Discover Mali, 6 Days

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Day 1: Bamako, Mali

International flight arrives in Bamako, Mali. You will be met, assisted and transferred to your hotel. Time permitting you can begin the tour of Bamako: an overview on Bamako city, the National Museum of Bamako, the recycling market and the handcraft centre.

Overnight at Hotel Mirabeau or similar

Day 2: Bamako/Mopti

After breakfast, continue to Mopti, the Venice of Mali. En-route, stop to visit Ségou, with its Sudanese style architecture.  Learn how to make a Bogolan a traditional cloth and keep your sample for souvenir, Continue to Mopti, stopping along the way to see examples of small village life. This afternoon continue to Mopti. Time permitting; go on a sunset sail on the Niger River in a motorised boat, a great picture taking opportunity.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight at Hotel Kanaga or similar

Day 3: Mopti / Dogon Country

After breakfast, travel to Sangha and begin the tour of Dogon Country. With its fascinating rocky, Sahelian landscape, the Dogon Country is considered to be one of the most extraordinary places on earth.

The Dogons live 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, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and unique 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 150 km.

Dogon life is centered on sacred rights and rituals which take place in the hollow cliffs of the escarpment on which the Dogon houses are built.

On your way visit Songho, known for its Rock paintings and grotto. Learn about the ritual of initiation that opens the door to adulthood. Visit Niogonon, supposed to be the most beautiful Dogon village.

This evening time visit Sangha, on the top of the Bandiagara escarpment. Visit the villages of Sangha, Ogols and Bongo; see the traditional women’s house, the sacrificial altar of the Hogon (the Dogon people’s traditional and spiritual leader). Enter the compound and visit a Dogon seer. Overnight in Sangha.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Overnight at Campement Hotel Sangha or similar

Day 4:  Dogon / Mopti

After breakfast descend the Bandiagara escarpment, and visit the village of Banani to see the ancient Tellem cave dwellings in the cliff face and mask carvings. Continue to the villages of Ireli and Amani, site of a sanctuary for crocodiles which are sacred to the Dogon people. Ascend and visit the village on the edge of the Bandiagara Cliff.  Return to Mopti in the evening.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast & Dinner

Overnight at Hotel Kanaga or similar

Day 5: Djenne / Mopti / Segou

After breakfast travel from Mopti to Mali’s architectural jewel, Djenné.  Founded in the fourth century, Djenné has scarcely changed since the Middle Ages. The atmosphere transports you back to Medieval times. Visit Djenné city; visit the mosque, the world greatest mud brick structure built in 1906-07.

This evening continue to Ségou where you overnight.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast & Dinner

Overnight at Independence Hotel Segou or similar

Day 6: Segou – Bamako/Depart

After breakfast, return to Bamako, enroute stop in Sékoro (the old Ségou) capital of the Bambara Kingdom where the founder and first king Biton Coulibaly is buried. Visit the village and its mosque that is older than the village and which no one knows who built it or when it was built. Continue to Bamako you may complete your tour of Bamako this evening.  Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast

2019 Tour Dates

•  February 11 – 16
• March 11 – 16
• October 7 – 12
• November 11 – 16
• December 9 – 14

TOUR INCLUDES

• Meeting and assistance upon arrival and departure

•  Round-trip airport/hotel transfers

• Hotel accommodation in the indicated properties

• Transportation in private vehicle

• Experienced tour guide

• Admission to all listed sites

• Meals indicated

TOUR DOES NOT INCLUDE

Single Supplement is the additional price paid for single occupancy of a room.