Mali river festival holiday
Click here to enquire about or book this holiday!
Basic information
Location: Mali
Date: February 2011
Duration: 10 days
Group size: 2 - 20 people
Price: From £1510 including accommodation for 9 nights (double occupancy) with breakfast, day-room in Bamako on the final day, private ground transportation by air-conditioned vehicle, sunset sail on the Niger River, Dogon mask dance in dogon village, experienced English-speaking guide throughout, airport transfers upon arrival and departure in Bamako, all hotel taxes and local tourism taxes, all touring, site visit, excursion and entry fees as per tour program. Excluding international flight ticket, festival entrance ticket, mineral water.
What will I be doing on this trip?
Ségou, one of Mali’s largest cities is preparing to celebrate the first annual event ‘Festival on the Niger’ from February 2011. This cultural appointment constitutes a real combination of two kinds of Music: traditional and modern. A cultural celebration which is characterized by arts, and crafts exhibitions (textiles, jewellery, sculpture, pottery….), tales and legends from Mali and discussion forums about how to avoid the ecological threat to the river. The traditional dances, masks as well as puppet troups and other festivities like hunting shows, canoe races on the River will amaze you. Additionally to this Festival, we have moulded a flexible itinerary focused on the more interesting sites in Mali.
My holiday itinerary...
02 February 2011: Arrival in Bamako, Mali
Your international flight arrives in Bamako in the evening; airport to hotel transfer; overnight in Bamako (hotel)
03 February 2011: Bamako - Segou 235 km Festival on the Niger
Drive to Segou, Mali's second largest city and former colonial center; check into your hotel, then enjoy the festival activities (masks, puppets, music, and more); overnight in Segou (hotel)
04, 05 February 2011: Segou Festival on the Niger
Full days of festival activities: speakers, demonstrations, artisan expositions, films, story-tellers, puppets, traditional and contemporary music and dance; overnight in Segou (hotel)
06 February 2011: Segou – Djenne 335 km
Enjoy the final festival activities, then drive to Djenne, Timbuktu's ancient sister-city and one of Unesco's World Heritage sites, overnight in Djenne (hotel)
Location: Mali
Date: February 2011
Duration: 10 days
Group size: 2 - 20 people
Price: From £1510 including accommodation for 9 nights (double occupancy) with breakfast, day-room in Bamako on the final day, private ground transportation by air-conditioned vehicle, sunset sail on the Niger River, Dogon mask dance in dogon village, experienced English-speaking guide throughout, airport transfers upon arrival and departure in Bamako, all hotel taxes and local tourism taxes, all touring, site visit, excursion and entry fees as per tour program. Excluding international flight ticket, festival entrance ticket, mineral water.
What will I be doing on this trip?
Ségou, one of Mali’s largest cities is preparing to celebrate the first annual event ‘Festival on the Niger’ from February 2011. This cultural appointment constitutes a real combination of two kinds of Music: traditional and modern. A cultural celebration which is characterized by arts, and crafts exhibitions (textiles, jewellery, sculpture, pottery….), tales and legends from Mali and discussion forums about how to avoid the ecological threat to the river. The traditional dances, masks as well as puppet troups and other festivities like hunting shows, canoe races on the River will amaze you. Additionally to this Festival, we have moulded a flexible itinerary focused on the more interesting sites in Mali.
My holiday itinerary...
