Dates: September 23 – October 4, 2025

Duration: 12 days / 11 nights

Number of participants: 9 – 12

Cost per person:
- 4 390 EUR subject to 12 participants, or
- 4 490 EUR subject to 10 — 11 participants or
- 4 590 EUR subject to 9 participants, based on double accommodation.


10% early booking discount (in case you book before March 23, 2025)

Everything is included (also, domestic flight and armed security escort), except for:
- international flight to Niamey roundtrip
- Niger visa (we assist to arrange "visa on arrival" at 110 EUR incl. visa fee and pre-visa)
- international medical insurance
- lunches and dinners in Niamey and dinners in Agadez.

Estimated cost of international flight Moscow – Niamey – Moscow: 800 – 1300 EUR (to be bought on your own. We consult you).
Estimated cost of international flight Istanbul – Niamey – Istanbul: 850 – 1000 EUR (to be bought on your own. We consult you).

Single supplement: 440 EUR (provided in hotels throughout the entire itinerary).





TRAVEL PROGRAM: tour to Niger


Day 1. September 23, 2025 (Tuesday). Arrival in Niamey

Arrival by air in Niamey late in the evening. Transfer to the Grand Hotel 4*. Overnight at the hotel.

* Recommended flights:
- with Turkish Airlines, departs from Moscow on September 23 at 12:30 pm, arrives in Niamey on September 24 at 2:10 am, with 1 hour 50 minutes stopover in Istanbul,
- with Royal Air Maroc, departs from Moscow on September 23 at 7:30 am, arrives in Niamey on September 24 at 2:15 am, with 10 hours 35 minutes stopover in Casablanca,
- with Air Algerie, departs from Moscow on September 22 at 4:10 am, arrives in Niamey on September 23 at 0:20, with 13 hours layover in Algiers (extra night in the hotel in Niamey needed),
- any other flight with arrival in Niamey any time on September 23 or in the night from September 23 to 24.

Meals: no
Accommodation: Grand hotel or similar hotel 4*, shower


Day 2. September 24, 2025 (Wednesday). Niamey – Niger River – Niamey

Late breakfast at the hotel.
From 10 to 18 pm, while our guide clears visa process, we go for Niamey city tour: National Museum, Grand Mosque and main monuments.
Niamey – capital of Niger, with a high density that welcomes all the ethnic groups of Niger. The city is situated right on the banks of Niger River. Fishermen and farmers live along the majestic Niger River 4200 km long. By motorized canoe we discover this great river and also hippos along the fishing villages like Kanazi and Bubon.
Dinner at Le Pillier Italian restaurant.

Meals: breakfast
Accommodation: Grand hotel or similar hotel 4*, shower


Day 3. September 25, 2025 (Thursday). Niamey – Agadez

After early breakfast, at 07:00 am transfer to the airport for the flight to Agadez (flights available on on the particular days of the week. The schedule may change!)
Arrival in Agadez around 10:30.
Discover the mysterious city of Agadez: visit the livestock market, a gathering point for Tuaregs and a place for bartering, walk around the old city classified World Heritage by UNESCO, and see the Great Mosque of Agadez. The Great Mosque built in Sudanese style, fully made of banko – a mixture of mud, dung and straw, appears a visit card of Agadez. We also try to visit amazing Senegal Baker's house.
Agadez is a pleasant city to stroll, especially in its old center. It is the city of Tuareg people, situated right on the border of Tenere desert, a city crossroads of meeting nomads for the commercial exchanges with the caravan of salt coming from the North Sahara.
Dinner at Le Pillier Italian restaurant in Agadez.

