14/11/2022
Mali Festivals Tour
We have a very special journey for you. Our festivals tour of Mali will take you to the famous Festival Sur Le Niger in Ségou, where the best musicians from all over the country will perform, as well as the Dogon festival in Bamako. We’ll get the chance to attend many of the events happening around Bamako during this time, including various mask dances from local Dogon villages.
In order to understand the fascinating Malian culture and its colourful mosaic of traditions and peoples, it is necessary to go back to its deepest roots, which originate in the green hills of the Pays Manding, a land steeped in history and ancestral spirituality. But also by immersing oneself in the chaotic contemporaneity of Bamako, with its cultural ferment, its contradictions and its ‘imaginative’ urban decadence. Two sides of the same coin.
A journey into the Malian ancestral culture, between divinations with the throwing of cauris, propitiatory dances of the valiant Bambara hunters and ancient legends sung by the griots. Historical places where Soundjata Keita and General Kamandjan Camara, in the Middle Ages, pronounced the first human rights charter in Africa and performed their heroic deeds, among sacred caves and miraculous rock arches. Enchanting landscapes and waterfalls hidden among the cracks in the rock, valleys of mangoes and wild plants with therapeutic powers, small mud villages where the inhabitants are said to still possess the occult power to transform themselves into lions.
But also a trip to Bamako, with its incredible cultural attractions, from the Musée National, which houses priceless artefacts from the Djene-Jeno site and votive statuettes from the Tellem era, to the bustling Grande Marché, where you can lose yourself for hours; from the picturesque fe**sh market, amidst bones, animal skins and lucky charms of all kinds (gris-gris), to the recycling market, amidst an acoustic horror vacui, which brings recycled metals back to life; or the meeting with the marionette player/artist Yaya Coulibaly, who guards the largest collection of marionettes in Mali and passes on this ancient theatrical, sculptural and therapeutic art around the world.
full itinerary
DAY 1: Arrival in Bamako
Arrive in Bamako where you'll be assisted and transferred by your friendly driver-guide to your hotel. The rest of the day will be at your leisure.
Overnight in Bamako, Hotel Tamana, AC room
DAY 2 –Bamako – Siby
• Today, our journey takes us to Siby, in Manding country. The region is home of the Mandinka people, an ethnic group descended from the 13th century Mali Empire
• We’ll visit Kamadjan Arch, a beautiful natural and historic stone arch that served as a meeting place for soldiers, war councils and people of great intelligence all the way back in the 13th century
• Around the site are other historic places to visit, including sacrificial caves and the ‘consultation cave’
• Dinner and overnight in Siby, perfect opportunity to mingle with the locals
Overnight in Siby, Campement de l’Arche, basic facilities
DAY 3 –Siby – Bamako
• After breakfast, our journey takes us back to Mali’s capital
• The day will be dedicated to the Dogon festival in Bamako, where we will meet up with Dogon people originating from various villages, will get chance to see some performances and learn about their amazing yet secretive culture and beliefs.
Overnight in Bamako, Hotel Tamana, AC room
DAY 4 –Bamako DOGON MASK FESTIVAL
Start the day with an early morning hike at one of the top hiking trails of Bamako. Led by your professional guide, discover the beauty and mysteries of Manding country. After half-a-day of slightly strenuous but invigorating adventure, enjoy a visit to the National Museum of Mali, which offers ethnographic exhibits on the locals. Here, you'll see many interesting items that represent the rich culture of Mali, including displays of masks, textiles, statues, and other contemporary art forms, In the afternoon, we will join another day of performances at the Dogon festival
Overnight in Bamako, Hotel Tamana, AC room
DAY 5 –Bamako DOGON MASK FESTIVAL
Enjoy a moderate hike in the morning at another hotspot for outdoor lovers where you'll see picturesque traditional villages and impressive nature like no other. Then, cruise the Niger River and discover the Bozo fishermen's way of life along the riverbanks. If you're lucky, you may even spot some hippopotamus and other wildlife cooling down in the water. Your cruise concludes in the afternoon, where you'll get to see the mighty sun painting the sky and water below hues of yellow, orange, and pink as it sets on the horizon, In the afternoon, we will join another day of performances at the Dogon festival where we will organize a special photo shooting with dogon mask dance.
