Traveling to Mali

So anyone been to Mali recently, I am planning a trip to check out
Festival Au Desert and have been hearing random noise about food
shortages etc... there. Any ideas on how this will affect stability
and/or the safety of foreign travelers

Hi Paul,

I went to Festival au Desert this past year and have some things to say
about it. In short, most of the people I talked to felt very ripped
off about the whole experience; I went into this thing with great
enthusiasm but very low expectations, so I felt OK about the situation.
Nobody I talked to had complaints about lack of food.

In terms of stability, there are a couple of soldiers there at the
festival site, and the police in Tombouctou actually do a good job
about not letting tour guides take tourists on the roads after dark,
which is against UN security regulations.

I have more to say, if you're interested, so email me directly if you
wish.

Best regards,
Ben

On 2005-08-08 12:04:37 -0700, ".ben." said:

Hi Paul,

I went to Festival au Desert this past year and have some things to say
about it. In short, most of the people I talked to felt very ripped
off about the whole experience; I went into this thing with great
enthusiasm but very low expectations, so I felt OK about the situation.
Nobody I talked to had complaints about lack of food.

In terms of stability, there are a couple of soldiers there at the
festival site, and the police in Tombouctou actually do a good job
about not letting tour guides take tourists on the roads after dark,
which is against UN security regulations.

I have more to say, if you're interested, so email me directly if you
wish.

Best regards,
Ben

Drop me a line, I'd love to here more, . There's a
spamblocker on that account you have to respond too though, once you
post a request I can add you so that your email can get through