West Africa tailormade tour holiday
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Basic information
Location: Benin, Mali, Togo & Burkina-Faso
Departures: This trip can be tailormade throughout the year
Duration: 18 days
Group size: 2 - 6 people
Price: From £3200 excluding flights. Price includes hotel accommodation and meals as per itinerary, private ground transportation by AC cars or minivans, experienced English-speaking guide, airport transfers, all taxes, all tours and sightseeing with entry fees.
What will I be doing on this trip?
There is nowhere better to see this colourful diversity than in the streets and markets of Bamako. After Bamako we will leave for Dogon Country via Ségou (visits here are often considered a pilgrimage) to discover the colonial buildings, and Mopti, the melting pot of Mali and Djenne with the largest mud building in the world. Continuing to Bobo Dioulasso, one of the largest cities in Burkina Faso, to see the Musée Provincial du Houet, but without a doubt the most interesting sight is the Grande Mosquée (the old great mosque).
Then we will leave for another city of Burkina Faso, Gaou, and on the way we will visit Banfora, the lake of Tengrela. After visiting Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso we will leave for Cotonou via Natitingui to discover the Somba culture and Abomey, the former capital city of the kingdom of Dahomey.
After visiting Cotonou, the capital city of Benin, we will drive to Lome via Ouidah, an important traditional religious centre and ancient slave depot, which has sent thousands of slaves to the new world. Here we visit the Museum in the Old Portuguese Fort, continuing to Lome the capital of Togo to enjoy its big market and the museum for the end of your trip.
Location: Benin, Mali, Togo & Burkina-Faso
Departures: This trip can be tailormade throughout the year
Duration: 18 days
Group size: 2 - 6 people
Price: From £3200 excluding flights. Price includes hotel accommodation and meals as per itinerary, private ground transportation by AC cars or minivans, experienced English-speaking guide, airport transfers, all taxes, all tours and sightseeing with entry fees.
What will I be doing on this trip?
There is nowhere better to see this colourful diversity than in the streets and markets of Bamako. After Bamako we will leave for Dogon Country via Ségou (visits here are often considered a pilgrimage) to discover the colonial buildings, and Mopti, the melting pot of Mali and Djenne with the largest mud building in the world. Continuing to Bobo Dioulasso, one of the largest cities in Burkina Faso, to see the Musée Provincial du Houet, but without a doubt the most interesting sight is the Grande Mosquée (the old great mosque).
Then we will leave for another city of Burkina Faso, Gaou, and on the way we will visit Banfora, the lake of Tengrela. After visiting Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso we will leave for Cotonou via Natitingui to discover the Somba culture and Abomey, the former capital city of the kingdom of Dahomey.
After visiting Cotonou, the capital city of Benin, we will drive to Lome via Ouidah, an important traditional religious centre and ancient slave depot, which has sent thousands of slaves to the new world. Here we visit the Museum in the Old Portuguese Fort, continuing to Lome the capital of Togo to enjoy its big market and the museum for the end of your trip.
My holiday itinerary...
Day 1: Arrive Bamako, Mali
After our International flight arrives in Bamako, capital of Mali, we are met by our local representatives and have an airport-to-hotel transfer. The rest of the day is free.
Day 2: Bamako
After a refreshing night-rest and breakfast at our hotel we start with a leisurely Bamako city tour and visit the Point G for the panoramic overview of the city, the National Museum, the city market, the antiquary’s village and the artisan’s village.
Day 3: Bamako / Segou
After breakfast, we leave Bamako and drive northeast to Segou, Mali's second largest city and former colonial administrative centre.
Day 4: Segou / Mopti
We’ll continue today Mali’s exploration and after breakfast we drive along the banks of the Niger River to Mopti, known as the Venice of Mali.
Day 5: Mopti / Sangha - Dogon Country
After breakfast, drive to Mali's fascinating Dogon country. Being among of the most enigmatic people of Africa, the Dogons are living in stones and mud houses and granaries built up high on the narrow edges of the cliffs.
Day 6: Dogon Country
This morning we descend the Bandiagara escarpment to visit the village of Banani, where the ancient Tellem Cave dwellings in the cliff face, further the Ireli Village.
Day 7: Sangha / Djenne
We’ll spend another morning exploring Dogon country, before our early afternoon drive to Djenne.
