Daily Life in Mali

Travel pictures from Mali

by Günther Eichhorn


One dollar, one tree, one planet.
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These are pictures from the streets, from daily life, business and transportation.

Vendors, stores and markets

Markets are everywhere. The larger towns have daily markets. In smaller villages the market is only once or twice a week. Most of the business is done on the streets.

The street vendors can be very insistent, especially in tourist areas. There is constantly somebody trying to sell you something.

street market koro Street market in Koro. (660k) market douentza Market in Douentza. (446k) market tombouctou Market in Tombouctou. (658k) market mopti Market in Mopti (641k) market mopti Market in Mopti (657k)
market scene mopti Market scene in Mopti (576k) metal works market Metal works in the market in Mopti (618k) market stalls ségou Market stalls in Ségou. (517k) market kayes Market in Kayes. (551k) street market Street market. (805k)
street market Street market. (739k) selling mussels Selling mussels. (676k) peanut vendor Peanut vendor (502k) calabashes sale street Calabashes for sale in a street side store. (505k) argument market Argument in the market. (531k)
trinkets sale Trinkets for sale. (617k) store ségou Store in Ségou. (542k) street vendor ségou Street vendor in Ségou. (569k) street vendor ségou Street vendor in Ségou. (617k) roadside street vendors Roadside street vendors. (641k)
roadside fruit vendor Roadside fruit vendor. (415k) dealing market Dealing in the market. (590k) vendors bus stop Vendors at a bus stop. (428k) street kitchen koro Street kitchen in Koro. (675k) street vendor being Street vendor being raided by sheep. (694k)
street grill Street grill. (525k) silver smith heating Silver smith heating metal in the market in Bamako. (770k) wood carver market Wood carver in the market in Bamako. (628k) brooms sale types Brooms for sale. These types of brooms are used to sweep the street and sidewalk around shops. (557k) clothes sale picture Clothes for sale with a picture of Obama. Obama was hugely popular in Africa at that time. (548k)
way or market On the way to or from the market. (578k)


Transportation

The roads were often dirt roads. Only the major roads are paved. Many of the dirt roads are impassable during the rainy season, they become mud holes.

A lot of transportation is by human and animal power. Only long range transportation is by trucks and buses. Local transportation is mostly by donkey carts and on the heads of people. Along the Niger River, most of the transportation is by boat.

dirt road Dirt road. (480k) young boy donkey Young boy on a donkey. (599k) camel rider Camel rider (352k) donkey cart Donkey cart. (668k) horse drawn cart Horse drawn cart. (593k)
motor scooter obama Motor scooter with Obama image. (371k) tricycle transporter Tricycle transporter. (608k) toyota landcruiser My Toyota Landcruiser. (551k) vehicle supported usaid Vehicle supported by USAID (436k) vehicle supported european Vehicle supported by the European Union. (458k)
lots mercedes mali There were lots of Mercedes in Mali. (575k) vehicle local healer Vehicle of a local healer with traditional medicine. (663k) local bus buses Local bus. These buses are used for local transportation everywhere. (591k) local bus bamako Local bus in Bamako. (556k) passenger speed limits Passenger and speed limits o a bus. The passenger limit is not really observed. The buses load as many people as they can possibly squeeze in. (382k)
small buses waiting Small buses waiting for a ferry. (459k) overland bus che Overland bus. Che Guevara images were everywhere in Mali. (478k) bus traffic bamako Bus traffic in Bamako. (535k) huge 22-wheeled trucks Huge 22-wheeled trucks were ubiquitous. (332k) long row trucks Long row of trucks waiting on the border to Senegal. (389k)
broken trucks mark Broken trucks mark their truck with broken-off tree limbs. (375k) row boat fisherman Row boat with fisherman. (365k) local boats niger Local boats on the Niger River. (264k) sail boat niger Sail boat on the Niger River (363k) sail boat lac Sail boat on Lac Débo. (296k)
motor boat niger Motor boat on the Niger River. (483k) transport boat niger Transport boat on the Niger River. (326k) people transporter niger People transporter on the Niger River. (345k) combined motorsail-boat Combined motor/sail-boat. (351k) freight boats harbor Freight boats in the harbor in Mopti. (559k)
unloading freight mopti Unloading freight in the Mopti harbor. (560k) unloading freight mopti Unloading freight in the Mopti harbor. (570k) ferry tombouctou Ferry to Tombouctou (346k) load tombouctou ferry Load on the Tombouctou ferry. (507k) ferry djenné Ferry near Djenné. (400k)


Farming and Animals

Farming is mostly for millet and sorghum. In the Dogon area there were a lot of onions.

