In order to understand the fascinating Malian culture and its colourful mosaic of traditions and peoples, it is necessary to go back to its deepest roots, which originate in the green hills of the Pays Manding, a land steeped in history and ancestral spirituality. But also by immersing oneself in the chaotic contemporaneity of Bamako, with its cultural ferment, its contradictions and its ‘imaginative’ urban decadence. Two sides of the same coin.

A journey into the Malian ancestral culture, between divinations with the throwing of cauris, propitiatory dances of the valiant Bambara hunters and ancient legends sung by the griots. Historical places where Soundjata Keita and General Kamandjan Camara, in the Middle Ages, pronounced the first human rights charter in Africa and performed their heroic deeds, among sacred caves and miraculous rock arches. Enchanting landscapes and waterfalls hidden among the cracks in the rock, valleys of mangoes and wild plants with therapeutic powers, small mud villages where the inhabitants are said to still possess the occult power to transform themselves into lions.

But also a trip to Bamako, with its incredible cultural attractions, from the Musée National, which houses priceless artefacts from the Djene-Jeno site and votive statuettes from the Tellem era, to the bustling Grande Marché, where you can lose yourself for hours; from the picturesque fetish market, amidst bones, animal skins and lucky charms of all kinds (gris-gris), to the recycling market, amidst an acoustic horror vacui, which brings recycled metals back to life; or the meeting with the marionette player/artist Yaya Coulibaly, who guards the largest collection of marionettes in Mali and passes on this ancient theatrical, sculptural and therapeutic art around the world.

In addition, on this special departure, we will attend the Dogon Ogobagna Festival, where we will see traditional wrestling and mask dances, and the Festival on the Niger in Ségou, with live concerts, vernissages and pirogue races.