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Mali is one of the most exciting countries in West Africa and it is home to the City of Timbuktu, yes it is a real place and on this trip you will visit Timbuktu. This trip takes you to all of the must locations in Mali!
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| Duration: |
10 Day Safari |
| Location: |
Mali |
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| Category: |
Exploration |
| Tour Code: |
TAA902 |
| Price: |
€ 1995 (7 - 10 travellers) |
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Travel Recap: |
| Day 1 |
Arrive in Bamako where you will be met and transferred to your hotel for overnight.
Overnight: Hotel Plaza or sim. |
| Day 2 |
Transfer to Bamako airport and internal flight Bamako - Timbuktu. We would like that our guest experience the "real" reality of the town. After having a tour in town, and -why not- a camel ride, we spend the evening in a regular house, featured with traditional architecture. On the roof, taking a meal like every family. Sitting on a mat. Discussing about life. Looking at the sky (just the sky, in the Sahara, is worth a trip).
Part of life here is also the tea ceremony.
Tea is a drink, but also social occasion to meet and spend time with people. We will watch the preparation and we will taste the three cups while a group of Tuareg will play traditional music: women beating the drums and men dancing with swards.
Kids will sit besides us, enjoying the moment and -some of them- sleeping in the mum's arms.
End of the evening in our hotel, happy to have had an immersion in Timbuktu life.
Overnight: Hotel Azalai or similar [B,D] |
| Day 3 |
Travel from Timbuktu to Yovarou first by road and then by river cruise. Breakfast and early in the morning transfer on the track to Nianfounke. Cruise through the most interesting part of the internal delta of the Niger. In this region at the edge between savannah and desert the immense water basin is divided in hundreds of branches, lakes and ponds: a vast "spider web". Villages are inhabited by Fulani, Bozo and Songhai, some reachable only by pirogue. Beautiful adobe architecture strikes the eyes: the mosques with a "personalized" style in each of the ethnic groups; the homes built along the water courses; the tiny fishermen shelters on small islands; the rangy canoes with a unique shape.
On the way to Nianfounke rounded Bella huts (former Tuareg slave) and open Tuareg tents appear as a dot on the horizon. The presence of various tell (archaeological sites like small hills with big terraces, jars and tombs) stand as mysterious testimonials of populations that lived on this region in a remote past.
Nianfounke is small town, the cradle of African blues, inspired by Ali Farka Toure and his court of musicians.
Overnight: Campement of Yovarou [B, L, D] |
| Day 4 |
Continue your explorations as you travel from Yovarou to Konna and on to Mopti by boat and then by land. Following breakfast continue with your cruise on the Niger River. At half way the river turns into the huge lake Debo: a paradise for fishermen and shepherds. The shallow water hosts enough fish to feed the region. And when the level goes down, green grass feed uncountable herds of zebus. We say water and mean also birds, especially wild ducks. At sunset millions of weavers fly in flocks, composing strange figures. In fact, they are "dancing" in the sky. On arrival at Konna you will board your vehicles and travel the remainder of the way to Mopti.
Overnight:Â Hotel Ambedejele or Similar [B, L, D] |
| Day 5 |
Following breakfast you will embark on a tour of the town. The town of Mopti is built on three islands where the Bani and Niger rivers converge. The town is alive with the different cultures in the region: Bozo fishermen, Dogon, Bambara and Bella farmers, Tuareg and Peul shepherds. The market and the harbor are saturated of all colours and smells. Part of the harbor is occupied by a traditional workshop. Artisans make up the "pinasse", starting with the production of nails and finishing with colourful paintings on the sides of the boats. Â As trade point Mopti is important also for art objects from the region, including a great variety of beads and jewellery. Depart Mopti in the afternoon for Sangha.
Overnight:Â Campement La Guiana or Similar [B, L, D] |
| Day 6 |
After breakfast we start our exploration of Dogon cliffs. A path across stones and some millets reaches a hidden village. A dozen people live in an open cave; some adobe dwellings;¦ a spring in the middle; fresh water nourishing generations of lucky families;. Beside the spring the house of Hogon (the high priest) displaying fetishes and trophies. Two items reunited in one single activity: hunting, privilege of a special cast, and challenge to wild forces of the nature, needing spiritual protection. The voice of people resonates in the cave, and from there to the rest of the valley. The soft light of sunset design long shades in the fields. Time to set up the camp; soon stars will light the sky; Sirius starts pulsing. The knowledge of the Dogon concerning Sirius has preceded modern astronomy. Sirius A, Sirius B, Sirius C are part of local myths, basement of a 60 years calendar. Now, the silence of the night shortens the distances€¦ the visitors feel to be closer to this amazing world€¦. Also Sirius seems to be closer.
