Day

2

Dakar, Senegal

After breakfast at your hotel you will be transferred to the Dakar port where you will depart by modern boat to Goree Island cruising time fifteen minutes. Goree Island is less than four kilometers away from Dakar. It is located in the middle of the natural harbour formed by the south coast of the Cap-Vert Peninsula. It thus represents a safe anchorage. This explains why the island was, since the 15th century and for centuries, a high stake for different European countries which successively used it as stops and slave markets.

You will have a very particular feeling while strolling through the island's quiet and narrow streets. For three centuries, Africans were reduced to slavery and embarked from Goree Island to America (mainly Louisiana) and the West Indies. The famous Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves), one of the most visited museums in Senegal, is a testimonial of the slave trade.

After the tour return to the mainland for a city tour of Dakar in the afternoon to include the Marche Kermel and Presidential Palace. Return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight.

Lodging:Sofitel Teranga (B,L,D)

Day

4

Timbuktu and Sand Dunes of the Sahara, Mali

After breakfast board your private airliner for a flight to the legendary town of Timbuktu. Modern transportation takes away none of the mystery or isolation of this ancient stop on the caravan route. This afternoon see the distinctive architecture of Sankore, where thousands of students once lived, and Djinguereiber. Both mosques date from the 15th century. Visit the small ethnological museum and walk past houses once enlivened by legendary explorers Rene Caille, Gordon Laing and Henry Barth. Continue by four-wheel-drive vehicles into the Sahara sand dunes to a Taureg encampment. These "blue men of the desert" entertain us with folklore, sword dances, colorful robes, and camel rides. Sheltered by a banquet tent, enjoy a firelight dinner of roast mutton while the moon rises.

Lodging:Royal Desert Camp (B,L,D)

Day

6, 7, & 8

Djenne and Dogon Country, Mali

After breakfast (Day 6) board several light coaches for Djenne, the oldest city in West Africa. Many aspects of its adobe architecture remain unchanged, and a walk down narrow lanes reveals traditional markets and crafts such as weaving and cloth-making. The centerpiece of the town is its mosque, the largest mud building in the world and an excellent example of Sudanese architecture. Return to Mopti for dinner.

On Day 7 set off in four-wheel-drive vehicles for a full day at the Bandiagara escarpment, home of the distinctive Dogon people. The Dogons fled to this remote region in 1300 A.D. in an attempt to avoid conversion to Islam. Their mud villages and cliff-side dwellings are reminiscent of cliff dwellings of the American southwest, but their culture and cosmology are entirely original. Aspects of this unique culture are revealed in the masked dances, which they perform Vibrant mask dance in Dogon country, Mali for us with great gusto to the chanting of a "griot" and village drummers. Return to Mopti for dinner.

On Day 8 board pirogues for a view of Malian life on the Niger and Bani rivers. Boats travel the river, while on shore rows of clay pots, slabs of salt and baskets of salted fish await transport.

Lodging:Kanaga Hotel (B,L,D)

Day

10

Bamako, Mali

Depart by road this morning for Bamako. En route visit Segoukoro, a village located on the banks of the Niger River. This small village has preserved much of its charm over the centuries. For many years Segoukoro was the chosen residence of the Bambara Emperors. Continue to Bamako where you will have dinner and an overnight. The Salam Hotel is ideally situated on the main route to the central district on the left bank of the Niger River, adjacent to the Congress Center and next to the newly built King Fahd Bridge. Tonight we enjoy a farewell celebration at the Salam Hotel

Lodging:Salam Hotel (B,L,D)