02 February 2011: Arrival in Bamako, Mali
Your international flight arrives in Bamako in the evening; airport to hotel transfer; overnight in Bamako (hotel)
03 February 2011: Bamako - Segou 235 km Festival on the Niger
Drive to Segou, Mali's second largest city and former colonial center; check into your hotel, then enjoy the festival activities (masks, puppets, music, and more); overnight in Segou (hotel)
04, 05 February 2011: Segou Festival on the Niger
Full days of festival activities: speakers, demonstrations, artisan expositions, films, story-tellers, puppets, traditional and contemporary music and dance; overnight in Segou (hotel)
06 February 2011: Segou – Djenne 335 km
Enjoy the final festival activities, then drive to Djenne, Timbuktu's ancient sister-city and one of Unesco's World Heritage sites, overnight in Djenne (hotel)
07 February 2011: Djenne - Dogon country 240 km
Visit Djenne on its weekly market day, when Djenne is at its colorful best; see hundreds of market stalls spread out before the magnificent Great Mosque—this is the world's largest mud brick architecture, originally built in the XIIIth century; in the afternoon, drive to Mali's fascinating Dogon country; overnight in Sangha (hotel). |  |
08 February 2011: Dogon country
Walking tour of Sangha, comprised of 10 distinct Islamic and animist villages; see beautiful examples of traditional Dogon architesture and contemporary fetishes; descend the Bandiagara escarpment to visit Dogon villages along the cliff; witness a spectacular Dogon mask dance, performed in a village—this is one of the Dogon people's traditional funerary rites; return to and overnight in Sangha (hotel)
09 February 2011: Dogon country - Mopti 120 km
Visit Songo village, renowned for its circumcision grotto with rock paintings; circumcision ceremonies are held here every three years for all Dogon boys ages 9-14; the rock paintings are historical representations of noble Dogon families. Onward drive to Mopti, the Venice of Mali: see the fascinating mix of Malian cultures: Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fulani, Tuareg, Songhaï and Hausa); visit the beautiful mosque, the fishing port and the bustling market, where you can shop for gold or silver jewelry, Tuareg leatherwork, or Fulani blankets of cotton or wool; in the evening enjoy a relaxing sunset sail on the Niger River; overnight in Mopti (hotel)
10 February 2011: Mopti - Teriyabougou
Breakfast in the morning and departure for Teriyabougou which means (La case de l’amitié) founded by Father Bernard Vespiren at the border of Bani river one of Niger River affluent. Teriyabougou is real eco-tourism. Visit Terya village and overnight at the Hotel.
11 February 2011: Teriyabougou Bamako
In the morning, depart from Teriyabougou to Bamako, Mali’s capital city, arrival; farewell lunch in a typical African restaurant; check into your hotel to freshen up and city tour of Bamako, including the National Museum, the city market, the artisans' village, and the fetish market for tradtional medicine; in the evening, transfer to the airport for your final departure.
Walking tour of Sangha, comprised of 10 distinct Islamic and animist villages; see beautiful examples of traditional Dogon architesture and contemporary fetishes; descend the Bandiagara escarpment to visit Dogon villages along the cliff; witness a spectacular Dogon mask dance, performed in a village—this is one of the Dogon people's traditional funerary rites; return to and overnight in Sangha (hotel)
09 February 2011: Dogon country - Mopti 120 km
Visit Songo village, renowned for its circumcision grotto with rock paintings; circumcision ceremonies are held here every three years for all Dogon boys ages 9-14; the rock paintings are historical representations of noble Dogon families. Onward drive to Mopti, the Venice of Mali: see the fascinating mix of Malian cultures: Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fulani, Tuareg, Songhaï and Hausa); visit the beautiful mosque, the fishing port and the bustling market, where you can shop for gold or silver jewelry, Tuareg leatherwork, or Fulani blankets of cotton or wool; in the evening enjoy a relaxing sunset sail on the Niger River; overnight in Mopti (hotel)
10 February 2011: Mopti - Teriyabougou
Breakfast in the morning and departure for Teriyabougou which means (La case de l’amitié) founded by Father Bernard Vespiren at the border of Bani river one of Niger River affluent. Teriyabougou is real eco-tourism. Visit Terya village and overnight at the Hotel.
11 February 2011: Teriyabougou Bamako
In the morning, depart from Teriyabougou to Bamako, Mali’s capital city, arrival; farewell lunch in a typical African restaurant; check into your hotel to freshen up and city tour of Bamako, including the National Museum, the city market, the artisans' village, and the fetish market for tradtional medicine; in the evening, transfer to the airport for your final departure.
Additional information
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.
How to get to us: Air France is the best airline to travel to West Africa
Services: Air conditioned vehicle, air conditioned rooms with en suite bathroom, VIP tents for camping, hotels offer Europeans and Africans meals.
Family friendly: Babysitting, changing rooms and staff trained to work with children. 5% discount for babies.
How does this holiday make a difference?
Environmental responsibility
For you to have better knowledge of the trip we will provide you with accurate pre-trip information before the start of the tour. In order for you to have a good understanding of the places, the environment, and the local community we will supply you with our travellers' guidelines, which is also supplied to our staff and local suppliers. We do not produce brochures and all our messages are through email. As we know the danger that nature faces today we try to not use domestic flights in our trip, most of the travelling is done on ground.