Overnight:Â Hotel Cheval Blanc or Simiar [B, L, D] |
| Day 7 |
Following breakfast travel to another Dogon village. On the "plateau" the main colour is the gray of the stones, broken by the green of the onions fields, along the ponds and rivers. Dogon are tough farmers: during the raining season the farm millet, and during the dry season it is the turn of the onions. The visit of the cave beautifully painted with design made of the classical cosmogony colours of African people (white, red and black) will allow us to receive an esurient explanation about the initiation rites that every 3 years take place in this natural amphitheater. We will visit also the hidden locations of a fortified village, perfectly camouflaged in the rocky countryside, one of the more astonishing examples of African architecture.
Overnight:Â Hotel Cheval Blanc or Simiar [B, L, D] |
| Day 8 |
Following breakfast continue to Djenne where you will embark on a city tour. Djenne, the most beautiful and genuine example of Sudanese adobe architecture. The story houses of rich traders families, the Koranic schools, and the mosque -that is also the biggest building out of clay in the world- make together a unique inhabited center in the world. Some details deserve special attention: the technique used to built the roofs, the setting of the rooms in the houses, the Morocco style windows, the Toucouleur gates, the rounded and the square bricks dating the time before and after the beginning of the .... Colonization. In Djenne we understand that a mason can be an artist. These artists, here in Djenne, are called "barrey". They work just with hands. No tools. Like sculptors. The oldest among them replace the work of the hands with the pronunciation of magic spell, able to support the house, even in case of danger. To build a house like an artist, to protect it like a priest. Here is a "barrey". No way to understand Djenne without crossing the path of one of them. We will visit Djenne on the best day of the week: on Friday, prayer day. The plaza of the mosque is full of people in the more colourful costumes going to the mosque.
Overnight:Â Campement Hotel Djenne or Similar [B, L, D] |
| Day 9 |
Travel from Djenne to Segou. Founded in 1852, Segou, keeper of one of the most ancient histories of West Africa, capital of the ancient Bambara kingdom, has an undeniable charm which is well worth discovering. Ancient kingdom of culture and tradition, Segou has inspired numerous writers and historians. Among the most famous is Maryse Condé. Segou is also the site where Mungo Park, the first European in modern times, gazed upon the Niger River. When he arrived he 'fell to his knees, thanked God, and drank from the muddy water.' (Mark Jenkins, To Timbuktu).
Overnight: Hotel Auberge or Similar [B, L, D]
Lunch at restaurant |
| Day 10 |
Return to Bamako. Bamako is the Mali capital. The museum is the most beautiful ethnographic museum in West Africa. Its great collection displaying the beauty of African shapes contains ancient art objects of astonishing beauty. We will admire masks, ritual sculptures, archeological terracotta's, textiles, musical instruments, tools, and traditional weapons.
We visit also the blacksmiths, expert in turning every thing in every thing else. Free time at artisan centre, for last shopping.
Time to get ready for the departure. Day-use rooms will be available for the last shower.
In the evening transfer to the airport and assistance.
O/N in listed hotels or sim.
Bamako, Hotel Plaza, self contained rooms with ac. Good food.
Timbuktu, Hotel Azalai, the only "real" hotel in Timbuktu, even if getting old, self contained rooms with ac.
Yovarou, Campement Yovarou, built with local materials by Italian Architecture Carola, fitting with local architecture style. Self contained rooms with fan (power cut at 9h00 pm). Basic.
Mopti, Hotel Ambedjele," Hotel de charme", rooms (self container and with ac) are built into a Dogon granary with the key point of Dogon cosmogony. Big swimming pool. Good food.
Sangha, Hotel Campement La Guinna, self contained rooms with fan. La Guinna is -in Dogon language- the extended family for Dogon. Settled in one of the most important areas of Sangha. Basic.
Bandiagara, Hotel Cheval Blanc. Self contained rooms with ac with local materials by Italian Architecture Carola, fitting with local architecture style. Comfort
Djenne, Campement Hotel Djenne, self contained rooms with fan. Built with local traditional materials, the only ones allowed in this town with is protected by UNESCO, as World Heritage. Basic.
Segou, Hotel Auberge, small self contained rooms with ac. Nice garden with swimming pool. Good food. |
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| Transportation: |
In Timbuktu, 4x4 - no air conditioning
4x4 or/and minibus during the rest of the itinerary
Internal flight: Bamako - Timbuktu
"pinasse", traditional boat with engine, with shadow on Niger River. Cook on board for the two lunches
Luggage:Max 44 lbs, duffel style
Meals: tourist menus or picnics
Visits and excursions as mentioned in the program
trekking on Dogon cliff |
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