One and half week at the touareg festival in the heart of Mali desert

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Day 1 Monday 09/01/12 - Italy - Bamako

In the morning departure from 'Italy with a scheduled flight to Bamako where you arrive in the evening. Transfer and accommodation at the Grand Hotel or similar, dinner is free.


Friday 10/01/12 Day 2 Bamako - Segou

Full day visit of the more "real" capital of Africa. On the banks of the Niger River, surrounded by green gardens, Bamako still looks like a large village which the constructions of neo-Sudanese ocher and white give the atmosphere of the colonial age. Only recently become the capital of the country, next to the old government buildings, testimony of the French, still preserves the old quarters with their typical houses in the African-counter (mixture of clay, straw and animal dung), constantly shrouded in a veil of dust impalpable laterite. In the streets around the various colorful markets reigns intense activity: colorful clothing by women, small traders and "bana-bana" (street vendors) propose to "bon prix" items as varied by appealing to the traditional products of local fruit and vegetable gardens in the suburbs of the most sophisticated products of Western consumerism. Voices of children and the muezzin calls are mixed into one amazing buzz. Wherever intent craftsmen at work: silversmiths, leather workers, weavers squatting in front of the rudimentary looms and skilled sculptors of wood and ivory. Of all the heavy scent of incense and the pungent smell of spices and violent and ingredients of traditional African medicine. Bamako meeting and merging of different populations, is the most exquisitely authentic African city. Lunch at restaurant. Start of the expedition along the road linking the capital with major cities of the country, reaching up to Gao. The first road runs through orchards and fields, to reach Segou, a large agricultural and commercial center on the banks of the River Niger. Auberge hotel or similar accommodation. Dinner and overnight.


Day 3 Wednesday 11/01/12 - Segou - Mopti

Breakfast and visit the city that remembers its colonial past, the city was considered, by the French, the granary of the country, because the area had made fertile by diverting the river Niger. After lunch departure to Mopti, stopping along the way to visit her in San majestic mosque. Upon arrival transfer to hotel and accommodation. Mopti, lively meeting point between the people of the river and the surrounding populations, fascinates and overpowers the colors and aromas of the market, the animation of the sandy lanes between shacks in the outskirts of the bench, the sudden the crowd grouped around goldsmith-merchant who offers the huge gold earrings in the shape of a boat used to decorate the Fulani women, the constant bustle of the big canoes covered with mats.
Lunch at the restaurant, dinner and overnight at the Hotel Kanaga, or similar.


Day 4 Thursday 12/01/12 Mopti - Timbuktu

In the morning departure off road to a path rather long (384 km in the track and the asphalt), interesting to observe the change of scenery, gradually the "bush" gives way to low dunes of the desert Gurma, the sparse shrubs replacing the trees to reach Timbuktu. Founded by the Tuareg in the late twelfth century, Timbuktu on the Niger River is located at the junction between the caravans coming down from North Africa through the Sahara and canoes that plied the river with loads of gold from the mines of Bourem in black . Occupied first by the Mandingo, then by the Songhay of Gao, from Morocco, from the kingdom of Macina Fulani, and then again by the Tuareg, the city managed to maintain its beauty for a long time. The richness of its markets and the cultural level of the upper room of scholars of Timbuktu became a city mythical and mysterious, closed and unknown to Westerners until early 800. Picnic lunch en route, dinner and overnight stay at 'La Colombe or similar. (For those who want it you can watch the first night of the festival the next night, although it will be the highlight of the exhibition.)


Day 5 - Friday 13/01/12 Timbuktu - Tuareg Festival

After breakfast visit the mosque of Djingereber, built in the fourteenth century is the oldest building in the world of clay, and is of great architectural harmony. Continuation of visits and in the evening transfer out of Timbuktu (few kilometers) to attend the music festival (this year's Festival will not be held in Essakane, which has long welcomed, but on the outskirts of Timbuktu. For this reason we do not think need to sleep in tents, so it is better to return to the hotel) The festival of meetings within the framework of traditional Tuareg nomads, called Takoubelt in the Kidal region, and Temakannit in the region of Timbuktu. For centuries, these meetings provided an incredible opportunity for the Tuareg to meet, socialize and celebrate. They also offered the opportunity to present songs, dances, poems, camel races, ritual duels with swords, traditional games and other entertainment. Today, the Festival in the Desert on one side wants to give space to all Tuareg and other cultural expressions to be open to contributions from musicians around the world. Full board and overnight stay at 'La Colombe or similar.


Day 6 Saturday, 14/01/12 Timbuktu - Sangha

The morning breakfast and departure for Douentza, where you will stop for lunch. From Douentza, along the cliffs in the Dogon country is entered properly, the first villages looming on our right, and stops at villages Yendouma Bamba. A native of the region from which the Mande fled around the tenth century, probably to safeguard their cultural and religious identity, this people is undoubtedly the most interesting ethnic group of Mali Dogon .. The original location in this region must inaccessible and inhospitable mountain that dominates the plain of the Volta, where, perched on the sides of the cliff, were built of sandstone blocks from the villages or in natural cavities. Perfectly camouflaged in the landscape come together clusters of small huts dotted with compact groups of barns with a characteristic conical thatched roof and above the villages, burial caves where the dead are lifted by ropes. Mainly dedicated to agriculture, the Dogon have created an oasis of green with patience and determination carrying the land and building stone by stone dams and weirs. Set in a fantastic environment, these people developed a culture that has fascinated scholars and ethnologists. The worship of ancestors and a complex cosmogony are symbolized by naive and precious art forms: sculpture, masks, carved wooden doors and windows, musical instruments and ritual dances. Continue to the Sangha. Campement Overnight at, full board.


Sangha Day 7 15/01/12 - Irela - Tireli - Sangha

Through the villages in one of the most interesting but least visited Dogon country. Populated villages alternate with stretches of millet crops. At the center of each village or each district, here are Togu'na, meeting centers for the elderly, made of carved wooden pillars, which support thick layers of reeds of a mile. Lie in the shadow of the structure sitting or reclining on the contrary