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ARTS AND CULTURE ADVENTURES TO MALI, WEST AFRICA ADOBE ARCHITECTURE TOUR January 3- 19, 2012 HIGHLIGHTS OF MALI & MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR, February 13- 28, 2012
Planned to take advantage of cool weather, these unforgettable adventures begin in the Malian capital city of Bamako and continue on into the fascinating, rural, northeastern areas to see all the highlights of this amazing country. Mali contains three UNESCO World Heritage sites that we will visit! We spend the first days in Bamako visiting the National Museum and a talented marionette maker, plus we see the bustling markets of Bamako. We continue to Barou's hometown of Ségou where we will have the treat of a typical dinner and a special musical performance of great Malian music, especially for our group. At a renowned bogolanfini or mudcloth studio, we'll use the iron-rich mud dye to paint our own creations suitable for table runners or scarves. We will also observe professional mudcloth artists decorating
tra CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON MUDCLOTH We take a relaxing pinasse riverboat tour on the Niger River to visit the Bozo pottery makers on the other side; they will show us their open-air kiln and how they build their pottery. Also in Segou, you can visit the school we help to support with donations of school supplies and other items brought by us and BTSA travelers. In this school, classes often have 80-100 students in one class, not enough desks, nothing on the walls, little light, etc. For more about our school project, and how you can help, email us. Many people help a gret deal by bringing pencils, pens, notebooks, and other useful things that the parents must pay for if their children attend school. This is where Barou went to elementary school !
In 1988, the old town of Djenne and its enormous mosque were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Next morning is the colorful and chaotic Monday Market in Djenne; you'll have free time to wander around and check out the interesting things for sale. Later that afternoon, we drive to Mopti, visit the market at water's edge, and see the slat slabs that were brought from the salt mines north of Timbuktu. After a restful night and perhaps a swim at our Mopti hotel [at right], we fly to fabulous Timbuktu (another UNESCO Heritage site), on the edge of the Sahara Desert. We see the library of ancient Islamic texts, the mosques, a traditional house/museum, and see the houses of several historic explorers. Around sunset, we drive into the desert to visit with Tuareg or Tamashek peoples. CLICK HERE FOR MALI PHOTO GALLERY Back in Mopti, we drive, t Then we head back to Segou and finally Bamako, to see or do anything we missed before. The first trip includes seeing fabulous examples of traditional architecture, observing adobe construction methods in Mali, how they compare with California adobes, for example, etc. We'll stop to see adobes being crafted and we will see the several innovative alternatives that have been introduced to better withstand the rain. We also go into Burkina Faso to see the famous painted adobe houses of the Tiebele area (if the current political issues calm down; otherwise we stay in Mali where there is plenty to see). On the Music Festival (second) trip, you'll attend 3 days of the in laid-back and friendly Segou, Barou's hometown. But you will hear music on the first trip and you can't help seeing architecture on the second; the emphasis is different, that's all! Otherwise trip activities are very similar on both. No matter which itinerary you choose, the adventure is guaranteed to be the kind of trip where you "meet the people" and see the "real Mali!" ADOBE ARCHITECTURE TOUR January 3- 19, 2012. HIGHLIGHTS OF MALI & MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR, February 13- 28, 2012. Above trip includes tickets/entrance to the Music Festival sur le Niger River, in Segou. PRICE for either tour: $4695 Includes all meals and all drinks with meals, all accommodations in comfortable local hotels, in double rooms [most with A/C], transportation by private van and driver [or 4x4 vehicles to some sites on Architecture Tour], round-trip Timbuktu flights, Music festival tickets on second tour, bottled water on road trips, entrance to all museums and sites on the itinerary. Single supplement available. Not included: Personal expenses such as visas, luggage porter tips, overweight luggage fees, laundry charges, guide tips, cotton cloth for optional dye workshop. << Return to Previous Adventures
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ditional and modern bogolan fini, and visit a strip weaver who does amazingly intricate and interesting work. 
From Segou, we drive northeast and take a ferry across a shallow section of the Niger to arrive in Djenne, home of the world's largest mud building, the Great Mosque. Djenne, the oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa, was founded by merchants around 800 AD, near the mysterious and ancient archeological site of Jenne-Jeno, which itself dates from around 250 BC. 
hen hike, to visit traditional villages and meet the Dogon people of the Bandiagara Escarpment. We'll see their amazing masks, stilt dancers and others, and learn about their culture and art. With enormous jutting cliffs, massive baobab trees and amazing adobe architecture, Dogon country is unlike any other place on earth! [Hillside village at left.]