Festivals of West Africa

Arrival at Airport and transfer the hotel.
Overnight stay at Hotel Azalai, four stars, international standard (no meals included).

Arrive to Grand Bassam: an old town built on a sand bank between the lagoon and the ocean. It was the former capital of the French Ivory Coast colony and now a maritime leisure resort for the Abidjanese. Thanks to its calm avenues shaded by tall trees, large bougainvillea and well-preserved colonial buildings, Grand Bassam has a magic atmosphere. The old post office is a jewel of colonial architecture. The Costume Museum, at the former governor's palace, with its grand outdoor staircase is an architectural gem and its unique collection of tribal costumes, masks, ornaments and ethnographic photographs offers an interesting insight into the country's history and culture. We continue in a westerly direction to Abidjan.

Overnight stay at the comfortable and new Azalai hotel, four stars, international standard, or similar.

Beyond the lagoon, the “plateau” (the City District) is growing very fast, not horizontally as in most African towns but vertically, with its large modern buildings and skyscrapers. Not much land is available and the little available must be continually recovered from the waters of the Ebrié Lagoon. The modern City District is defined to the west by the harbour and its endless queues of people waiting for a public boat, and to the east by the silhouette of Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral. The chaotic traffic is the negative result of the country's rapid economic development, which has reached 6% of GDP since the civil war. Afternoon, Motorway departure for Yamoussoukro.

Dinner and overnight stay at the comfortable Royal Hotel, swimming pool, air-conditioned self-contained rooms, or similar (no twin rooms available).

Yamoussoukro is the country’s formal capital since 1983 and native village of Houphouët-Boigny, the first President of independent Ivory Coast. Here the Ivorian dream of the 1970s and 1980s has come true, the dream of a country that, despite its shortage of major natural resources, has create the largest economy in French speaking West Africa. We visit the Basilica of the Virgin of Peace, inspired by St Peter’s in Rome, the largest Christian building on earth, with unique high colourful glass windows. We see wide boulevards where the few cars try to avoid the big potholes, zebus and chickens. The huge government buildings, large hotels up to 14 storeys high and even an artificial lake inhabited by crocodiles give a feeling of abandonment.

In a village we attend the Zaouli dancing masks. Zaouli is a traditional dance of the Guro tribe. The Zaouli mask, created in the 1950s, was probably inspired by a girl named "Djela Lou Zaouli". However, origin stories are varied and each mask may have its own symbolic story. The uniqueness of the Zaouli dance is the fine and sophisticated movement of the legs and feet.

Arrivat to Daloa, dinner and overnight stay at Hotel La Grace, self-contained air-conditioned rooms, or similar (no twin rooms available).

We start our journey across coffee and cocoa plantations, dotted only by small villages. Ivory Coast is the world’s main cocoa producer, the second is Ghana and together, they represent more than half of the world production. Leaving the main road, only 4x4 vehicles can drive to remote villages in the forest, where the arrival of foreigners is a rare event to encounter the Guere ethnic group. We will discover the powerful Guéré Mask that leave the sacred forest to dance in the village when important guests arrive.

(If we are lucky) the rare “Jugglers” will perform: girls initiatory Juggling is an ancient tradition now vanishing. We have discovered one of the last villages where is still practiced.

Dan and Guéré ethnic groups known for their masks considered among the masterpiece of African Art.

Arrive in the evening at the small town of Man, surrounded by 18 green mountains, the capital of this forest region.

We will spend two nights at a comfortable hotel in Man.

Dinner and overnight stay at Beau Séjour hotel, air-conditioned self-contained rooms, swimming pool, or similar (no twin rooms available).

Entire day dedicated to the region of Man. If the Guéré masks are known for their powerful and rough appearance, the Dan masks are one of the most beautiful tribal masks due to the delicate balance of shapes symbolising beauty. In a small village nearby, masks emerge from the forest towards us. In the cosmogony of the Dan people there is a creator god who communicates with human beings only through its intermediaries, the masks. During the mask dance the distance between the human and the spirit worlds disappears, the cosmic and the social orders are restored, and gratitude is expressed to the gods and the ancestors.

The Man market is an important trading point with villagers coming from the region and from the forests of the neighbouring countries.

It will be possible to find a wild choice of handicraft and, with some luck, authentic tribal masks and ritual objects.

