Festival in the Desert - Mali & Burkina Faso
18 days, Tue 28 Dec 2010 to Fri 14 Jan 2011
Take the journey through “the land of honorable men” (the translation for Burkina Faso) to the fabled city of Timbuctoo where you have the chance to explore and enjoy the towns, markets and sites of remoter regions. Here the village life remains at the heart of society and the traditions of the forefathers are still practiced today. With a boat trip along the mighty Niger River, winding its way among the desert landscape, where no river of this magnitude should reasonably exist, we finally reach the most remarkable and remote of these towns in Timbuctoo. Its reputation was forged by 19th Century explorers with stories of camel caravans and a great seat of learning. In the dunes about 65 km from this fabled town the most unique musical event in world music takes place – the Festival au Desert. Forget about the sand in your socks and dance the night away as the sun sets and you soak up the African atmosphere. If you would like to see a clip of Ali Farka Toure performing at the Festival, please click here
Daily details in brief
Day 1: Tour starts in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
Day 2: Ouagadougou - Bobo Dioulasso
Day 3: Bobo Dioulasso
Day 4: Djenne (Mali)
Day 5: Djenne - Dogon
Day 6: Dogon trekking
Day 7: Dogon trekking
Day 8: Dogon - Mopti
Day 9: Mopti - Niafounka (boat journey)
Day 10: Niafounka (boat journey)
Day 11/12: Festival au Desert
Day 13: Timbuctoo
Day 14: Timbuctoo - Ouahigouya (Burkina Faso)
Day 15: Ouahigouya - Ouagadougou