Cows, goats, and sheep are raised for milk and meat. Chicken are raised everywhere. Donkeys and horses are used for transportation. In a few places I saw camels (dromedaries). They are used for transportation and for milk. Dogs are around everywhere. On the other hand, I saw only a couple of cats throughout the whole trip.

onion fields women Onion fields with women tending the fields. (700k) area millet straw In this area, the millet straw was kept in piles on the ground. (815k) millet straw field Millet straw in a field, stored on a wooden platform to keep animals away. (829k) millet straw stored Here, the millet straw was stored on top of a building. (639k) palm tree village Palm tree in a village on the Niger River. (375k)
baobab dogon village A Baobab near a Dogon village. The strange shape at the bottom part of the trunk is caused by repeated harvesting of the bark for making ropes. (833k) baobab bark recently A Baobab where the bark was recently removed. (802k) herding sheep Herding sheep. (500k) sheep along niger Sheep along the Niger River. (463k) giving sheep bath Giving a sheep a bath. (512k)
giving sheep bath Giving a sheep a bath. (420k) donkey resting shade Donkey resting in the shade. (541k) albino donkey Albino donkey. (615k) herd cows under Herd of cows under a Baobab. (606k) zebu cattle Zebu cattle. (691k)
zebu cattle shore Zebu cattle on the shore of the Niger River with egrets. The scars are owner's marks. (463k) fulani had camped The Fulani had camped here with a herd of cattle. The whole are was full of cow patties. (625k) horse shore niger Horse on the shore of the Niger River. (557k) dromedaries Dromedaries. (746k) dromedary baby Dromedary with baby. (511k)


Daily Life

Most labor is done by hand, including grinding grains,threshing, and winnowing. Water is usually used from the village well. Mostly this is done by kids.

kids playing old Kids playing with old tires. (646k) mens laundry bathing Men's laundry and bathing in the Niger River. (571k) women doing laundry Women doing laundry. (584k) dish washing niger Dish washing in the Niger River. (435k) cooking dinner gourma Cooking dinner for us near the Gourma reserve. (313k)
washing street as Washing on the street. As usual, the woman bends down from the waist (see comment on the main Mali page). (535k) grain processing implements Grain processing implements. (636k) village women processing Village women processing grain. (703k) woman pounding grain Woman pounding grain. Everywhere they used these long big wooden poles and a mortars cut from wood. (529k) winnowing grains wind Winnowing grains in the wind. (353k)
old wooden mortars Old wooden mortars that have been pounded through over time. (563k) power grain mill Power grain mill. (525k) village well very Village well. Very often it was the kids that were getting the water from the wells. (564k) village well well Village well. At this well, donkeys pulled up the buckets with water. It was a deeper than normal well. (552k) getting drinking water Getting drinking water from the lake. (609k)
carrying water back Carrying water back home on her head. (409k) doing homework blackboard Doing homework on a blackboard. (561k) foosball machines everywhere These Foosball machines were everywhere. This one was decorated with Che Guevara. That likeness was also ubiquitous. (551k) goat raiding pot A goat was raiding the pot that had been left unattended for a bit, pushing it around and scattering the other pots and pans. (466k) fishermen niger river Fishermen on the Niger River (335k)
fishermen niger river Fishermen on the Niger River (306k) fisherman harbor mopti Fisherman in the harbor in Mopti. (357k) community fishing niger Community fishing in the Niger River. (370k) fox tables smoothed Fox tables. They are smoothed in the evening. During the night, the fox is said to walk across the fox tables. A shaman interprets the fox tracks the next morning to forecast things. (469k)


All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn

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