The low-rises of Bamako reflect perfectly in the mirror-like waters of the Niger River, which bends and wiggles through the centre of the Malian capital. It's hard to imagine that the great Atlantic Ocean is the river’s destination because the landlocked character of Bamako oozes from everything: its dry evening hazes and horizons of jungle-clad hills. But Bamako is not just another off-beat backwater city in the middle of untrodden West Africa. It's a vibrant, bustling, hustling place that's filled with traders, business people, Berber bazaars, Senegalese immigrants and Sudanese travelers. Bamako tour guides are proud of their multicultural town, and often take visitors through the colorful market places, where tribal voodoo trinkets mingle with crusty French baguettes and bubbling Malian curries of tamarind and ginger overtones. Travelers can also scale the heights of Point G Hill to see pre-historic cave paintings, wonder at the outline of the colossal Grand Mosque too, or delve into the National Museum for that fix of local history as they flit through monuments that dot the city.