During our trip we do lots of camping and staying in guesthouses in villages, because they have not got big hotels to waste water and some of them use solar energy.
The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power and the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. As a barren country we need a lot trees for our survival. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution because our countries are deserted and planting trees will be good for the general population.
Much of the country was devastated by both man-made and natural disasters. We need to advise local people of the importance of planting trees and avoiding bushfires, which is all too common in our local community.
We also help a bee protection organization in Ségou named (GIPA). They try to advice local people not to use fire to have honey.We provide them vehicle during their trip to inform local people how they could get honey without killing bees, because in our society they use fire to kill bees and obtain their honey.
Social responsibility
This cultural trip, being tailor made express the very soul of a community of Mali, rooted as they are in local history and folklore. They’ll engage all your senses, with their crafts, colourful markets, historical sites and a beautiful nature – the sheer rawness and spontaneity of the whole experience. This is a fabulous way to learn about the local customs and traditions and get an authentic view of the cities you are passing.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world but by visiting and operating responsibly we are able to deliver economic benefits to a variety of local businesses. This means employing local guides in each town; using locally owned hotels, guesthouses and spreading our customers to small local restaurants and craft shops where possible. Even just stopping to buy fruit at a local market can really help supplement a family’s income.
Using local guides is also the best way to get in depth information on not only the historic and cultural aspects of villages but insider information on day to day life and learning to respect local traditions. Malians are very friendly and hospitable people and we try to find as many opportunities as possible for you to meet the people in a fun and positive way for both sides.
We support a charity project from a customer who wants to give school supplies, cow and chicken to ten villages in January 2010. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost.
Where is it?
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.
How to get to us: Air France is the best airline to travel to West Africa
Services: Air conditioned vehicle, air conditioned rooms with en suite bathroom, VIP tents for camping, hotels offer Europeans and Africans meals.
Family friendly: Babysitting, changing rooms and staff trained to work with children. 5% discount for babies.
How does this holiday make a difference?
Environmental responsibility
For you to have better knowledge of the trip we will provide you with accurate pre-trip information before the start of the tour. In order for you to have a good understanding of the places, the environment, and the local community we will supply you with our travellers' guidelines, which is also supplied to our staff and local suppliers. We do not produce brochures and all our messages are through email. As we know the danger that nature faces today we try to not use domestic flights in our trip, most of the travelling is done on ground.
During our trip we do lots of camping and staying in guesthouses in villages, because they have not got big hotels to waste water and some of them use solar energy.
The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power and the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. As a barren country we need a lot trees for our survival. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution because our countries are deserted and planting trees will be good for the general population.
Much of the country was devastated by both man-made and natural disasters. We need to advise local people of the importance of planting trees and avoiding bushfires, which is all too common in our local community.
We also help a bee protection organization in Ségou named (GIPA). They try to advice local people not to use fire to have honey.We provide them vehicle during their trip to inform local people how they could get honey without killing bees, because in our society they use fire to kill bees and obtain their honey.
Social responsibility
This cultural trip, being tailor made express the very soul of a community of Mali, rooted as they are in local history and folklore. They’ll engage all your senses, with their crafts, colourful markets, historical sites and a beautiful nature – the sheer rawness and spontaneity of the whole experience. This is a fabulous way to learn about the local customs and traditions and get an authentic view of the cities you are passing.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world but by visiting and operating responsibly we are able to deliver economic benefits to a variety of local businesses. This means employing local guides in each town; using locally owned hotels, guesthouses and spreading our customers to small local restaurants and craft shops where possible. Even just stopping to buy fruit at a local market can really help supplement a family’s income.
Using local guides is also the best way to get in depth information on not only the historic and cultural aspects of villages but insider information on day to day life and learning to respect local traditions. Malians are very friendly and hospitable people and we try to find as many opportunities as possible for you to meet the people in a fun and positive way for both sides.
We support a charity project from a customer who wants to give school supplies, cow and chicken to ten villages in January 2010. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost.
Where is it?
Click here to enquire or book this holiday!
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To discover more about Mali, click here.
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