Mali holidays, Sahara tour and Timbuktu
| country: | Mali |
| location: | Sahara Desert |
| trip type: | A small group adventure |
| departures: | 2009: 18 Dec 2010: 5 Feb, 5 Mar, 2 Apr, 2 Jul, 6 Aug, 3 Sep, 1 Oct, 5 Nov, 3 Dec 2011: 4 Feb, 4 Mar, 1 Apr, 1 Jul, 5 Aug, 2 Sep, 7 Oct, 4 Nov, 2 Dec |
| price: | From £1939 - £2259 (16 days) including flights from the UK. From £1419 - £1559 excluding flights. Local payment 150 EUR. |
| late availability: | Late availability on 18th December departures |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Mali holidays, Sahara tour and Timbuktu
Challenging trip of cultural and historical wonders
Bani River Adventure
From Bamako you journey to the picturesque market town of Djenne. Its elaborate mosque is the tallest mud building in the world and the bustling bazaar is a cultural melting pot of various tribespeople. Travelling by motorised canoe, you’ll head down-river, camping overnight on the riverbank en route to Mopti, an island city situated at the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers.
Dogon Country & Timbuktu
The remote Bandiagara Escarpment is home to the Dogon people whose ancient beliefs live on through their mysterious and colourful masked dances. Walking from village to village allows you to explore their unique world. You’ll journey through the gaunt hills of Hombori and across the Sahel through the Douentza Elephant Reserve, rejoining the Niger at the forbidden city of Timbuktu.
Legendary Timbuktu
The mysterious desert city of Timbuktu was once no more than a campsite where Tuareg herders gathered. It then became a trading centre, where camel caravans bringing salt and other wares from north of the Sahara met traders bringing gold and other goods along the Niger River. Still thriving today, it is a place full of interest.
Bani River Adventure
From Bamako you journey to the picturesque market town of Djenne. Its elaborate mosque is the tallest mud building in the world and the bustling bazaar is a cultural melting pot of various tribespeople. Travelling by motorised canoe, you’ll head down-river, camping overnight on the riverbank en route to Mopti, an island city situated at the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers.
Dogon Country & Timbuktu
The remote Bandiagara Escarpment is home to the Dogon people whose ancient beliefs live on through their mysterious and colourful masked dances. Walking from village to village allows you to explore their unique world. You’ll journey through the gaunt hills of Hombori and across the Sahel through the Douentza Elephant Reserve, rejoining the Niger at the forbidden city of Timbuktu.
Legendary Timbuktu
The mysterious desert city of Timbuktu was once no more than a campsite where Tuareg herders gathered. It then became a trading centre, where camel caravans bringing salt and other wares from north of the Sahara met traders bringing gold and other goods along the Niger River. Still thriving today, it is a place full of interest.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Depart London After your flight, you transfer to your first night’s accommodation in the early hours of the morning and check in. Hotel - 2 nights |
| Day 2: | Bamako You have the day free to recover and acclimatise to the heat. Bamako, the capital of Mali, lies in the territory of the Bambara tribal people. As it’s the weekend, there might be an opportunity to listen to some live African music. (B) |
| Day 3: | Djenne After an early breakfast the trip starts in earnest and you depart on good asphalt road to Segou (230km, approx. 3 hours drive). Lying to the north of Bamako on the banks of the Niger River, Ségou is the home of the Bambara tribe. Founded in the 17th century by settlers, it became the capital of a vast kingdom which extended from Timbuktu to the Senegal River. The tribes that were conquered were traded as slaves in return for firearms, which were used to make further conquests. In colonial times the French established a major settlement here to control the irrigation project designed to promote the cultivation of cotton. You continue via Bla and San before turning off the highway to drive the last few kilometres to the ferry which crosses to the town of Djenne. (570km, approx. 6-7 hours). Camp (tent on a roof terrace) - 1 night (B) |