Dinner and overnight stay: return to the Beau Séjour hotel, air-conditioned self-contained rooms, swimming- pool, or similar (no twin rooms available).

A road in the lush vegetation will bring us to a remote village and a short walk to a spectacular liana

bridge that crosses a large river in the jungle. Liana bridges are masterpieces of a genuine "tribal technology". They are built exclusively with vegetal materials, as wood and lianas without the use of nails or rope nor other materials foreign to the forest. Only the initiated can harvest the lianas and the wood, leaving them in the forest. It is believed that a powerful spirit will build the bridge in one night.

During the preparation of a new bridge neither women nor not-initiated are allowed in the forest, to guarantee the secrecy of this "magic technology".

After many formalities we will cross the border with Liberia in a hilly and luxuriant landscape.

In the ancient time the shore of Liberia was known as the Pepper Coast by the European navigators, trading a rare spice the Melegueta Pepper at that time called Grain of Paradise.

Evening arrival at Gbarnga. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel Passion 2, air-conditioned self-contained rooms (no twin rooms available), or similar.

Arrival in Monrovia the capital of Liberia for lunch. Liberia is the only African country which has never been either a colony or a protectorate. The country was founded by freed slaves brought back from America to Africa that speaks Kreyol (Krio) they represent 5% of the population. They are considered the creators of the Nation and the main actors of modern economy and politics. 80% of the population speaks Kreyol, a sort of American English “Pidgin”.

In the afternoon, our ocean-view hotel is the best starting point to visit town. Freemasonry has a great impact on the history of Liberia and Krio culture. Visit of the Grand Masonic Temple imposing building. A symbol of Monrovia is what left of the Ducor Palace, inaugurated in 1960 was one of the first five stars hotels in Africa. Located on a rocky hill in the highest point of Monrovia, dominate the whole town and the bay. The hotel hosted events and parties of the African elite at the time of independences. In the large pool facing the ocean Idi Amin used to swim caring his pistol at the belt while his friend Miriam Makeba was singing. During and after the civil war the building was looted several times, the hotel is now abandoned and closed, but seeking the right permission, we may be able to visit it. In 2008 the government made a deal with Ghaddafi to rebuild this hotel, however the project, as many other Libyan development projects, never came to conclusion thanks to the war that Europe and America started to overthrow Ghaddafi.

The building of the National Museum is a display of Krio architecture. In the museum we discover a large collection of ancient masks and ritual objects and a photographic show about the long civil wars which took place between 1989 and 2003.

Dinner and overnight stay at the comfortable Cape Hotel, four stars, international standard, situated at Mamba Point, the best area of Monrovia. Or similar

Old colonial buildings, stone Krio churches will be also part of this intriguing Monrovia visit.

Mano river is a natural border between Liberia and Sierra Leone.

After the border formalities we will continue a spectacular new road in the forest of in Sierra Leone. Sierra (Mountain Range) of Lions was the name that the first Spanish navigators give to the littoral of this country. Arrival to the busy and friendly town of Bo where we will spend two nights.

Dinner and overnight at the comfortable Bo Inn Hotel, self-contained rooms with A/C, (no twin rooms available), or similar.

Diamond seeking is as addictive as gambling at least, the possibility of finding a “fortune” can become true, just for few most lucky. Diamonds have played an important role in the recent troubled history of the country. The quantity and quality of “stones” still to be find is important. We reach a village. After asking permission to the chief some villagers will take us to the site where we can meet the diamond seekers. A local person explains us the technics of artisanal mining and “sand washing”. In Town we will visit a “Diamond Shop” where rough diamonds and digging equipment are trade.

In most parts of Africa, the masks are male’s prerogative, however among the Mende people and neighbouring populations the Bundo masks are a female’s domain. Bundu and have a crucial role in the girls’ initiation rites. We reach a village to attend the exit of the masks, an event that calls a colourful crowd. Return at our hotel in Bo.

Dinner and overnight at the comfortable Bo Inn Hotel, self-contained rooms with A/C, (no twin rooms available), or similar.

Early departure, drive to the Atlantic coast, at the village of Kent we will leave our vehicles to board on a local boat for a brief navigation to Banana Island. Afternoon circumnavigating the island to discover a pristine paradise and a remote Krio village.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at the cozy Bafa fix camp. Permanent tents hidden in the forest facing the ocean (only 5 twin rooms available). Sanitary central block. Fine cuisine based on the catch of the day (other meals available, ask in advance). Cocktails and tropical ambiance.

