Terminus Timbuktu - 13 days

Day 1: Arrival in Bamako, Mali
International flight arrives in Bamako; airport to hotel transfer; evening free; overnight in Bamako (Grand Hotel, or similar)

Day 2: Bamako - Djenne (570 km) (B)
Enjoy Mali's sahelian scenery on your 7-hour drive to Djenne; see cotton and millet fields, baobab trees, traditional villages with their unique architecture; overnight in Djenne (Hotel Campement, or similar)

Day 3: Djenne - Sevare (120 km) (B)
Explore Djenne, Timbuktu's ancient sister-city; see the fabulous Great Mosque, one of Unesco's World Heritage monuments; visit mudcloth artisans in their workshops; after lunch, drive to Sevare; overnight in Sevare (Hotel Siby, or similar)

Day 4: Sevare - Hombori (315 km) - Douentza (142 km) (B)
Drive (~3½ hours) to Hombori; visit the Hand of Fatima, an amazing natural rock formation in the Hombori Mountains; overnight in Douentza (Hotel Falaise, or similar)

Day 5: Douentza - Timbuktu (500 km) (B)
Continue driving across the Sahel (~6 hours), to mythical Timbuktu ! overnight in Timbuktu (Hotel Hendrina Khan, or similar)

Day 6: Timbuktu / Sahara Desert (B)
Full day in Timbuktu to explore this legendary city: visit the mosques, the museum and the Ahmed Baba Institute archives of ancient Islamic manuscripts, the explorers' houses, and the market which receives the azalaïs, the salt caravans from the desert; in the afternoon, enjoy an outing into the desert by camel caravan to visit a Tuareg camp on the dunes; return to and overnight in Timbuktu (Hotel Hendrina Khan, or similar)

Day 7: Timbuktu - Sevare (540 km) (B)
Say goodbye to Timbuktu and drive across the Sahel (6 hours), back to Sevare; overnight in Sevare (Hotel Siby, or similar)

Day 8: Sevare - Dogon country (110 km) (B,L,D)
Enter Dogon country: visit the Dogon village Songo on the plateau (see its renowned rock paintings and circumcision grotto); also visit the cliff village Banani; overnight camping in Banani

Day 9: Dogon country (B,L,D)
Visit the villages Tireli, Amani (see the sacred crocodiles), and Ireli; overnight camping in Koundou

Day 10: Dogon country (B,L,D)
Visit the villages Yuga and Yenduma; then back up the escarpment to Sangha; overnight in Sangha (Hotel Campement Guina, or similar)

Day 11: Dogon country - Mopti (110 km) / Niger River (B)
After breakfast, depart Dogon country and drive to Mopti, also called the Venice of Mali; see all of Mali's ethnic groups converge in this important Niger River port city: Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Fulani, Dogon, Songhai, Tuareg and Haussa; enjoy a sunset sail on the Niger River in a traditional riverboat; overnight in Mopti (Hotel Kanaga, or similar)

Day 12: Mopti - Segou (405 km) (B)
3½-hour drive to Segou; en route, visit the village Terekongo, site of a sacred well of the Bobo people; visit Segou, Mali's second largest city, with its beautiful old Sudanese-style colonial architecture; overnight in Segou (Hotel Independance, or similar)

Day 13: Segou - Bamako (235 km) (B)
Visit Sekoro, the "old Segou" and ancient capital of the Bambara kingdom; see the tomb of king Biton Coulibaly; 3-hour return drive to Bamako; Bamako city tour (as time permits): the National Museum, the city market, the artisans' village; in the evening, transfer to the airport for your final departure

Optional: Dogon mask dance on Day 9

Optional: day-room in Bamako on Day 13