| Day 4: | On The Bani River The region’s most picturesque market town, Djenne converted to Islam in the 13th Century. It is now renowned for the extraordinary architecture of its elaborate Grande Mosque, which was built in 1905 - the tallest building in the world constructed from dried earth. You’re here on market day (Monday), so the morning is devoted to watching timeless scenes as hordes of traders assemble with their wares on the square in front of the mosque. The town has an almost medieval air; you’ll visit the mosque (exterior only), the historic buildings of the centre and the archaeological site with a local guide. In the afternoon you board a pinasse (a motorised wooden riverboat with a canvas roof for shade) and head off down the Bani River. As the pinasse motors sedately along you can take in life along the river: men fishing, women washing clothes, children playing and cattle browsing. You pass the odd village with walls of mud-baked bricks, whose squat appearance is broken only by the minaret of a traditional Sudanese-style mosque. All the while other pinasses and canoe-like pirogues are plying up and down the river, laden with goods and colourfully dressed people ; like you, some will be heading home after Djenne’s weekly market. Tonight you camp in tents on the riverbank. Camp - 1 night (BD) The boat trip is dependent on the level of the river. If the Bani river is low then you will do a boat trip on the Niger on day 5 instead. |
| Day 5: | Sevare (Near Mopti) You continue sailing and by mid afternoon you reach Mopti, close to the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers. The town is known as the ‘Venice of Mali’ as it stands on a series of islands connected by walkways. If there’s time you can visit the Grande Mosque in the old town, the daily market and the port - invariably a hubbub of commercial activity. Mopti’s centre is small and most interesting places can be easily reached on foot. Due to its position on the river, many of the region’s tribes assemble here to buy and sell - you’ll see Peul (also known as Fulani), Dogon, Tuareg and Songhai amongst others. Tonight you sleep in Sevaré, 12km away. Hotel - 1 night (B) |
| Day 6: | Nombori (Dogon Country) Today you leave for Dogon Country, setting off on a good asphalt road to Bandiagara on the banks of the Yamé River. Although its population is predominantly Dogon, Bandiagara bears little resemblance to the traditional villages you’ll see over the next few days. You then continue on a rougher dirt road to Dourou (25km), which you visit with a local guide, on top of the escarpment. Your route then follows the line of the escarpment as you walk through the cultivated area between the 300m high cliffs and the sand dunes of the desert to the picturesque village of Nombori (6km, approx. 3 hours walk). Along the way you pass various villages with the terraced gardens full of millet, onions and water melons for which the area is renowned. Your baggage is carried by porters, or possibly donkey carts. On arrival in Nombori your guide will check with the headman where you can spend the night – probably camped on the roof of a house within the village. Then you can explore with the help of a local guide - essential to help you understand Dogon customs and respect the complex system of taboos. Camp - 1 night (BD) You may camp on the roof of a house in a courtyard or in a house. If on a roof, you use ‘Dogon stairs’, i.e. a tree trunk with steps chopped into it and pitch your tents on the roof. If you’re in a courtyard you can pitch a tent or just use a mosquito net; if you’re inside you need only a mosquito net. Sanitation generally consists of a very basic toilet/bathroom behind a mud wall. The toilet is no more than a hole-in-the-ground latrine and you can take a splash bath from a bucket. This is participation camping i.e. everyone is expected to put up and take down their own tent and assist with camp chores, such as preparing food and washing the dishes. |
| Day 7: | Tirelli (Dogon Country) Today you follow a track (9km, approx. 3 hours walk) which leads to Tirelli, the village of masks. Due largely to the relative isolation of their territory, strung along the sandstone ridge of the Bandiagara Escarpment, the Dogon hung on to their traditional culture for longer than any other tribe in the area. Although they are thought to originate from the Nile Valley, the Dogon have lived here for some 500 years, taking refuge here in order to preserve their beliefs in the face of the expansion of Catholicism and Islam. As you walk, the escarpment stretches for some 200km in front of you. You pass several villages along the way and stop for lunch en route, then continue after a siesta. On arrival in Tirelli, the biggest village in the area,a local guide will show you the granaries and houses, built high up in the rocky cliffs above the village. These were constructed by the pygmy-statured Tellem people, who were here even before the Dogon. No-one knows quite how they managed to get up and down the sheer cliffs, but it’s thought that they twisted the fibrous bark from baobab trees to make primitive rope ladders. Tirelli is famous for its masks, each of which has a particular significance. Over eighty different masks are used, depending on what ritual is being celebrated. This evening you invariably have an opportunity to see a masked dance (optional) and watch the village elders call up the appropriate masks. Camp - 1 night (BLD) |
