Bandiagara Cliffs - Mali

 I finally started to receive cards and I believe more will arrive this week, including from new UNESCO sites. 

This one arrived quite fast. It was sent by Svenja from Germany but the card depicts a UNESCO site in Mali, the Bandiagara Cliffs, on the WHS list since 1989. 

 

The Bandiagara escarpment, Land of the Dogons, is one of the most impressive geological, archaeological and ethnological landscapes in West Africa. It is a ‘mixed’ site, listed on both natural and cultural criteria. It is characterised by a 150km-long sandstone cliff, with a rocky plateau on top, and a sandy plain below.

Getty Images / Timothy Allen

The plateau varies in height from 100 m to over 500 m and is broken by ravines, gorges and rocky passages connecting the plain with the plateau. The escarpment itself is rich in plants and vegetation types which have been destroyed by man in more accessible places. These are mostly relict humid species sheltering in the ravines in an otherwise arid Sahelian climate, including several endemic species. The area was occupied centuries ago by the Dogon people, who have retained their traditional animist beliefs, culture, and unique architecture. The cliff protects beautiful houses, granaries, altars, sanctuaries and communal meeting-places which for centuries have been the heart of traditional Dogon culture. - in: https://www.naturalworldheritagesites.org

Mali TN Unesco cards

I wish i had real cards from these Unesco sites in Mali. But at least, for now, i can see how they look like. The The Tomb of Askia card was sent by Gracinha and Timbuktu by Ninocas.

 The Tomb of Askia, in Gao, Mali, is believed to be the burial place of Askia Mohammad I, one of the Songhai Empire's most prolific emperors. It was built at the end of the fifteenth century and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

UNESCO describes the tomb as a fine example of the monumental mud-building traditions of the West African Sahel. - in: wikipedia

Photo by wikipedia

Its long history as a trading outpost that linked black Africa below the Sahara Desert with Berber and Islamic traders throughout north Africa, and thereby indirectly with traders from Europe, has given it a fabled status. Combined with its relative inaccessibility, "Timbuktu" has come to be used as a metaphor for exotic, distant lands.
Timbuktu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. In 1990, it was added to the list of world heritage sites in danger, due to the threat of desert sands. A program was set up to preserve the site and in 2005, it was taken off the list of endangered sites. The city itself is in stark contrast to the rest of the country's cities, because it has more of an Arabic flair than of an African. The streets are made of sand (except one), and one has often to go down to get into the houses, because of the sand which has leveled the streets higher than the entrances of the houses. - in: wikitravel