Camping Tour Of Mali

Day 1: Arrival

You are met at the airport, assisted, and transferred to your hotel where you get ready before experiencing Bamako by night with your tour guide. Overnight at Azalai Grand Hotel.

Day 2: Bamako

Wake up at any time in the morning and start the tour of Bamako. Today you will explore the capital city of Bamako situated on the Niger, one of Africa's greatest rivers. Start at Point G and a panoramic view of the city; visit the National Museum, the city market, and the recycling market.

Mali is a country of many tribal peoples, each with its own exuberant styles of clothing and jewelry. There is nowhere better to see this colorful diversity than in the streets and markets of Bamako.

Bamako has a large art and craft center where sculptors, weavers, leather workers, jewelers, and metal workers exhibit their wares and skills. One area of the market is devoted entirely to traditional African medicines. Here you'll find the freshly shrunken heads of birds, monkeys, and crocodiles, along with lizard skins and other gruesome treatments. Overnight in Bamako.

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day 3: Bamako – Sikasso

This morning we drive to Sikasso, passing through the rich agricultural lands of southern Mali. Sikasso is considered to be Mali's breadbasket. We shall see the remnants of the Tata, an ancient palisade that encircled the city which, for a time, held off the French colonial army. In the Mamelon, the residence of the kings of Sikasso and the cultural center Sénoufo tribal homeland we shall learn about this brave tribe and their strong heritage. We end the visit to Sikasso with a visit to the Missirikoro Grotto where Muslim and occult people worship side by side. Overnight in Sikasso.

Meals Included Breakfast

Day 4: Sikasso – Ségou

Breakfast, then drive to Ségou former colonial administrative center. Admire the beautiful Sudanese-style colonial architecture, and visit the pottery market, traditional weavers, and other artisans. See and experience how to make a traditional mud cloth. Visit Sékoro village, the former capital of the Bambara kingdom where you will see the tomb of King Biton Coulibaly the founder of the Bambara Kingdom, and the mosque that is older than the village.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast

Day 5: Ségou – Djenné

This morning we complete a visit to Ségou and we travel to Mali's architectural jewel, Djenné. Founded in the fourth century it has scarcely changed since the Middle Ages and, as we stroll through the streets and the bazaar we will be transported back into medieval times. Tomorrow is the weekly market day when Djenné is at its colorful best. A definite highlight is the magnificent Grand Mosque, the largest mud-brick architecture in the world and one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

We shall also visit the local museum, the site where the young girl was sacrificed for the prosperity of the city, and have time to wander through the narrow streets of Djenné to admire this architectural gem. Drive to Senossa to visit that Fulani village and learn about education in the village. Visit the boys’ room. Wander in the village you may meet young virgin girls with the bared chest. Make a photo of the Fulani woman with her earrings and head tie. Overnights in Djenné.

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 6: Djenné – Dogon

Today, we drive to Dogon Country. With its fascinating rocky, Sahelian landscape, the Dogon Country is considered to be one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Experience the unique village life and marvel at ancient Tellem cave dwellings. The Dogon are a group of people living in the central plateau region of the country, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. The Dogon are best known for their mythology, mask dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture.

The principal Dogon area is bisected by the Bandiagara Escarpment, a sandstone cliff of up to 500m (1,640 ft) high, stretching for about 150km (almost 100 miles).

This tribe's life is centered on sacred rights and rituals that take place in the hollow cliffs of the escarpment on which the Dogon houses are built. Their culture is surrounded by mysticism and intrigue, from an astonishing knowledge of the solar system to the unique structure of Dogon villages. We will visit the Dogon village of Songho, renowned for its rock paintings and circumcision grotto, and drive to Sangha where we visit overnight.

Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 7: Dogon

After breakfast, we descended the cliff to visit Banani, Ireli, Amani, and Tireli. We will see among others a traditional women's house, a sacrificial altar of a Hogon (the Dogon people's traditional and religious leader) a Dogon seer, ancient Tellem cave dwellings in the cliff face, and perhaps even a traditional Dogon mask dance. Camping overnight

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 8: Dogon

Today, we continue our trekking in the Dogon Country through Idjeli, Combokani, and reach Nombori where we will visit the Museum before continuing to Dourou for camping overnight.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 9: Dogon – Mopti

After days of trekking, we drive to Mopti, the Venice of Mali, nestled between the Niger and the Bani Rivers. Highlights will include the fishing port, the beautiful mosque, and the bustling and colorful market where many of Mali's cultural groups can be seen: Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fulani, Tuareg, and Songhay. Return to your hotel after the visit and relax.

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day 10 & 11 Pinasse Cruise

This morning we start cruising to Timbuktu in a motorized pirogue. We will spend 2 nights and 3 days on the Niger River admiring beautiful sunsets and sunrises on the Niger River. Visit fisherman camps and villages on the Riversides. See the Bozo people fishing and some River birds. You may see a hippopotamus. The nights will be spent in tents at the Riverside and your food prepared on board by your local chief.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 12: Arrive in Timbuktu

Arrive on the 3rd day in Timbuktu. You are met in Korioumé and transferred to your hotel where you will bathe and relax before the next day's city tour.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 13: Timbuktu

Located at the terminus of the great trans-Saharan caravan route, Timbuktu became fabulously wealthy in the 16th century. Loaded with blocks of salt and other trade goods, huge convoys of camels would spend weeks crossing the unforgiving Sahara to reach Timbuktu.

It was here that they would trade salt, pound-for-pound, with African merchants bringing gold and ivory along the Niger from the heart of Africa. Wander the dusty streets of Timbuktu, admiring such magnificent mud-brick structures as the Djinguiraiber Mosque, the Mosque of Sankoré, the Mosque of Sidi Yehia, and the Palace of Bouctou.

Visit the ethnological museum and Maison des Artisans. See the houses of the various 19th-century European explorers who used Timbuktu as a base. In the afternoon, experience an excursion on a camel into the Sahara Desert to visit a Tuareg camp to enjoy tea on the dunes with our Tuareg hosts, the Princes of the Desert.

Meals included Breakfast

Day 14: Timbuktu – Mopti

Today, we complete our tour of Timbuktu and then we drive along the dusty road to Mopti with stops at interesting points on the way admiring the landscape. Upon arrival decide with your guide about late afternoon or night activities.

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 15: Mopti – Teriya Bugu

Teriya Bugu, "the hut of friendship," and the headquarters of the Association for Rural Development. The center is surrounded by thousands of eucalyptus plants, orchards, fisheries, and a farm that supplies fresh food to its restaurant. Two beekeepers tend to 140 hives to produce honey.

Take a relaxing walk through mango trees and banana plants, watch birds, and see monkeys, camels, horses, crocodiles, peacocks, and other wildlife in the on-site mini-zoo. Visit the Museum of Father Verspieren and breathe fresh air from the Bani River. Overnight in Teriya Bugu.

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day 16: Drive to Bamako and Depart

After breakfast, drive to Bamako. Arrive on time check in at the hotel, refresh, and relax before your onward departure.

Meals Included: Breakfast

Tour Price Includes: (Price is per person based on 2 people, double occupancy)

Round trip airport to hotel transfers, Accommodations in the properties listed or similar, Tours in a private vehicle, Experienced English/French-speaking guides, Admissions to all listed sites and activities, cruise Mopti-Timbuktu, Luggage transfer, Meals indicated.

Tour Price Does Not Include:

International airfare to Africa, domestic airfare, travel insurance, meals not listed, personal items such as telephone, laundry, and visa fees, and gratuity to drivers and guides.