Travel Photographs by Rosemary Sheel

Washing a goat in the Niger. Niafunke village

Touareg girls hide behind their veils. Somewhere in the Sahara.

Bamako. Mothers carry their babies wrapped in a shawl tied around their body.

A Dogon dancer's costume covered with cowrie shells.

Bamako: selling fans that she has made in her home.

A Bella man smokes a silver pipe. The Bella are vassals to the Touareg.

Timbouctou: a small boy and the mosque of Djinguereber. The mosque was built in 1330 by Mansa Musa.

A Moorish boy at a well deep in the Sahara. He takes his work seriously. His father relys on him.

In Segou a boy spins thread to earn a living.

Camels in Araouane. The front camel has a 'butterfly saddle'. This is very comfortable and allows the rider to doze on the long trek.

A Moor trader goes north to Taodenni to trade millet for salt.

Preparing a meal in a Bamako home.

Djenne Mosque, the largest mud building in the world.

Djenne Mosque at the end of Ramadan.

A Dogon Dancer in costume.

A Dogon village hidden high in the Bandiagara escarpment .

Rarely did we see a gold nose ring. This woman in Djenne wears one.

Hands of a man who said his ancestors came from Ethiopia.

Laundry day on the Niger. Afterwards the women will bathe themselves.

A pinasse leaves Mopti harbor fully loaded.

Salt slabs weigh about 60 pounds each and the camels carry 4 of them. They must be loaded and unloaded each morning and evening. The camels do not want to be loaded making the work even more arduous.

Testimony to a long journey. Togo

Market day in Djenne

Another market scene in Djene. The women do not want their photo taken.

A Mali milkmaid. Mopti

Modilgliani's muse. Bamako

Entering the mosque. Djenne.

Djene Mosque.

Pinasse in Mopti harbor

Pounding millet, a dietary staple in Mali. The women have fabulous physiques.

A Touareg chief smokes his pipe, ignoring us. The Touareg are the Lords of the Desert even to this day.

Touareg men wait beside their camels.

Touareg women normally do not veil. the men do this! but this woman did not want her picture taken. Her husband gave us permission, so what she wanted was not important.

A Dogon dancer dressed as a tourist. He has a white face, a camera and a gun. The men try to outdo each other with their costumes.