Malians view their world as a canvas and the elements as their brushes.

Whether it be architecture, wood carvings, mud cloth designs, bead

bracelets, gold jewelry, dance, or music, the people of Mali are creative.

Venture into a
Dogon
Village,
 along the
Bandiagara Escarpment,

 and you may see a granary that has a whimsical air

about it or a centuries old dance,

or a spirit house

exemplifying the Dogon's animist beliefs.

Before departing the village, the traveler may turn down a narrow pathway and find what was once a bare mud wall upon which some unknown artist has created a haunting mud bas-relief that will be gone after the next rainy season.

This Malian journey retraced segments of Mungo Park s (more about him in a moment) African journeys. The travelers started in the capital, Bamako. From there, they went to Segou, Mopti, Sangha near the Bandiagara Escarpment, Dogon country, Djenne, villages along the Niger River, Kabara (the Port of Tombouctou), and Tombouctou. During this journey to one of the world's Mysterious Places, the travelers met members of tribes whose names conjured up images in the mind's eye of long ago adventures -- Bambara, Dogon, and Tuareg. In early November, a hot, dry wind begins to blow from the Sahara. It is the Harmattan. The skies of Mali become gray and will, except for brief respites, stay that way until late February. The photographs in this presentation were taken from November 3, 1996, through November 17, 1996.