Overnight in Bamako, Hotel Tamana, AC room
DAY 6 –Bamako - Segou
Another morning in Bamako means another morning of hiking. Only this time, you have the option to choose a Djembe drumming experience or a fun Bogolon-making lesson instead. Otherwise, you'll go ahead and explore other natural wonders of the capital on foot. After your morning activities, hop on an air-conditioned vehicle that will take you on a scenic 3-hr drive to Segou, a town northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the Niger River.
Overnight at Hotel Djoliba or similar
day 7 –Segou - Djenne - Mopti
Depart from Segou at around 6 am to Djenne, an ancient town that will take you back to the Medieval times with its ancient Sudanese-style mud buildings. Upon arrival, visit the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Great Mosque, the biggest dried mud building in the world. In front of this building is a large square that turns into a colorful market every Monday. Here, locals from different corners of Mali gather to sell, buy, and exchange local produce, art pieces, animals, and so much more. End the day with a transfer to mopti
Overnight at Hotel Djoliba or similar.
day 8 Mopti
After a morning pick up from your hotel, enjoy a town tour of Mopti, visiting its bustling harbor, marketplace, old town, and mosque. Nicknamed as the "Venice of Mali", Mopti is known for its port linking all of Mali’s towns and villages along the Niger River. Here, you'll see big slabs of salt that come from the far north, carried across the Sahara Desert by the Tuareg caravans to Timbuktu where they are loaded onto pinasses that sail down the Niger, and then eventually end up in Mopti to be bought and sold.
At the marketplace, you'll see the many different ethnic people of Mali - Bozo, Dogon, Moors, Tuareg, and Songhai - interacting, selling, and buying. You will also see the famous Fulani women wearing their iconic big gold earrings, as featured on national postage stamps and posters all over the country. Depart from Mopti after lunch and take a 5-hr drive to Segou where will attend the first night of the festival sur le niger with its mervellous tradional exhibitions and musics
Overnight in Ségou, Hotel Djoliba, AC room
DAY 9 –Ségou SPECIAL FESTIVAL SUR LE NIGER
• Music, culture and music culture, it’s festival time! The Ségou river quay has been turned into a festival site with the crème de la crème of the Malian music scene climbing the stage. The evenings are filled with music, the days with culture, local groups and raging talents. A colorful market, bars and restaurants add to the festival atmosphere. Ségou is bustling! In between enjoying the performances you’re taken on side trips in Ségou and its surroundings. You’ll learn about mud-cloth making, visit a hamlet where the locals master the art of decorating calabashes, set out on a river trip to a nearby pottery village, where with a bit of luck the weekly baking will take place, do a donkey cart tour, taste of traditionally brew millet beer and stroll the ancient neighborhoods of Ségou. Above all you’re immersed in the vibrant atmosphere, drawing you to the festival site again and again.
Overnight in Ségou, Hotel Djoliba, AC room
day 10 – Ségou Festival Sur le Niger
• After breakfast, visit to the Soroblé bogolan (mud-cloth) center. This traditional cotton fabric is dyed with fermented mud and represents one of Mali’s most influential cultural practices. • Following the visit, we’ll explore more of Ségou, its colonial and Somono neighborhoods
• In the afternoon we’ll drive to Segoukoro. This village, also known as Sekoro, was in times past the capital of the Bambara Kingdom. We’ll pay a visit to the village chief, a descendent of the Bambara Kings and will explore the village, where traces of the past – including the tomb of Biton Coulibaly and the mosque he had built for his mother – are still to be seen
We will eprnd another night at the festival sur le niger in company with Tuaregs Coming from Timbuktu, sharing the traditional Tuareg tea with them followed with an Exhibition of their beautiful arts.
Meal : Dinner
Overnight in Ségou, Hotel Djoliba, AC room
Day 11 – Segou – Bamako - Depart
Drive back to Bamako and rest of day is at leisure or souvenirs shopping with your tour guide and driver.
Prepare for onward flight
Tour Price Includes: (price is per person based
Round trip airport to hotel transfers,
Accommodations in the properties listed or similar,
Tours in private Air Conditionned vehicle,
Driver / Fuel
Festivals Cameras (photo and videos) Accreditation
Festival sites entrance fees
Experienced English/French-speaking guides,
Admissions to all listed sites and activities,
cruise Kona-Mopti,
Luggage transfer,
Meals indicated.
