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  Passengers and Russian-bought Air Mali plane, on runway at Goundam airport

  © John Elk III

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  Sunset over Sankore Mosque, built around 1550, Timbuktu

  © John Elk III

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  <i>Hogon</i> (priest and healer) from Dogon Tribe, in front of mud-brick shrine

  © David Else

Mali: Overview

Mali is not the place to go for safaris. What it does have is a smorgasbord of surreal landscapes, beautiful artwork, Timbuktu, castellated mosques made entirely of mud, pink sandstone villages carved into cliff faces, and undulating desert scenes that look like out-takes from Lawrence of Arabia.