Nomadic Niger – Cure Salée / Gerewol Festival (8 Days)

Arrival in Niamey.
If travelling through Algiers, your arrival time is expected at 00:20.
Airport reception and transfer to hotel, Teneré Hotel or similar, for overnight stay.

Breakfast at 8:30 and we will depart for Kouré.
Kouré is best known for West African giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), an endemic subspecies of West Africa. The population of giraffes in Niger reached a low of 50 animals 1984, subspecies of West Africa. The population of giraffes in Niger reached a low of 50 animals 1984, but according to the Association to Safeguard Giraffes in Niger (ASGN) there are now 170 of them
We will be seeing of the last of theses Barilla giraffes, visit some unique places where we can see giraffes.

After several hours, we will return to the hotel. Niamey and Kure are 70 kilometers apart.

Arrival at the hotel.
Overnight stay included breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast at 08:00.

Today we visit the city of Niamey, the large market, and a visit to the craft centre.
Niamey is the capital city of Niger, located on the banks of the Niger River. It is home to several museums, including the National Museum of Niger, which houses a collection of traditional crafts, musical instruments, and archaeological artifacts.

In the afternoon, we will visit a fishing village by boat.
After the visit, we return to the hotel.
Overnight stay included breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

After an early breakfast, at 07:00, transfer to the airport to take a domestic flight to Agadez
Flight time of about 02 hours.

Arrival in Agadez at about 14:30.

Transfer to your L’Auberge d’Azel hotel
At the crossroads of ancient trans-Saharan caravan routes, three minutes from the airport, imbued with the tradition of hospitality of the town of Agadez. L’Auberge d’Azel welcomes you into the coolness of its walls of ochre clay; its pleasant open-air dining room and air-conditioned salon.

Historic Centre of Agadez – a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to several ancient landmarks, including the Agadez Mosque, the Sultan’s Palace, and the Agadez Grand Mosque.    

Known as the gateway to the desert, Agadez, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert,  developed in the 15th and 16th centuries when the Sultanate of Aïr was established and Touareg tribes were sedentarized in the city, respecting the boundaries of old encampments, which gave rise to a street pattern still in place today. 

The historic centre of the city, an important crossroads of the caravan trade, is divided into 11 quarters with irregular shapes. They contain numerous earthen dwellings and a well-preserved group of palatial and religious buildings including a 27m high minaret made entirely of mud brick, the highest such structure in the world.  The site is marked by ancestral, cultural; commercial and handicraft traditions still practiced today and presents exceptional and sophisticated examples of earthen architecture.

During the afternoon we will visit the market, a gathering point for Tuareg livestock and a bartering area.

Return to hotel and overnight.

Breakfast and transfer. In the morning, we travel to the Agadez region (Ingal).
Depending on the group and the timing, we can observe the training at Wodaabe. This pastoral area will allow for encounters with nomadic transhumance nomads and their herds.

Wodaabe are nomads, migrating through much of the Sahel from northern Cameroon to Chad, Niger, and northeast Nigeria.

The last nomads in the area, the Wodaabe number between 160,000 and 200,000. Other around them – the Hausa, Fulani, and Tuaeg – regard the Wodaabe as wild people. The Wodaabe refer to the Fulani with equal disdain as Wodaabe who lost their way.

Picnic en-route before continuing to the nomadic herder camp.

Bivouac set up under the tent.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Breakfast. Festival celebration.
Relaxation and participation in the ceremony with dances, songs, and visits to the camps.

We will attend the different, various, dances and songs, day and night. This is the grand gathering of nomadic peoples. An ancient tradition.

Highlights include makeup shows, seduction, love, and other camel-themed activities

Full board cooking by our cook.
Meals breakfast lunch dinner

Overnight in the Bivouac.

Very early breakfast at 7:00.
Follow the festival program.
Today, the festival is more interesting. We can chat with the Borroros to learn more about their culture. This is our last day with them.
We will attend various dances and songs day and night.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included.
Overnight.

Very early breakfast at 06:00.
Departure from Ingal to Agadez.
On arrival in Niamey, transfer to the L’Auberge d’Azel hotel in the afternoon.
Free time at the hotel until 22:30, transfer to the airport for the return flight. 

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included

The tour ends at the airport for check-in and security formalities and to board the flight home.
If flying home via Algiers, the departure is 01:20.

END

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Group minimum 04

Solo Traveller – on request
02 pax EUR1590 per person
03-04 pax EUR1325 per person
05-10 pax EUR1050 per person
11-15 pax EUR950 per person

Accommodation shared

Single supplement: EUR100

50% payment required on booking

Remaining payments can be done in 2 instalments with the final payment, 2 weeks before departure.

Cancellation fees apply – for further details see:
https://hodophileexperience.com/index.php/about-our-trips/