Timbuktu & Dogon Trails

Mud Mosque at Djenne
We drive to Old Segou, and then on to the old trading port of Djenne. Its narrow alleyways and mud-brick Afro-Arab architecture make it a place of wonder. The Grand Mosque here is the tallest dried-earth building in the world. We ramble through Djenne's scenic market which sells everything from stylised wood carvings and gold jewellery to salt blocks and dried fish.

Niger Cruise & Timbuktu
We charter our own pinasse (a canvas-roofed motorised boat) to cruise from Mopti to Timbuktu. We'll pull in to explore villages with friendly fishermen, and to observe a variety of birdlife on the marshy shores. At night we camp on the banks of the Niger, savouring the adventure of cruising one of the world's greatest rivers. Finally, we arrive in Timbuktu and explore the winding alleys of this intriguing city, once a famous centre on the lucrative trans-Saharan caravan route, wealthy from trade in cargoes of gold and salt.

In Dogon Country
Entering Dogon country - a wilderness of rock, shrub and barren sands - we set out amongst the Dogon villages, exploring each village and camping under the stars at night. Their characteristic flat-topped and cone-roofed houses are stacked tightly together in tower-like constructions below the great yellow sandstone cliffs of the Bandiagara Escarpment. Little influenced by outsiders, Dogon tribal life is ruled by magic and cosmology, symbolised in funeral celebrations and spectacular masked dances which we hope to witness. Their carvings are prized collectors' pieces.