MALI

January 2012

Currently, a dozen western hostages grabbed by AQIM or their agents in Mali and neighbouring countries are held in northern Mali - see this map. The desert north of Timbuktu and Gao is unsafe. The route to Algeria is closed and to cap it all a Tuareg rebellion broke out in January 2012.

Malian CFA XOF exchange rates

Price of fuel
Diesel from around 585- CFA/litre - more in remote towns. Petrol is 695CFA.

Costs
More than you think

Useful languages
French, Arabic

Visas
Needed by all except French. You can just turn up and get the "laissez passer" at some borders for 15.000 CFA (~€20) which gives you one week to get a proper visa in Bamako free of charge. You just need to fill in a form and have 2 photos for up to 3 months, single-entry. This has been the case for many years although you do hear of it backfiring occasionally, possibly merely due to border officials trying it on.

No consulate in UK - nearest are 487 ave. Moliere, Bruxelles or Consulat du Mali 64 rue Pelleport, 75020 Paris, 75020, Paris (visa took 30 mins in February, 2010) See this post. Download visa forms below. It can take up to 2-3 days from when they get it.

Other Mali embassies.
Useful visa agency in Bruxelles (up to half the price of Brit agencies) .

The Mali consulate in Rabat (Morocco).
7, Rue Thami Lamdaouar
Rabat-Souissi
GPS N33 58.7' W06 50.0'
a few doors down from the Mauritanian embassy

There is also a Mali consulate in Nouakchott
Ave de Palais des Congres
N18°06.48' W15°58.73'
Two photos and photo copy of passport, 6500UM. Visas issued in as little as an hour.

And a consulate in Tamanrasset, Algeria, next to the Niger consulate, High Street south end (look for the flag as on the top of this page). Here they issue a 5-day pass in a day or so, but that route to Mali visa Tessalit is closed.

From Mauritania - the way most people arrive overland these days - you can pick up a Mali visa in Rabat (see above) Nouakchott while you wait for 6500 oogs for 1 month (8000 for double entry and 10,000 for 2 months double entry. 2 photos required). Or simply turn up at the border from Ayoun el Atrous at Diandioume (the road south to Nioro), where a Mali visa costs 15000 CFA or 25 euros and is valid for a month, (the exact price and duration may vary).

A Yellow Fever ticket may still be required.

Border formalities
Buy laissez-passer (local 'carnet') and insurance (both cover the whole CFA currency zone).

Desert pistes: although getting to Timbuktu remains a popular goal, even that town is now unsafe and exploring the Sahara to the north was not Mali's highlight, even in the good years. Scenically there's not much to see and you won't be allowed to go there anyway these days. Due to AQIM bases and activities, the 1000-mile trans-Saharan Tanezrouft piste, leading up to Reggane in Algeria is closed. Getting beyond Araouane, north of Timbuktu to the desolate salt mines at Taoudenni is a bad idea.

The piste (or route) reaching west of Timbuktu to Nema via Bassikounou is off limits and east from Timbuktu, the 300km sandy track to Bourem and Gao is also off limits.