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в Гималайский клуб в Москве:
628 21 12 / 621 67 85
 HYPERLINK "mailto:andrey@himalaya.ru" andrey@himalaya.ru
 HYPERLINK "mailto:sergo@himalaya.ru" sergo@himalaya.ru


DAY 1  BAMAKO
Arrival  and transfer to hotel
O/N hotel Plaza

DAY 2 BAMAKO – SEGOU
After a slow wake up today , we will visit the central market of Bamako and then leave the African metropolitan for Segou, Mali’s fourth big town.
O/N L’AUBERGE

DAY 3  SEGOU—DJENNE
A long drive today to get to the water locked land of Djenne, a once great religious and commercial center located on the Niger river. Djenne was built in the 14th century and has the fine Afro- Arab Architecture, including the most famous mosque in all  of Mali. The largest clay building in the World. Mondays are the market days where hundreds of people will stand around the mosque to sell their goods. Impressive the way the people arrive to this market, by carts pulled by Donkeys, horses, cows or by trucks overloaded with humans.
O/N CAMPEMENT OF DJENNE.

DAY 4  DJENNE – MOPTI
We will have a full day visit of Djenne including the surrounding Fulani villages, the Koranic schools, and the market.
O/N HOTEL KANAGA.

 DAY 5 / 6  NAVIGATION
With a [pinasse]  that is what the boats with out board motors on the Niger river are called—we will have a navigation on the river for a two day visits to the BOZO islands, who are said to be the best fishermen on the river to see how they do their fishing and preserving. These fish find their way through the whole west African region.
O.N CAMPING and HOTEL Kanaga

DAY 7 MOPTI
Mopti, *the Venice of Africa*, a town consisting of three small islands linked by levees. Mopti’s two story earthen architecture strongly reminiscent of classic adobe American southwestern, is as impressive as Djenne’s, particularly the Mosques. We will visit the market when the town is swollen with thousands of people who arrive by Pinasse to buy and sell wares at the Grand Marche. A multitude of ethnic group wear white Islamic robes, colorful boubous[batik robes] or brightly painted  Fulani hats that seems strangely Vietnamese.
O/N HOTEL KANAGA

DAY 8 MOPTI – SANGA
Driving eastwards we arrive at the most famous cave of the Dogons in the highlands called SONGO where circumcision is held every three years. We visit the cave with it’s paintings and designs. The village of SANGA which is the capital of the Dogons is of great interest on it’s own for the stone houses, the weaving Dogons and the Market of sanga.
O/N   CAMPEMENT HOTEL.

DAY  9 SANGA – FALESIA
We start the day by a short walk to visit the town before departure to the escarpment. There will  stops on our way down to visit the onion growers on the plateau who are very resisting to photography.
O/N CAMPING

DAY 10/ 11  FALESIA
The  average tourist does not come to the Dogon country to visit the villages on the plateau due to the difficult, hard and sandy road. With many Dogon converting to Islam and Christianity, animism seems to be on the decline in many villages in the dogon country, whiles on the other hand the legendary places continued to be respectfully treated as Sacred, and, moreover, many animistic traditions are still practiced indoors in certain homes.
 We will hike across the falais  from YUGODOUGOU to YUGOPIRI  WHICH ARE the two most important villages in the falais of the Dogon where the SIGI is normally commenced and celebrated.
O/N CAMPING
  
DAY 12 FALESIA – DUENZA
We start the day driving towards the legendary TIMBUKTU. Through the sandy roads and the bushes,  we will still have the Dogons to visit as they form about ¼ of Mali’s population.
O/N CAMPING

DAY 13  DUENZA – TIMBOUCTU
The road leads to the Niger river bend that leads to Timbuktu. We will drive through the land of the pastoral Tuareg with their animals and tents with thorny fenced compounds. The ferry takes us  across THE RIVER and there we are TIMBUKTU.  `
O/N  HOTEL AZALAI

DAY 14 TIMBUKTU
Legendary Timbuktu was founded by Tuareg nomads at the end of the 12th century and was once the capital of  a flourishing Tuareg Empire. Now land locked away from the shifting river Niger, Timbuktu was a meeting point for caravans that descended from the MAGHREB [settled area in the northern Sahara that spawned the caravans] to cross the Sahara, and of Pinasses plying the river with cargoes of Gold from the mines of Bourem. In it’s long history, is has been occupied by the Mandingo, then the Songhai’s of Gao, then the Moroccans and finally again by the Tuareg. We Take an afternoon tour of the interesting places .
O/N HOTEL AZALAI    

DAY 15 TIMBOUCTU – BAMAKO[fly]
We fly today to the capital of Mali Bamako. The administrative buildings have the marks of beautiful Neo- Sudanese style. The museum is the best ethnographic museum in West Africa. It’s great collection displaying the beauty of African shapes containing ancient art objects of astonishing beauty. We will admire masks , ritual sculptures, archeological Terra cottas, textiles, musical instruments and traditional weapons… time to get ready for departure
ROOMS FOR DAY USE AT HOTEL