry by the_wayfarer

Half an hour or so after our car was back on dry land, we finally arrived in Timbuktu. With all the breaks, break-downs, stops and crossings, it took us some twelve hours since the moment we had really set out from Mopti. Timbuktu. The legendary city of ...

Timbuktu, Timbuktu, Mali travel blog

Timbuktu

A travel blog entry by phileasfarx

4

... first to return to tell the tale was Rene Caillie of France in 1828. So what drove these people in their search?  Timbuktu used to be a major trading post along the Saharan trade routes.  Salt, gold and slaves were the main commodities and the ...

Essakane, January 10, 2009 - Saturday, Essakane, Mali travel blog

Essakane, January 10, 2009 - Saturday

A travel blog entry by the_wayfarer

34

... be in the middle of nowhere, in truth it was not entirely so. They had most certainly not closed their eyes over the map of Mali, pinned their finger wherever it fell and then said „there, that’s where the festival will be held". Quite on the ...

Tombouctou, January 9, 2009 - Friday, Tombouctou, Mali travel blog

Tombouctou, January 9, 2009 - Friday

A travel blog entry by the_wayfarer

9

The first sight I was treated to when I stepped out of my room into the yard was a young girl sifting the white sand that the ground was covered with through a sieve. She was meticulously covering every square inch, depositing into an old, beat-up ...

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