Ségou

Located 220 kilometres from Bamako and built along the Niger River, the town of Ségou is the capital of the Bambara kingdom. Cleaner and calmer than Mali's capital, Bamako, Ségou is home to thousands of Bambara farmers and Somono and Bozo fishermen.

The Office du Niger, which was established in 1932, has overseen irrigation of over 100 000 hectares around Ségou which has developed such primary crops as rice and sugar cane - in recent years there has been a surplus of rice and cereals. COMATEX (Compagnie Malienne de Textile), a large textile factory, is also located here.

Found along the road to Mopti, Djenné and the Dogon country - the most popular tourist destinations along side Tombouctou - many tourists stop over in Ségou since the trip from Bamako to Mopti is long (and exhausting if using public transport!). Accordingly there are many hotels, restaurants and boutiques offering a rich variety of art and crafts.

Ségou and the surrounding area also has several tourist attractions - like outings in pirouges, the Monday market, Ségoukoro (the old, original site of Ségou), Kalabougou et Farako (pottery villages on the other side of the river) as well as Markala, a charming little village 30 kilometres away where the Office du Niger constructed an impressive dam.

- Jennifer Cartwright