The boat will bring us back to the continent. Drive along the coast at the slopes of the Freetown peninsula mountains… only the yellow of the beaches divide the green of the lush vegetation from the blue of the ocean. The country has been named after these mountains, the Sierra of the lions.

The beaches are considered between the best of West Africa. Relax, swim and lunch at one of the more spectaculars beaches of the country called River Number Two.

Arrival to Freetown the capital of the country.  Visit of the interesting and unique Sierra Leone Peace Museum, retracing the history of the ten years long civil war that has devasted the country.

Dinner and overnight stay at the comfortable Swiss Hotel, four stars, international standard (no twin rooms available).

Freetown origins: in 1786 the first three hundred and eighty freed African slaves arrived in Sierra Leone from America where they have fought in the independence war on the side of the British. After having lost the war, the British sent them to Sierra Leone and created the first freed slave settlements. Few months after their arrival, the newcomers were starving, got new and unknown diseases and fought with the locals, who could hardly stand them. A few years after, during the Napoleonic war, Freetown was displaying the British flag and had been attacked by seven vessels of the French navy and destroyed. Few survivors escaped on the pirogues sent by… the slave’s traders.

From 1807, due to the abolition of the slave trade by the British Empire, the ships of the slave’s traders caught by the British Navy freed the slaves in Sierra Leone. In 1808 Freetown became the capital of the first British colony in tropical Africa. At that time the Krio peoples, or ex slaves, were more than 50,000, creating an elite who put pressure on the administration for better education. In 1845 "Fourah Bay" the first University in West Africa was built. During Colonial time Freetown was known as the “Athens of West Africa”. Interesting, busy and colorful town can be visited renting a tuc-tuc, local three wheels taxi. The center of town, its Krio and Colonial architecture, the remains of Cotton Tree, the museum, the palace of justice, St. George's Cathedral, are the “must” of the visit. After many border controls, arrival to the Guinean town of Forécaria.

Dinner and overnight at Malaika Village, facing a large river. Self-contained A/C rooms, (no twin rooms available), or similar

An itinerary through valleys and mountains will bring us to Kindia for lunch. Kindia is a pleasant trading town between the coastal regions, the Fouta Djallon large mountains region and the western forests.

Dinner will be a special degustation of different specialities of Guinean gastronomy.

illuminated by the glare of the fire, called by the intense rhythm of the drums will appear and dance the local mask from the sacred forest, the main and more spectacular is the Baga Nimba, considered one of the symbols of the country. 

Overnight at Hotel Masabi or Moringa, air-conditioned, self-contained rooms or bungalows, (no twin rooms available), or similar.

Mamou is the door of the Fouta Djalon massif.

A panoramic road will bring us on the southern slope to Dalaba, at an altitude of 3 900 Ft. (1200 m.).

Fouta Djalon: thanks to its cool and healthy climate, it was a favourite place for the French to holiday during colonial times. The coniferous forests have remained as a reminder of that era. Considered the most spectacular area of Guinea: mountains, plateau and savannah alternate with deep wet valleys. This great mountain massif is the 'water reservoir' of West Africa, from Guinea flow three rivers that give their names to four nations: Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Gambia. This territory is home to the Fulani (also called Peul), who are famous for their beauty cult and are considered the greatest zebu breeders south of the Sahara.

We will visit Dalaba, a small and quiet town. Of an interest is the “casa a palabra” (the house of words) with fine bas-relief in a pure Fulla (Peul) architectonical style. Here the chiefs used to meet with the colonial administration. Visit to the villa built by the colonial governor and later used by the first president of independent Guinea. The leader of the independence was Sekou Touré, one of the most radical anti-colonials African President; he refused any cooperation with the French and created strong ties with the Soviet Union and a personal friendship with Ceausescu. Some villas used by the ministers and by the guests of Sekou Touré are reminiscences of that time. In a today ruined villa, Miriam Makeba met and married Stokley Carmichael, an exile from the US who was among the inspirators of Black Panthers armed wing

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel, Tinka Eco Lodge. Air-conditioned self-contained rooms (only 2 twin rooms available).

