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From Here to Timbuktu Cultural Exchange
June  2008
Proposed Itinerary

Day1/Day 2 : USA---Dakar—Bamako, (Sunday & Monday)
Depart from the U.S. via Dakar, Senegal into Bamako, Mali. Arrive in Bamako, check in hotel.  Depending on which travel option is chosen, individuals can arrange own airline travel from U.S. into Bamako, Mali.  Delegation members have to be in Bamako NO LATER THAN Monday for early morning flight to Timbuktu.

Day 3 : Dakar-Bamako-Timbuktu,
(Tuesday)  ( B,L)
Very early morning arrival in Bamako with a few hours rest in a hotel close to the airport. Morning local flight out to Timbuktu. Day for resting; Group orientation to West Africa. Visit city official or scholar home.
Overnight in Hotel Colombe or Azalai.

Day 4 : Timbuktu, (Wednesday), (B,D)
Breakfast Walking tour with Timbuktu historian. Visit the most celebrated classical city recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The architecture in mud is influenced by the Sudanese-style. The houses made of Moroccan rock and wooden door with iron reinforcement is a reminder of the city of Timbuktu (Tombouctou). The city of 333 Saints possesses three mosques. Break for lunch. Visit manuscript library at the Ahmed Baba Center, housing precious manuscripts from the 14th century. Free afternoon.

Overnight in Hotel Colombe or Azalai.
Day 5 : Timbuktu (Thursday), ( B,D)
Breakfast and visit one of the celebrated private family libraries with lecture from one of the scholars. Break for lunch. Discover the Sahara, enjoy an adventurous afternoon camel ride in the desert dunes of Timbuktu with overnight stay at a Tuareg Camp.

Day 6 : Timbuktu---Mopti (Friday),  (B,D)
Early breakfast back to the city of Timbuktu. Depart for Mopti. Discover the semi-desert scenery in arrival at Mopti. The city is mostly inhabited by the Fulani people, also will have an opportunity to mingle with the Boozo tribe, the boat dwellers.
Overnight in Mopti.

Day 7 : Mopti---Dogon Country -- Mopti (Saturday),
 July ( B,D)
Breakfast, early, drive By Jeeps to Mali's fascinating Dogon country; visit Songo village, renowned for its circumcision grotto with rock paintings, continue to Sangha; walking tour of Sangha, and the afternoon, return to Mopti.

Day 8 : Mopti---Djenné (Sunday), July  (B,D)
Breakfast  and drive by jeep to Djenné,  Arrival and lunch and city Tour to Djenné. We will see the big mosque built in 1906 in Sudanese style very special in Djenné, the grave of the young girl TAPAMA, burried alive to allowed the population of Djenné to settle in this area in the 9th century. We will see the Women association who make the mud cloth with different figures which symbolise the daily ocupation of different ethnic groups. Dinner and overnight in the campment.

Day 9 : Djenné—Ségou---Bamako  (Monday), ( B,D)
Breakfast and departure to Bamako, lunch in Ségou, the ancient capital of the Bambara Dynasty. In the afternoon, arrival in Bamako. Dinner at a restaurant or be a guest at one of the local people home.

Day 10 : Bamako---Dakar (Tuesday),  (B,D)
Breakfast in the AM. We will have an opportunity to tour the city of Bamako and explore the market places of Mali capital city. Go to shopping at the Grande Marché (Big Market). Visit and lecture at the National Museum and then preparations for departure to Dakar, Senegal in the PM.

Day 11 : Dakar---Goree’ Island (Wednesday),  (B,L,D)
Arrival in Dakar with airport pickup to a private villa outside of the city.  We will be hosted by a Senegalese family.  Breakfast and group orientation to Senegal.  Ferry crossing and tour of Goree Island.  Depending on schedule may have opportunity to visit marketplace.

Day 12 :  Dakar – Touba (Thursday), (B,L,D)
Visit the city of Touba, the burial place of the founder of Mouridism, Cheikh Amadou Bamba Mbacke (1850-1927).  Touba is thus the holy place of the brotherhood.  Touba has the most extraordinary mosque - built 87 metres high, it is visible for miles across the flat plain - is the largest and one of the finest in West Africa.  Possible visit with the city’s scholars.

Day 13 : Dakar – Marketplace (Friday),  (B,L,D)
Free morning.  Will have an opportunity to visit and do last minute shopping in market place in the afternoon.  Very late night departure for the airport.

Welcome back home !!!

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