FESTIVAL ON THE NIGER 2012, SÉGOU, 12 DAYS

Day 1: Bamako (Tuesday, February 14)

Evening 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.

Spending the night at hotel Le Maafir.

Day 7: Djenné - Dogon Country (Monday, February 20)

We will visit: the colorful Great Market; Koranic schools where children write the Koran on wooden tablets; the archeological site of Djenne Djeno and the Cultural Museum.

In the afternoon, we head towards Bandiagara, Dogon Country, 3 hours car ride.

Spending the night at hotel Falaise.

Day 8: Dogon Country (Tuesday, February 21)

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, Nombori and finally Yendouma, where we will camp for the night.

Day 9: Dogon Country – Timbuktu (Wednesday, February 22)

We will depart towards Tombuctú, 7 hours car ride. Accommodation atl hotel La Colombe.

Day 10: Timbuktu (Thursday, February 23)

We will visit Timbuktu, legendary and mythical city, known the world over for its splendid past and for many years accessible only to Moslems.

This city, located at the edge of the Sahara Desert and designated as a UNESCO protected site, has long been a market place for merchants dealing in salt and gold.

Traditional houses contain Arab-style sculpted wooden windows and doorways decorated with forged iron.

Places to visit include: The Djingareiber Mosque, Ahmed Baba Cultural Centre, the houses of early explorers, the city wall, the Tuareg Museum and craft market, the Sankore Mosque, the first Islamic university and the Sidi Yahia Mosque.

We will have lunch at the hotel and then take a camel ride to a Touareg encampment.

Spend the night in the hotel or camp in the desert.

Day 11: Timbuktu – Mopti (Friday, February 24)

Departure towards Mopti, some 7 hours ride.

Checking in Hotel Ambedjele.

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" 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.

Day 12: Mopti – Bamako (Saturday, February 25)

Return to Bamako, 8 hours car drive.

This trip includes:

-Ten nights of hotel lodging, including room use prior to departure flight, and one 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.

-Excursion in a pinasse.

-Airport to hotel and hotel to airport transfers.

-Hotel and local visitor taxes.

-Entrance fees to the Festival on the Niger.