FESTIVAL ON THE NIGER 2012, MALI AND BURKINA FASO, 16 DAYS

Day 1: Bamako (Tuesday, February 14)

Morning arrival at the Bamako International airport. Transfer to Hotel Tamana.

Day 2: Bamako – Ségou (Wednesday, February 15)

We will visit the capital of Mali: the National Museum of Bamako, the Great Market, the artisan market, the market of traditional medicines and fetiches, the market of Medina, where they make tools to work the land, the Great Mosque and the Cathedral.

After a meal of traditional food at a restaurant we will depart towards Ségou, a 3 hours ride by car.

We will spend the night in Hotel L'Esplanade.

Day 3: Festival on the Niger in Ségou (Thursday, February 16)

In this charming city at the shore of the Niger River we will be enjoying the Festival: contemporary and traditional music from different countries, expositions, dancing, kayak racing, tale telling, puppets, etc….

Day 4: Festival on the Niger in Ségou (Friday, February 17)

We will be visiting the city, including a pinasse tour of the Niger River, to continue enjoying the Festival afterwards.

Day 5: Festival on the Niger in Ségou (Saturday, February 18)

Day 6: Ségou – Djenné (Sunday, February 19)

Departure towards Djenné, 4 hours car ride.

City of unique adobe architecture boasting the biggest adobe Mosque in the world: Komboro Mosque, built by King Komboro at the end of the XIIIth century and rebuild in 1905. at the back of the Mosque stands the tomb of Tapama Djenepo, a girl sacrificed for the prosperity of the city.

Night at hotel Djenne Djenno.

Day 7: Djenné – Mopti (Monday, February 20)

We will visit the city of Djenne: the Komboro Mosque, the largest adobe mud mosque in the world, built by King Komboro at the end of the XIIIth century and rebuild in 1905; the tomb of Tapama Djenepo, a girl sacrificed for the prosperity of the city; the colorful Great Market; Koranic schools where children write the Koran on wooden tablets; the archeological site of Djenne Djeno and the Cultural Museum.

After lunch, we shall depart towards Mopti, a 2 hours car ride. Accommodation at hotel Ambedjele.

In the afternoon, we shall take a ride along the Niger River by pinasse (long wooden boats with outboard engine). We will also stroll along its busy harbor, where we will be able to see the workshops where pinasses are built and repaired.

Day 8: Mopti - Dogon Country (Tuesday, February 21)

City located at the confluence of the Niger and Bani Rivers, Mopti contains a busy and animated river port crowded with boats arriving and leaving, carrying all kinds of products. Here we will visit workshops where the river boats called "pinasses" (long wooden boat driven by outboard engine) are built and repaired.

We will also visit the craft market, the old city (Komoguel), where the Sougouni Market and Great Mosque dating from 1935 are located.

In the afternoon, we will leave for Bandiagara (one hour by car) where we will check into Hotel Falaise

Day 9: Dogon Country (Wednesday, February 22)

We will explore the spectacular countryside of the Bandiagara escarpement. We will visit the Dogon villages inhabited since the XIVth century where this unique culture has been preserved thanks to the oral traditions of their people and little outside influence.

We will see Dogon houses whose wooden doors and windows contain symbolic sculptures. Their multiple rooms are arranged around a central courtyard where daily tasks take place. Men and women keep their wealth in separate granaries, mud buildings having thatched conical roofs.

Other typical village buildings include: the "house for speech or debate" (the toguna) built with a low ceiling so that calm discussions are encouraged, place where the elders meet to make decisions affecting the village; the "house for menstruating women," where women live during their menstrual period; the "house of the Tellems," houses of the former inhabitants, constructed on the face of the cliff and used today as burial sites and the house of the hogon, the tribal chief in charge of transmitting his knowledge to his successor.

We visit the villages of Sangha, Banani, Ireli, Tireli and Nombori, where we will camp for the night.

Day 10: Dogon Country (Thursday, February 23)

Trekking along Nombori, Dourou and Begnimato, where we camp for the night.

Day 11: Dogon Country – Ouagadougou (Friday, February 24)

In the mornig we depart towards the capital city of Burkina Faso. Places of particular interest that we will visit in Ouagadougou are: the National Museum, the National Museum, the Palace of Moro-Naba, and the Great Market.

Spending the night at Hotel Yini.

Day 12: Ouagadougou – Gaoua (Saturday, February 25)

We will be visiting the Lobi Country, populated by a number of ethnic groups, of which the majority are the Lobi people who live in this region since the thirteenth century. Of particular interest are the sukalas, the housing of the Lobi, whose distribution tell us much about this fascinating people, profoundly animists and great defenders of their traditions and independence.

Night at Hotel Hala.

Day 13: Gaoua – Banfora (Sunday, February 26)

Banfora is well known for its spectacular sceneries: Lake Tengrela, Karfiguéla Waterfalls and the Dômes de Fabedougou.

Night accommodation at Hotel La Canne à Sucre.

Day 14: Banfora – Bobo Dioulasso (Monday, February 27)

Will be visiting Bobo-Dioulasso Great Mosque, the Great Market and its neighborhood of crafts artists: Kibidwe.

Night accomodation at Hotel L'Auberge.

Day 15: Bobo Dioulasso – Sikasso (Tuesday, February 28)

Return to Mali, with a stopover at Sikasso, about 3 hours car ride.

Will be visiting Mamelon Hill, the market, and some villages belonging to the Senufo people. Night accommodation at Hotel Wassoulou.

Day 16: Sikasso – Bamako (Wednesday, February 29) 

This trip includes:

-Theerteen nights of hotel lodging, including room use prior to departure flight, and two night of camping.

-Breakfast each day. In the Dogon Country, lunch and dinner are also included (drinks are excluded with the exception of bottled water.)

-Travel by all-terrain vehicle with air-conditioned system (including driver and gas).

-Experienced guide for all visits.

-Pinasse on the Niger River.

-Airport to hotel and hotel to airport transfers.

-Hotel and local visitor taxes.