| Day 8: | Banani (Dogon Country) You set off to walk to Banani via Amani (3km, approx. 1 ½ hours). Here you can see the Sacred Crocodile Lake. Crocodiles are thought by the Dogon to be the messengers of the gods and although human sacrifices are no longer made, animals are still offered up to the deities. You continue and stop for lunch at Irelli (5km, approx. 3 hours). After a further hour of walking you arrive at Banani in the early evening. Nearby is the village of Sanga where the first ever mission was established and the complex strands of Dogon culture were unravelled by French anthropologist Marcel Giaule. Camp – 1 night (BLD) |
| Day 9: | Hombori Today you have another change of transport as you rendezvous this morning with four-wheel-drive vehicles and follow rough tracks for 100km across a wild area with sand dunes and villages that see few outsiders. Eventually you meet the tarmac road close to Douentza, a market town with a large mosque. You then continue another 150km eastward in the direction of Gao. Before reaching Hombori (approx. 5-6 hours drive in all) the landscape changes as you enter an area of curious rocky outcrops. Off to the left hand side is the rock formation known as La Main de Fatima (Fatima’s Hand) due to the resemblance it bears to a hand with an extended index finger and thumb - symbol of the daughter of the prophet Mohammed. The town of Hombori, with its unusual stone-built houses, stands at the foot of a prominent flat-topped mountain that rises to a height of 1155m. Camp – 1 night (BLD) |
| Day 10: | Timbuktu Today the travelling gets even rougher as you head north across the typical drab, flat, dusty, denuded landscape of the Sahel through Douentza Elephant Reserve. It’s hard to imagine how several hundred elephant manage to survive in this extensive area so seemingly devoid of any water source. You may be lucky enough to see some - but there is no guarantee. Passing the towns of I-n-Adiattafene and Bambara-Maoundé, signs of vegetation finally herald your arrival at the River Niger. You cross by ferry at Korioume and drive the final few kilometres into the forbidden city of Timbuktu (250km, approx. 8 hours drive). Basic hotel - 2 nights (B) |
| Day 11: | Timbuktu The mysterious desert city of Timbuktu (also spelled Tomboctou) was once no more than a campsite where Tuareg herders gathered close to the river. It then became a trading centre, where camel caravans bringing much-prized salt and other wares from north of the Sahara, met traders bringing gold and other goods along the trade route provided by the Niger River. Despite its isolation, the town prospered and the taxes levied on successive generations of merchants helped to create its legendary wealth. In 1330 when Timbuktu was absorbed into the Mali Empire, the massive Djinguereber Mosque was constructed. By the 16th century the town had become a seat of learning with an Islamic university where over 25,000 students studied sharia (Islamic law) and theology. News of a great city with fabulous riches gradually filtered through to Europe and so the legend was born. Although Timbuktu might not live up to everyone’s expectations, it’s nevertheless an interesting place to visit. In the morning you can explore the old city; despite its former glory it’s a pretty quiet sort of a place these days, but this gives you a chance to appreciate the purity of its traditional architecture. After lunch an opportunity to ride camels (optional) across the flat plain, sparsely covered with bush and a few trees, to a Tuareg encampment of circular straw huts outside town. The origins of this nomadic people - known as the Blue Men of the desert due to the effect that the indigo shed by their coarsely dyed clothing had on their skin - lie in the Berber tribes of the mountains of Morocco. However they moved southward to avoid the arrival of the Arabs in North Africa. Here you’ll see camels that are used in the camel trains that still make the long Sahara crossings. (B) |
| Day 12: | Sevare After an early wake up and breakfast you set out for Sevare. The first 200km follows a network of unsurfaced piste that picks its way across the marshy (depending on the time of year) flats of the Niger Delta. The road becomes increasingly dusty as you get further from the Niger and by the time you reach Bambara Maounde, all thoughts of the river have been left far behind. You then pick up the piste directly south to Douentza where you reach the good tarmac road that will take you to Sevare (a total of 400km or so covered in approx. 8+ hours). Despite the length of the day’s drive there’s lots to see en route until you arrive back in the relative comfort of the hotel you left just over a week ago. Depending on how good the progress made is, there may be an opportunity to make a second visit to Mopti once you arrive. Hotel - 1 night (B) |
