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10 Days Gerrewoll: The Festival of the Beauty Woodabe: For Those Who Follow The Ancient Traditions
offered by supplier M19125 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 10
day(s)
Group Size: 2
- 20
people
Destination(s):
Niger
Specialty Categories:
Festival Tours
Cultural Journey
Season: September
Airfare Included: Yes
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 2360 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 2360 US Dollar (USD)
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Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival at Niamey. Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 2: Niamey-Tahoua. Transfer by car to Tahoua on a good asphalt road.
Days 3 - 6: In Search of the Feast
Peuls live in the so-called Sahel, the savannah of the western Africa which extends from the Senegalese Atlantic coast as far as Chad lake. This area divides the Sahara desert from the Equator. Bororo people, who have part of culture and traditions different from Peuls, generally live in Niger, between Abalak and Agadez, in the northern Nigeria and in Chad, on the lake shore. Proud of their beauty and freedom Bororo people do not like the cities and the sedentary life and follow their herds looking for fertile pastures. During the year, small family groups wander far and wide across this infinite savannah and, at the end of the rain season, they gather in fixed places to start the "Gerewoll Festival".
During this festival men dance and show the beauty of their bodies: slim height, fine articulations, white teeth, round and big eyes. Women will choose the best dancer. This festival gives the opportunity to find a new partner and spend a whole year, perhaps lifetime, together. This festival is a coloured and unforgettable spectacle of several days (from 3 to 6). Our camp will be set amongst Bororo people: we will get some days in touch with Woodabe people making experience of their daily life, watching the care of their animals (zebů and cows) which represent the only wealth of this population, the preparations for the festival (every day from the early morning young people begin to make up), the organization of a camp, the life in the intimacy of the families.
Days 7 & 8: Haussa Architecture
The tour continues southward crossing a land inhabited mostly by Haussa farmers. In this region we can also admire the particular fanciful and very little known "banco architecture" (a mixture of straw, clay and animal excrements) of Haussa population; numerous villages fill up this monotonous landscape of savannah with its typical barns and the small houses gathered together: we will stop in Bouza, that is surely one of the most beautiful villages of Niger.
After the decline of Songhai rule (1541), Haussa territory became a big centre for trade and for islamic culture too; near the rural society started a kind of well organized urban civilization. Like many other Haussa villages, Bouza was exposed to numerous cultural influences but also to a succession of invasions that explain its overhead defensive position at the top of a rocky hill. The consequence was the creation of a society founded over the connection between the city and the country, where the city became the power centre and, at the same time, the seat of the regional trade.
Day 9: Konni - Kanazi. On the way back to Niamey to stop a Kouré which is the area last giraffes in West Africa at large. 1 night hotel Kanazi ŕ 15K Niamey at the edge of the river Niger.
Day 10: River Safari, aboard our boat (canoe) will sail on the Niger River meets the fishermen and hippopotamus. visiting villages Pottery Boubon - Island Kanazi songhai to meet the lord of the water. Short visit of the archaeological and ethnological museum of Niamey.
Day 11: Hotel rooms at disposal for a shower; dinner at the hotel and departure for Europe.
Note: This trip does not allow a daily program. Changes of the itinerary during the expedition can be made.
Notes:
Airfare is included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- 6 nights of hotel accommodation (double occupancy) and breakfast
- 3 nights of Tuareg tents accommodation during the festival
- Ground transportation in an air condition 4WD vehicle to all listed sites
- Full board pension prepared on the festival site ( 3 breakfast, 3 lunch, and 3 dinner)
- Mineral water
- Camel ride on the festival dunes
- An experienced English – speaking guide.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Niger
Local Culture
Festival Tours
Cultural Journey
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, ext: 19125