Full day dedicated to discovering Fouta Djalon, where mountains meet savannah, deep valleys, towering waterfalls framed by forest make the landscape of pristine beauty. The Peul ethnic group (also called Fulla or Fulani) hails from this area. The Peul are known for their beauty and for being the best zebu herders in West Africa. In the 17th century, the Jihad of the Fulla (Peul) started from these mountains, leading the Peul to conquer most of the savannah as far as Cameroon, and they are the largest group in the sub-Saharan savannahs.

A large round clay hut with an ornate grass roof is where the main council meets and where traditional chiefs from all over Fouta Djalon are appointed; thanks to our connections we will ask to be received by the chiefs and dignitaries who sit on the council....

Evening arrival in Labe, called the “capital” of the Fouta Djalon region.

Dinner and overnight stay at the simple but clean Hotel Tata, self-contained air-conditioned bungalows.

Very early departure for a long day of drive. Experiencing a region with wild empty spaces, spectacular mountains covered with a wooded savannah, tropical dry forests and isolated Fulla (Peul) settlements. At a remote border we will cross into Guinea Bissau. Evening arrival in Gabu.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel Karsa, air-conditioned self-contained rooms, (no twin rooms available), or similar.

Morning departure. We leave the main road for a small village in the Malinké region.

The Malinké are the descendants of the ancient Mali Empire and are widespread in the current territories of Mali, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Guinea Bissau. Griots are a group of musician-narrators dating back to the 13th century Mali Empire. The village we visit is known for griot families who have been passing on these traditions for generations since the days of the Empire. Well-known also for their skills in producing musical instruments, they will perform a concert for us. Lunch and visit of Bafata to discover the old Portuguese colonial architecture. Evening arrival in Bissau, the capital of the country. Day-use: Dunia hotel, four stars, international standard, until 6:00 p.m. Transfer to the airport for you night flight out, for those flying back. No dinner included.

Overnight stay at Dunia hotel, four stars, international standard.

Experience a three-day spectacular navigation on a speedboat to discover the Bijagos Archipelago, their fascinating nature and isolated tribes. The Archipelago, composed by 88 islands and islets, is at an average of 40 miles from the coastline. Bijagos is a “geographical jewel” for natural and cultural richness.

Bolama was the former capital of Portuguese Guinea from 1871 to 1941, when it was moved to Bissau. When the Portuguese left, native people came to squat this town. The town is now falling apart, partly invaded by tropical vegetation. Bolama, which has been built according to the model of a «Castrum Romanum» (roman citadel), is now a mix of straight large avenues, sunny and lethargic empty squares, dry fountains, bush-like gardens and falling apart Neo-Palladian administrative buildings. In the shade of the columns of the former governor palace, goats graze peacefully; although inhabited, this town enjoys a fairy-tale atmosphere of a ghost town.

Dinner and overnight stay at Ponta Anchaca, international standard 4-star resort, the best address in the archipelago. Comfortable air-conditioned wooden bungalows hidden by the vegetation, facing the ocean. Restaurant on stilts with refined French and tropical cuisine. This lodge will be our base for two nights.

In the afternoon a short navigation to Bubaque island, the tiny “capital” of the Bijagos Archipelago, with its small but colorful market.

Due to the remoteness, the lack of transports and the deep attachment of the locals to their traditions, the Bijagos tribes have been little influenced by the external world. Life in the villages is characterized by initiation rites and secret ceremonies. In some villages, the young men must go through a seven-year initiation rite living in a “convent” without contact with women. In the Bijagos Archipelago life is still ruled by the “cycle of seasons”.

During the long dry season, when harvest is over, the main ceremonies take place. Vaca Bruto (wild bull) is the most spectacular mask in the islands, the dancers convey the mask a realistic presence by bowing and facing the ground. With eyes of frosted glass, real horns, leather ears and a rope through the nostril, all conveys the idea of a real untamed animal. Vaca Bruto represents a young man in full possession of his physical strength but still with an immature behaviour as he has not yet undergone the final initiations. All the villagers attend this fascinating ceremony.

Back to our comfortable Ponta Anchaca Resort, 4-star air-conditioned wooden bungalows, hidden by the vegetation, facing the ocean.

Relax morning at Ponta Anchaca wild beaches and swimming pool.

Afternoon navigation to Bissau.

A vehicle will be waiting us for a brief city tour. Bissau is a tiny but intriguing capital, with old Portuguese architecture and atmosphere and a huge fort, a reminder of the slave trade era.

Day-use until 6:00 p.m. Transfer to the airport for a night flight out.