GEREWOL FESTIVAL
special for september 2005

1.

FLIGHT IN NIAMEY
Arrival in Niamey and transfer to hotel. Dinner at the hotel or at the restaurant.

Hotel

2.

TAHOUA - TABALAK REGION
Morning departure to Tahoua by minibus on tar road. On the way we will meet various villages with their mosques and their typical and coloured markets. We will join Tahoua and will continue with our 4x4 vehicles. We enter in the Sahel zone and we arrive in the Tabalak region, with its small lakes surrounded by agriculture and fishing activities. Picnic along the route. Dinner at the camp.

Camp

3.

TABALAK REGION - ABALAK
We will join the Abalak village crowded by Haussa, Tuareg, Peul and Arabic people. We will visit its livestock market: dromedaries, zebu and goats will be sold by the Nomadic people in order to buy millet, the and sugar Picnic along the route. Dinner at the camp.

Camp

4/5/ 6/7.

BORORO REGION - GEREWOL
Bororo people meet at the end of the rain season at Gerewol. Corporeal beauty is important: of a lean and sinewy stature their daily clothing is kept to a minimum, otherwise their beauty is camouflaged. The men make up their lips, eyebrows, and cheeks with natural cosmetics. They wear beautiful jewellery in the form of feathers, pearls, amulets and they dance together to attract the attention of girls with comic expressions and songs. In the area there are many Gerewol meetings: once we have found one of these, we will place the camp in order to assist for some days to all Bororo cerimonies. Picnics and dinners at the camp.

Camp

8/9/ 10.

VALLEE DE TARKA - ZINDER
We will continue towards East, to join the Vallée de Tarka, we will visit the Haussa villages to admire their typical architecture and to discover their traditions. We join the former French capital of Zinder, where we will visit the town with its Sultan's Palace and traditional Haussa architecture. Picnics on the route. Dinners at the camp.

Camp

11.

MARADI AREA
We will take the main route towards Niamey, passing through the town of Maradi. Picnic along the route. Dinner at the camp.

Camp

12.

NIAMEY - FLIGHT OUT
We drive back to Niamey, where we will arrive in the early afternoon. Time free for visit Niamey. Rooms in day use at the hotel. Picnic along the route. Dinner free. In the late evening, transfer to the airport and fly out.

Gaweye Hotel