I`ve been in Mali now since June with a couple of months out into Liberia.
Bamako is great - plenty to see, friendly people and traffic that actually stops and lets you walk across the road. Restaurants are good and plentiful with lots of options.
I`ve been into the Northern areas of Tessalit, Kidal and Gao but I haven`t made it to Tombuctou yet, that will come.
So far, its all been work and no time to play the tourist. I know that the tourism industry here is suffering now, but that will change, but as the security situation improves, then so will access to the other areas, but in the meantime we`ll stay local.
My work unfortunately doesn`t send me to the great tourist areas, and some places are not pleasant. Mali however, is really good and I wouldn`t miss it for the world.
To anyone thinking of coming to the west of Africa - give it a try... we don`t have a lot of sea (or none), but we`ve got the biggest beach in the world :-)
I don`t know how long I`ll be here, but thank you anyway.
