► Trip to Niger: Gerewol Festival and sudano sahelian architecture

24 Sep. - 04 Oct. 2023 (11 d. / 9 n.) / TRIP COMPLETED

Ethnographic trip to Niger specially designed to experience the Gerewol Festival, organized by the nomadic herders of Wodaabe tribe.

The Gerewol is a courtship ceremony that consists of a kind of beauty contest. Its participants are the young Wodaabe, whose objective is to attract the attention of the unmarried girls of the clan in order to be chosen as a couple.

During this trip to Niger, we will live with other ethnic groups from the Sahel and the Niger desert, such as the Tuareg and other Fulani subgroups. We will enrich this experience by exploring the winding streets of Agadez, Tahoua, Yaama and Dosso. These historic cities preserve numerous examples of Sudano-Sahelian adobe architecture, taking us back to Africa's medieval past.

If you want to know the detailed itinerary you can download it through the form that you will find below. Click here to easily reach the form.

The tour guide will be Joan Riera, an anthropologist specializing in African ceremonies and architecture. More information about the guide.

Gerewol Festival

The boys prepare for the Gerewol Festival with a careful make-up session. They use natural pigments in order to enhance the whiteness of your teeth and eyes. In addition, they wear the traditional cowry ornaments, colored fabrics and ostrich feathers. The young people dance with slow movements, accompanied by verses and grimaces. The combination with the consumption of natural stimulants leads them to a trance state. The Wodaabe's Gerewol Festival is definitely one of the most evocative traditional events in all of Africa.

Sudano-Sahelian architecture

We will walk the streets of historical cities such as Agadez, Tahoua, Yaama and Dosso. There, we will find beautiful palaces and mosques of Sudano-Sahelian architecture. It is characterized by being made from adobe.

Living with other tribes

During the trip, we will live with other ethnic groups from the Sahel and the Niger Desert, such as the Zerma, the Tuareg, the Hausa and other Fulani groups.

Kouré Giraffe Reserve

We will go on a safari through Kouré to observe these beautiful ungulates. It is a sanctuary for the last 'white' giraffes of the African Sahel.

Do you want to know the detailed itinerary of the trip?

This ethnographic trip to Niger is designed for lovers of ethnography, culture, photography and architecture. Click on the button below to easily reach the itinerary download form.