Day 0 : Wednesday: Arrival in Bamako

Reception at the Airport, transfer to a hotel

Overnight in Bamako

Day 1 : Thursday : Bamako

Bamako, capital of Mali, where you’ll visit:

• the craft market,
• the big mosque,
• the women museum Muso Kunda,
• prehistorical caves,
• the national museum,

Overnight in Bamako

Day 2 : Friday: Bamako - Segou

Segou, capital of the ancient Bambara kingdom and also an important town in the colonial time, where you’ll visit:

• Sékoro, the ancient city and first capital of the Bambara kingdom,

• Esitex, School for Textile Industries,

• A traditional brewery (millet beer),

• A tapestry,

• The colonial neighborhood with its Sudanese architecture,

Overnight in Segou

Day 3: Saturday : Segou

• The Markala dam, built during the colonial age and one of the most important in the world (at 35 km from Segou). On the way back:
  • the canal of Bambougou NTji, dug to satisfy the follies of a young queen who wished to listen to the sound of hippos from her bed room,
  • the mosque of Dougouba, built in the 9^th century,
• Kalabougou, the famous pottery village (by boat),
• Dinner accompanied by traditional music and dance,

Overnight in Segou

Day 4 : Sunday : Segou - Djenne

In the morning : Departure to Djenne, arrival around noon

Djenne, founded in the 9th century, received ivory, gold, slaves, wool, cola nuts, from the South, and transported them. Djenne was developed from the 12th century on. Today Djenne is most known for its Sudanese architecture in red loam and its huge and beautiful mosque that's under protection of Unesco. You’ll visit:

• The museum,
• the mosque,
• the grave of Tapama Djenepo (a Bozo girl who was sacrificed (buried alive) to prevent the water of the river to submerge the town,
• the ancient Moroccan palace,
• some Koran schools.

Overnight in Djenne

Day 5 :  Monday : Djenne – Mopti

• the monday market in Djenne,

Departure to Mopti, arrival around noon

Mopti is built on three islands that are related by dikes. It's at the same time an important commercial center and an ethnic intersection, at the confluence of the Bani and the Niger. You'll visit:  

• the handicraft market,
• the place where pirogues are manufactured,
• the pottery market,
• the harbor,
• the art gallery in Sevare.

Overnight in Mopti

Days 6, 7, and 8 :  Tuesday – Thursday : Mopti – Timbuktu by boat

Two nights of camping at the bank of the river

Arrival Day 8, in the afternoon.

Timbuktu : legendary town at the border of the Sahara desert, that occupied a strategic position in the trans Saharan commerce in the past and was at the same time a study center for law and theology. you will visit:

• the Djingareiber mosque, built in the 14th century,
• the house of Gordon Laing, the first European to have reached the town, in 1826, where he was murdered,
• the house of René Caillé, French explorer, who arrived in Timbuktu in 1828,
• a museum,

Overnight in Timbuktu

Day 9 : Friday : Timbuktu

• the big market
• Bar du Nord
• Ahmed Baba Center
• Sankoré University
• Camel ride into the dessert.

Overnight in a Tuareg settlement

Day 10 : Saturday : Timbuktu - Sangha

Dogon country: The Dogons left the Manding country to escape Islam in the 15^th century and settled down along the cliff of Bandiagara, which is about 200 km long and 200 m high. Because of their isolation, the Dogons have not been much influenced by the outside world and have preserved their culture.

Overnight in Sangha

Day 11 :  Sunday : Dogon country

• Walk from Sangha to Bongo and further to Banani, Pégué, and Ireli

Overnight in Ireli, camping

Day 12 : Monday : Dogon Country

• Walk from Iréli to Amani (where you can see the famous Dogon alligators), Tirelli,
• A Dogon puppet dance in Tirelli

Overnight in Tirelli, camping

Day 13 : Tuesday : Dogon Country

• Walk from Tirelli to Nambori, Dourou

Overnight in Dourou, camping

Day 14 :  Wednesday : Dogon Country - Segou

Arrival in the afternoon

Overnight in Segou

Days 15: Thursday : Segou - Bamako

• Free program in the morning,
• Picnic for lunch, at the bank of the river Niger under the mango trees of Sébougou,

Departure to Bamako

Transfer to the Airport

Tariff on request

Please find more information on our tariffs on the page tariffs

Day 8: Wednesday February 04:

Mopti-Bandiagara

Dogon Country: The Dogons left the Manding country to escape Islam in the 15^th century and settled down along the cliff of Bandiagara, which is about 200 km long and 200 m high. When they arrived, they found the Tellems, pygmies who where hunters and collectors and lived in the caves of the cliff. After two centuries of cohabitation, the Dogons chase away the Tellems but their habitations were conserved and today the Dogons do their sacrifices in this caves. Because of their isolation, the Dogons have not been much influenced by the outside world and have preserved their culture. You will visit :

• The town of Bandiagara (the house of its founder and the palace of El Hadj Omar Tall),
• Djiguibombo,
• Kani.

Night in Kani, in very simple conditions   

Day 9: Thursday February 05:

• Ende
• Teli.

