Mali Horseback Tours

A special Thanks and introduction to:

Gorel Sidibeh - Sahara Passion
Partner and Tour Operator Extraordinaire


Shindouk Lamine - Sahara Passion
Our Tombouctou Connection

A brief thank you to Sue Wehner, Stephanie Van Reigersberg and Patricia Hills for their participation as "crash test dummies" for our 2009 Pays Dogon ride. Sue and Steph, thanks so much for your wonderful photo contributions!

We are fortunate to have been introduced to Oumar in-Dahoye el Arawanie who is a horseman of note, through Shindouk. It is unusual to find a horseman with Oumars talents among the Tuareg in the Tombouctou region, as the camel is the usual Tuareg preference. Ourmar has a passion for horses shared by serious horsemen world wide.

The festival dates for 2010 are planned for 7-9 January and the venue is Esskane, in the dunes of the Sahara

Le Festival au Desert, the Festival of the Desert, is held annually in the oasis of Essakane, featuring traditional Tuareg and celebrated Malian musicians as well as groups from other West African countries. Essakane is located in the Tombouctou region approximately 65 rugged kilometers from the city of Tombouctou.

Noted musicians in attendance include Tinariwen, the Tuareg group from Tombouctou that gained international notoriety with their performance during the debut of the festival in 2001. Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Habib Koite, the late Ali Farka Toure and his son Vieux Farka Toure are just a few of the shinning stars who delight the multi cultural international audience.

The idea for the festival took root in 1996 during a time when 3,000 guns were burned in the “Flame of Peace” to signify the end of fighting between peoples of the region. The idea was to combine the festival with the great traditional gathering of the nomadic Tuareg, or Tamashek people to promote the economy and develop the region. The name Tuareg applies to a Berber ethnic group and originated with the early explorers and historians of the region. The Tuareg call themselves Kel Tamasheq which translates to “Speakers of Tamasheq”. For centuries, traditional gatherings of these nomadic people have been celebrated with song, dance, poetry, ritual sword fighting, games, races and other customary entertainments.

For international visitors, the festival offers a wondrous occasion to be immersed in the world of the desert dwelling Tuareg. The three night festival provides a kaleidoscope of smells, sights and sounds that titillate the senses. Daytime activities include sampling delicious traditional food, shopping for treasures at the craft market, listening to impromptu concerts and participating in social interaction with people from local ethnic groups and visitor from around the globe.

The feature concerts begin in the evening and the impressive high tech sound system fills the starry nights with enchanting, rhythmic melody until the wee hours of the morning.

Tombouctou "The Mysterious" is a place of ledgends.

An historical center of trade, Tombouctou of old was also a center of learning. The many scrolls preserved in Tombouctou by the arid climate are currently in the limelight in world news. The scrolls, which are in the process of being professionally preserved and cataloged are said to rival the Dead Sea Scrolls in wealth of ancient knowledge and importance.

Visiting the Dogon area is truely facinating and a cultural experience not to be missed.

Dogon Country, or Pays Dogon as it translates in French, encompasses the Bandiagara Escarpment known as Falaise de Bandiagara that rises above the flat landscape of the Sahel on the fringe of the Sahara Desert and stretches for a distance of 150 kilometers. The escarpment is the home of the unique and fascinating Dogon people.

The cliff faces of the escarpment reveal small ancient cliff dwellings which are said to be the remains of the homes of the Tellem. The Tellem are said to have been very diminutive people and are reputed to have been a race of magical and mysterious beings. The remnants of their civilizations high up in the cliffs are reminiscent of some of the cliff dwellings thought to have been the home of the fabled Anasazi race in the Southwestern United States.

Old Dogon dwellings also perch high on the cliff face for in less peaceful times the Dogon people retreated from the lower elevations to escape their enemies. As the threat of attack from other tribes lessened over the years, the Dogon slowly moved their dwellings down from the cliffs. Many modern day Dogon villages are at the foot of the escarpment close to their fields which are planted in the lower elevations.

The Dogon are renowned for their traditions, legends and mythology in addition to their artistry and craftsmanship. Their hereditary astronomical knowledge, which relates to their religious beliefs, includes reference to a star they call Po Tolo; tolo meaning star and po being the name of a tiny plant seed. The western world knows this star as Sirius B, an obscure companion to Sirius, the Dog Star. Historical evidence makes reference to the star’s suspected existence in 1844; however it was not until 1970 that western astronomers first photographed the star. It is interesting to note that the Dogon conveyed their knowledge of Sirius B to French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen in the 1930’s. The Dogon’s astronomical knowledge continues well beyond the existence of Sirius B. Their traditional mythologies include an awareness of the four moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn and they believe that they were visited by extraterrestrials from another galaxy who taught them about the universe.

To the Dogon, whose myths and legends are learned through oral transmission, the adventures and actions of the gods are examined and characterize the behavior and actions of humans on earth. Their myths represent the entire universe with the world as a microcosm reflected in everything, including the surrounding stones, water, trees and man himself. Dogon rituals encompass the decorating of objects with symbolic designs and patterns which reveal their meanings to the initiated through encoded messages.

In addition to the symbolism found throughout Pays Dogon in the form of static objects including carved statues, household objects and jewelry; the Awa or cult of the masks plays an integral and important role in Dogon traditions and religion. Spectacular representations of the dances of the masks are performed for visitors in many of the larger Dogon villages.

Although Dogon beliefs center on cults, totems and ancestor spirits a good number of Dogon share Muslim beliefs and mosques can be found in the larger villages.

As is the norm in Mali, the Dogon people are friendly, welcoming and polite hosts to visitors to their villages.

The Niger River flows through the heart of Mali. It's waters provide an invaluable life source to much of the local population. Farming, fishing and commerce rely heavily on this mighty waterway.

Much of the road from Bamako to Pays Dogon and Tombouctou follows close to the path of the Niger. The fabled Mud City of Djenne, a World Heritage site, Segou and Segoukoro (old Segou) and the bustling river port city of Mopti are destinations well worth visiting that lay on the banks of the Niger. Even Tombouctou is only a few kilometers from the river.

Gorel is available for tours to these fabulous destinations, and we suggest that you take the time to visit them properly while on the road to Pays Dogon or Tombouctou. It is easy for us to organize a custom tour that combines horseback riding with stopovers in Segou. Djenne and Mopti

The following photos were taken along the river in Segou, Seoukoro, Djenne and Mopti and from the decks of a local river boat, called a Pinasse, during an amazing river voyage from Tombouctou to Mopti. For anyone interested in taking a boat trip down the Niger, we can organize this as well.

I hope you have enjoyed the photos and this small taste of Mali. Since "discovering" the country while on holiday close to two years ago, I have spent several additional months there exploring wonders and learning local traditions and language.

I am an American citizen, a Southern California native, living in Botswana, in Southern Africa. I came to Botswana early in 2005 to work with safari horses in the Okavango Delta. My experiences working with a horseback safari company in Africa for the past four years, added to an unquenchable wanderlust has led to the birth of our rides in Mali.

Prior to my relocation to Botswana, I trained horses and riders professionally for close to 30 years in the US.