Day 1: Arrive Bamako, Mali
After our International flight arrives in Bamako, capital of Mali, we are met by our local representatives and have an airport-to-hotel transfer. The rest of the day is free.
Day 2: Bamako
After a refreshing night-rest and breakfast at our hotel we start with a leisurely Bamako city tour and visit the Point G for the panoramic overview of the city, the National Museum, the city market, the antiquary’s village and the artisan’s village.
Day 3: Bamako / Segou
After breakfast, we leave Bamako and drive northeast to Segou, Mali's second largest city and former colonial administrative centre.
Day 4: Segou / Mopti
We’ll continue today Mali’s exploration and after breakfast we drive along the banks of the Niger River to Mopti, known as the Venice of Mali.
Day 5: Mopti / Sangha - Dogon Country
After breakfast, drive to Mali's fascinating Dogon country. Being among of the most enigmatic people of Africa, the Dogons are living in stones and mud houses and granaries built up high on the narrow edges of the cliffs.
Day 6: Dogon Country
This morning we descend the Bandiagara escarpment to visit the village of Banani, where the ancient Tellem Cave dwellings in the cliff face, further the Ireli Village.
Day 7: Sangha / Djenne
We’ll spend another morning exploring Dogon country, before our early afternoon drive to Djenne.
Day 8: Djenne
As we have set the departure with this event in our mind, today we will experience Djenne on its weekly market day, when Djenne is at its colorful best. Day 9: Djenne / Sikasso After breakfast we drive to Sikasso. Sikasso is considered to be the green belt of Mali. Day 10: Sikasso / Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) This morning we leave Sikasso and cross the border from Mali to Burkina Faso. After a smooth ride we arrive to Bobo, where we check into our hotel first, then have a brief tour of Bobo. |   |
Day 11: Bobo Dioulasso / Gaoua
Today we complete our tour of Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second largest city and visit the old mosque and visit the old Kibidwe artisans' district.
Day 12: Gaoua / Ouagadougou
Gaoua is the capital of the Lobi country. It is one of the ethnic groups having succeeded in preserving all its particularities and habits. Former warriors reconverted today into farmers and hunters, but resisted savagely to all the invaders, who were African or European.
Day 13: Ouagadougou
We spend our day exploring Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital city. All the sights can be easily reached on foot. The city’s atmosphere is relaxed and the Burkinabés are known to be very hospitable and friendly people.
Day 14: Ouagadougou / Natitingou
We depart Ouagadougou after breakfast and drive to Fada N'Gourma, where we cross the Burkina Faso - Benin border and continue to Natitingou, in Somba country.
Day 15: Natitingou / Abomey
In the morning we visit the Natitingou Museum for an interesting overview of the Somba culture. From the city it is possible to reach some nearby villages that are completely made of mud and branches and dung.
Today we complete our tour of Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second largest city and visit the old mosque and visit the old Kibidwe artisans' district.
Day 12: Gaoua / Ouagadougou
Gaoua is the capital of the Lobi country. It is one of the ethnic groups having succeeded in preserving all its particularities and habits. Former warriors reconverted today into farmers and hunters, but resisted savagely to all the invaders, who were African or European.
Day 13: Ouagadougou
We spend our day exploring Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital city. All the sights can be easily reached on foot. The city’s atmosphere is relaxed and the Burkinabés are known to be very hospitable and friendly people.
Day 14: Ouagadougou / Natitingou
We depart Ouagadougou after breakfast and drive to Fada N'Gourma, where we cross the Burkina Faso - Benin border and continue to Natitingou, in Somba country.
Day 15: Natitingou / Abomey
In the morning we visit the Natitingou Museum for an interesting overview of the Somba culture. From the city it is possible to reach some nearby villages that are completely made of mud and branches and dung.
Day 16: Abomey / Cotonou
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, the city of Abomey is widely considered the historic capital of Benin. Day 17: Cotonou / Ouidah / Lome (Togo) Once we leave Cotonou and travel 40 km west, we enter Ouidah, an important traditional-religious center and ancient slave depot, which has sent thousands of slaves to the new world. Day 18: Lome We’ll visit here the National Museum, the market and the artisans' village. Afterwards, we return to our hotel for checkout and also have some last minute shopping. |  |
How does this holiday make a difference?