Djiguibombo is a village built with stones on the hill, where one finds a Toguna (meeting place for men) and a Guina (temple). The other villages are built with a mixture of mud and straw at the foot of the cliff. One can find there beautiful wooden sculptures and bogolans. In Ende you will visit the Hogon, the religious chief of the Dogons.

Overnight in Mopti

Day 10: Friday February 06:

Mopti - Teriyabougou

Teriyabougou : the name of the village means « the friendship hut». Teriyabougou is an experimental center for renewable energy, on the bank of the river Bani, founded by a French missionary. He succeeded in creating a real microclimate, with an animal park and kitchen gardens. Whoever loves nature, must absolutely visit this paradise on earth.

Night in Teriyabougou 

Day 11: Saturday February 07:

Teriyabougou – Bamako, transfer to the airport (end of the tour)

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'Festival on the Niger' tour, 13 days

Local Tours: Segou and environment 

If you live in Mali you sometimes feel like further discovering the country. Segou, on the bank of the river Niger at 130 miles northeast of Bamako, is the capital of a region with a centuries old culture. Savane Tours offers you the possibility to meet this culture by means of innovating tourist tours through the heart of the savanna:

• Segou in two days
• Segou in four days
• Tourist weekend 

Segou in two days

Route :                   SEKORO- KALABOUGOU- MARKALA

Arrival in the afternoon in Motel Savane.

The First Day: 

THE OLD SEGOU- A POTTERY VILLAGE

• In the morning: breakfast and departure for Sekoro, the old Segou and the first capital of the Bambara kingdom, which was founded halfway the 18th century. Here, one can observe the majestic royal court of the first king of Segou: Biton (leader of the dynasty of the Coulibaly) as well as the hill on which he organized his meetings. Also in Sekoro one can watch the mystic two hundred years old mosque of Ba Sounou Sacko (king Biton’s mother), with an architectural style comparable to the mosque of Djenne,

• For lunch: picnic on the bank of the river Niger under the mango trees of Sebougou,

• Early in the afternoon: departure by boat for Kalabougou, a pottery village where the earthenware is baked on a big funeral pyre, 

• Return late in the afternoon and observation of the sunset on the Niger,

• Dinner in the Motel.

The Second Day :            THE DAM OF MARKALA- CRAFT CENTERS 

• In the morning: breakfast and departure for the dam of Markala at 35 km, built during the colonial age and one of the most important in the world. This dam distributes the water of the river Niger among irrigation canals for the cultivation of rice.

• On the way back: stop in Bambougou (30 km), for a visit to the canal of « Bambougou N’tji », dug at the price of numerous human lives, to satisfy the caprices of a young queen who wished to listen to the sound of hippos from her bed room. Today, it’s this canal, which provides the whole village of Bambougou for water,

• visit to the mosque of Dougouba, built in the ninth century,

• Return to Segou round noon and lunch in the Motel,

•  Early in the afternoon, we’ll go into town to visit a traditional brewery, the colonial neighbourhood and a weaving mill,

• Return to the motel late in the afternoon, dinner followed by music and traditional dances.

The Third Day:  RETURN JOURNEY OR CONTINUATION

Breakfast and departure for other sites in the country or return to Bamako.

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Segou in four days

Route :                   SEKORO- KALABOUGOU- MARKALA- TERIYABOUGOU

Arrival in the afternoon in Motel Savane.

The First Day: 

THE OLD SEGOU- A POTTERY VILLAGE

• In the morning: breakfast and departure for Sekoro, the old Segou and the first capital of the Bambara kingdom, which was founded halfway the 18th century. Here, one can observe the majestic royal court of the first king of Segou: Biton (leader of the dynasty of the Coulibaly) as well as the hill on which he organized his meetings. Also in Sekoro one can watch the mystic two hundred years old mosque of Ba Sounou Sacko (king Biton’s mother), with an architectural style comparable to the mosque of Djenne,

• For lunch: picnic on the bank of the river Niger under the mango trees of Sebougou,

• Early in the afternoon: departure by boat for Kalabougou, a pottery village where the earthenware is baked on a big funeral pyre, 

• Return late in the afternoon and observation of the sunset on the Niger,

• Dinner in the Motel.

The Second Day:  MARKALA – BAMBOUGOU – DOUGOUBA –  COLONIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD

• In the morning: breakfast and departure for the dam of Markala at 35 km, built during the colonial age and one of the most important in the world. This dam distributes the water of the river Niger among irrigation canals for the cultivation of rice,

• On the way back: stop in Bambougou (30 km), for a visit to the canal of « Bambougou N’tji », dug at the price of numerous human lives, to satisfy the caprices of a young queen who wished to listen to the sound of hippos from her bed room. Today, it’s this canal, which provides the whole village of Bambougou for water,

• visit to the mosque of Dougouba, built in the ninth century,

• Return to Segou round noon and lunch in the Motel,

• Early in the afternoon, we’ll visit the colonial neighbourhood with its Sudanese architecture,

• Return to the motel late in the afternoon, dinner.

The Third Day:            TERIYABOUGOU

The name of the village means « the friendship hut». Teriyabougou is an experimental center for renewable energy, on the bank of the river Bani, founded by a French missionary. He succeeded in creating a real microclimate, with an animal park and kitchen gardens. Whoever loves nature, must absolutely visit this paradise on earth.