Most travelers come to Mali to simply obtain a Timbuktu stamp in their passport, but then are astonished by what this Muslim nation of 12 million has to offer beyond the legendary city. Mali offers all the reasons why travelers flock to West Africa - brilliant arts and music, ancient intact cultures, dramatic scenery. But in larger-than-life Mali, it's all done on an epic scale. The unpaved, sandy streets of Timbuktu accentuate its outpost image, and camel caravans carrying slabs of salt from deep within the Sahara rest on the town's outskirts as they have done for centuries.

But other treasures overshadow Timbuktu. The vast Niger River cuts a swath through the arid countryside of Mali, giving life in the form of fish, irrigation, transportation, and abundant water. Primeval towers of mud mosques jutting into the blue cloudless skies can be seen in almost every village along the Niger. Historic towns like Segou are trimmed with French colonial architecture. Djenne, a maze-like 15-century masterpiece of a village and UNESCO World Heritage Site, is riddled with mysterious winding alleyways and an atmosphere unchanged by the millennia.

A major revelation is the remote Dogon Country, where intrepid villages cling to the side of sandstone cliffs along the 150-mile Bandiagara Escarpment. It's here in this Mars-like terrain that the hard-working Dogon have carved out a living growing green onions on top of huge rock outcrops via a series of dams and hauled soil. Scientists have been confounded by their uncanny knowledge of astronomy (the Dogon knew that the star Sirius was made up of three bodies before it was confirmed by telescopes in 1995). Their flamboyant mask dances, complete with 20-foot headdresses and stilts, are elaborate village affairs that recount their history while dispelling hovering spirits.

And finally, in the capital city of Bamako, a thriving live music scene has spawned such international stars as Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure. But after all the trips to the corners of this spellbinding map, what stays with visitors the longest is the engaging, open nature of the Malians themselves, who stay buoyantly positive against all the odds.

Travel writer Matthew Link has travelled to over 60 countries, as well as Antarctica. He has written for numerous publications, broadcast extensively in the States and produced award-winning social documentaries. He is also an avid kayaker, hiker, snowboarder, and skin diver. Africa is Matthew's all-time favourite travel destination. He travelled on Timbuktu & Dogon Trails

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