Environment
Roads can be poor in these parts of Africa and distances long but, conscious of our environmental impacts, we have reduced the number of domestic flights on this tour. This also enables us to get more of a feel for the country as we travel by road through small towns and villages to get Togo via Mali- Burkina - Benin.
We aim to support development first and foremost by doing business well but there are many people in these parts of West Africa who are unable to benefit from tourism. For this reason we also support a project of one of our clients who want to give Cow, chicken to ten villages in Mali, Burkina and Senegal to provide breeding livestock and agricultural training to rural communities and give them better protection against food insecurity in January 2010.
Before your trip you will receive advice from our Responsible Travel Policy. To understand our environmentally sustainable principles, and outline how each customer can minimize their impact while travelling, this makes for a great source of information. We minimize paper use in our operations, do not produce brochures and all our messages are through email. We encourage our clients to help local project to plant trees.
As we know the danger that nature faces today we seldom use domestic flights in our trip, most of our travel is done on ground. During our trip we do lot of camping and staying in guesthouses in village, as they have no big hotels that waste water, and some of them use solar energy for their light. This trip minimizes waste by advising clients to follow the African example and recycle everything.
Community
Life for the majority of West African people is difficult but if we try to develop responsible tourism that can be a great means of development. You will have an opportunity to shop for local sculptures and the unique masks that are made in these areas surrounding the bustling market Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo. The time we spend these regions will directly benefit the local community. The tourist taxes and the use of local people will bring a lot to local community through Mali, Burkina, Benin and Togo. The time we spend on these four regions will directly benefit the local community.
We purchase everything we need en route, buying from local traders and markets in sufficient quantities to ensure we do not exploit, but equally so that we have enough for ourselves! In many cases, the routes we take are varied thus ensuring our visits do not impact negatively on the local communities and the income we bring is distributed fairly. All of the accommodation we use is locally owned, much of the time we will be camping, but in towns and cities we stay in guesthouses or hotels. 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.
We employ local guides, drivers and cooks during all our tours, and we source supplies where possible from the local communities and aim to use local businesses wherever possible. We encourage our guests to purchase goods and souvenirs locally.
We use local accommodation hotels and guesthouses owned by local people.
Where is it?
Environment
Roads can be poor in these parts of Africa and distances long but, conscious of our environmental impacts, we have reduced the number of domestic flights on this tour. This also enables us to get more of a feel for the country as we travel by road through small towns and villages to get Togo via Mali- Burkina - Benin.
We aim to support development first and foremost by doing business well but there are many people in these parts of West Africa who are unable to benefit from tourism. For this reason we also support a project of one of our clients who want to give Cow, chicken to ten villages in Mali, Burkina and Senegal to provide breeding livestock and agricultural training to rural communities and give them better protection against food insecurity in January 2010.
Before your trip you will receive advice from our Responsible Travel Policy. To understand our environmentally sustainable principles, and outline how each customer can minimize their impact while travelling, this makes for a great source of information. We minimize paper use in our operations, do not produce brochures and all our messages are through email. We encourage our clients to help local project to plant trees.
As we know the danger that nature faces today we seldom use domestic flights in our trip, most of our travel is done on ground. During our trip we do lot of camping and staying in guesthouses in village, as they have no big hotels that waste water, and some of them use solar energy for their light. This trip minimizes waste by advising clients to follow the African example and recycle everything.
Community
Life for the majority of West African people is difficult but if we try to develop responsible tourism that can be a great means of development. You will have an opportunity to shop for local sculptures and the unique masks that are made in these areas surrounding the bustling market Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo. The time we spend these regions will directly benefit the local community. The tourist taxes and the use of local people will bring a lot to local community through Mali, Burkina, Benin and Togo. The time we spend on these four regions will directly benefit the local community.
We purchase everything we need en route, buying from local traders and markets in sufficient quantities to ensure we do not exploit, but equally so that we have enough for ourselves! In many cases, the routes we take are varied thus ensuring our visits do not impact negatively on the local communities and the income we bring is distributed fairly. All of the accommodation we use is locally owned, much of the time we will be camping, but in towns and cities we stay in guesthouses or hotels. 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.
We employ local guides, drivers and cooks during all our tours, and we source supplies where possible from the local communities and aim to use local businesses wherever possible. We encourage our guests to purchase goods and souvenirs locally.
We use local accommodation hotels and guesthouses owned by local people.
Where is it?
Click here to enquire about or book this holiday!
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