| Day 13: | Segou After yesterday’s long haul, today’s drive over tarmac roads seems a positive jaunt as you retrace your route from Sevaré to Ségou (400km, approx. 5 hours) - all on tarmac. In fact this morning you dispense with the four-wheel-drive vehicles and travel by minibus. On arriving in Mali’s second largest town, there’s time to visit the market, the pleasant colonial area and the riverside area. Some three centuries ago Ségou was the capital of the vast Bamana Empire that extended from the Senegal River, far to the west, as far as Timbuktu. At the end of the 19th century, with the period of French occupation, the town became an important administrative centre. Hotel - 1 night (B) |
| Day 14: | Bamako After a final look around Ségou in the morning, your last drive takes you back to Bamako (240km, approx. 3 hours). In the afternoon you’ll have a quick look around the city in the company of your guide – the National Museum is well worth a visit just to see the splendid examples of African art from all stages of the country’s history. Bamako is also well known for its nightlife and for anyone interested in West African music, there’s a thriving music scene. Hotel – 1 night (B) |
| Day 15: | Overnight Flight To London You have a final day in Bamako where the trip ends for Land Only clients. Those on group flights to the UK head to the airport late at night in time to check in for the overnight flight to London. Bamako’s main attraction is its Centre Artisanal, a huge concentration of the region’s traditional crafts and a great place to shop for presents to take home: brightly coloured printed cotton, baskets, bowls, carvings, leather, masks and jewellery. (B) |
| Day 16: | Arrive London |
small group cultural tours
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends it's good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as experiencing new cultures.how this holiday makes a difference
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On this trip: Our small group adventures are designed to impact as little as possible on the regions through which we travel – this trip is no exception. We work closely with a local agent who employs local guides, drivers and the Group Leader on our behalf, providing vital employment and putting money directly into the local economy. We stay in small, independently owned accommodations and eat in local restaurants, all of which ensures that money from our trips reaches a wide range of people and is evenly spread throughout our visit. Our small groups have minimal impact on the environment, and enable regular encounters with local people. This is mutually beneficial, allowing us insights into other cultures whilst reinforcing the need to maintain a strong cultural identity, protecting sites of historical and natural importance.
Our Responsible Travel Code: Clients who travel with us will automatically receive a copy of our Responsible Travel leaflet. This contains details and advice on how you can make a positive difference when you travel. If you would like a copy in advance of travel please contact us. Charity Partnerships: We work in partnership with Plan International. Plan works with some of the world’s poorest communities where three out of four children die before the age of five. We also support Friends of Conservation – an international charity committed to working with local people to develop a balance between their needs and the wildlife with which they share the natural habitat and ecosystems. Other charities that we work closely with include Born Free Foundation and The Travel Foundation, a UK charity that has been established to promote responsible travel practises throughout the whole of the travel industry. Carbon Balancing: Global warming is a real issue and is a direct result of your travel. We have teamed up with Climate Care to give you the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from your flight. You’ll be asked upon booking if you want to donate – with set amounts from £5. As a company we offset the carbon emissions from all staff travel in full. Our Foundation: We’ve highlighted a few of the ways in which we offer our support, financially or otherwise, and now you can, too. We have set up our own foundation, which will administer funds donated by you. A small donation of £1 per person will be taken when booking a holiday and that money will be put to good use by one of our carefully selected projects. If you don’t want to make the donation, just tell us when you book. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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