Meals: breakfast, lunch
Accommodation: Hotel de la Paix or Hotel Ténéré, shower


Day 4. September 26, 2025 (Friday). Agadez – Wodaabe nomadic camp in Abalak area. Guerewol festival (290 – 350 km, 5-6 hrs drive)

In the morning, after breakfast, by 4WD jeep cars, accompanied by military escort, drive to the Abalak region – the area where Wodaabe nomads stay with their nomadic camp in Sahel, Wodaabe migration zone. This grazing area offers the chance to meet nomads on transhumance with their herds of cattle.
Picnic en route. Stop at Abalak, the last major town, before continuing to the Fulani camp at Guerewol.
Upon arrival at Wodaabe (Fulani) place, participate in Guerewol men's beauty contest in the night.
After a year of separation, the Wodaabe meet for several days, renew friendships and exchange information. They enjoy celebrations to live their traditions, celebrate weddings, participate in songs and dances or take part in various competitions. Among the highlights include the Wodaabe sprees on camel or traditional dances of Wodaabe men – showing up their beauty, their makeup and their eccentric adornment. Women's jury choses the best one, many couples are created these nights.
Stay with Wodaabe around the fire, takes to their famous Yaake dance.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents, local shower with the bucket


Day 5. September 27, 2025 (Saturday). Wodaabe nomadic camp. Guerewol festival.

Full day spend at Guerewol with Wodaabe people. Morning, evening and night sessions.
The Gerewol is a ceremony where the men dance and compete to be the most beautiful and the women are judges who can choose their future husbands. It is a unique opportunity to socialise and find a mate, before the nomadic pastoralist families part ways in search of better pastures. At the end of the rainy season, the grass is abundant in the Sahel but spread over great distances. In late September, all herds converge around the cities of Ingall and Abalak to meet in the rich salt pastures.
These large meetings is an opportunity for breeders to meet the needs of animals but also to socialize, find the couples and celebrate the big annual Guerewol.
Wodaabe is one of the tribes of Fulani group that populates this area. Wodaabe means "People of taboos" which underlines their strong traditions. They are famous for their unique culture and Guerewol men beauty contest. Wodaabe men will compete in traditional dressings and yellow and black make-up in order to highlight the whiteness of their teeth and eyes.
They dance Yaake, usually wearing 2 different types of cloths and 2 types of make-up.
For Wodaabe, they are considered the most valuable parameters in male beauty, along with the tallness and dancing skills. The whole days Wodaabe people will be performing Yaake dance, demonstrating their beauty, stamina and art of seduction. Thanks to magic power of the special potion, made of a dozen of herbs and barks, young Guerewol participants can sing and dance days and nights long to attract and seduce girls, and the latter make the choice to define the winner.
Photo sessions and visiting Wodaabe houses, talks about culture and lifestyle. It is also the moment to share the emotions of this ancestral culture that has been preserved and remains the most important link that the Wodaabe have the pleasure of sharing with the other Fulani people of Niger.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents, local shower with the bucket


Day 6. September 28, 2025 (Sunday). Wodaabe nomadic camp – Abalak — Agadez (290 – 350 km, 5-6 hrs drive)

In the morning, football match with Wodaabe in full dress.
Farewell with Wodaabe people and the place of Guerewol. Drive from Wodaabe nomad camp to back to Agadez via Abalak. It is quite a long journey of 300 – 350 km, depending on the particular place of Wodaabe nomadic camp.
Arrive in Agadez not late, check-in at the Hotel de la Paix or Hotel Ténéré with the hot shower. Stroll the streets of medival downtown of Agadez and tasty dinner at Le Pillier Italian restaurant.

Meals: breakfast, lunch
Accommodation: Hotel de la Paix or Hotel Ténéré, shower


Day 7. September 29, 2025 (Monday). Agadez. Touareg traditional ceremonies at Sultan’s Palace courtyard

Agadez is a historical city with a rich culture, whose ancestral traditions have been preserved for hundreds of years. The city is very cosmopolitan, with Hausa and Tuareg living side by side, but the different customs make this city an exceptional jewel.
Part of the day will be devoted to demonstrations of these Touareg traditions through the dances of local women's groups, and also to the initiation of young people into the indigo turban under the supervision of Tambari, supreme chief of the guardians of culture and curator of Bianou dances.
Touareg people, those who succeed to survive in the most inhospitable part of Africa, dressed in their indigo clothes, mounted on the camels will show their cultural features. We will be immersed in a great party atmosphere and also beautiful images of a people happy and fulfilled of its culture.
Another part of the day will be devoted to exploring the streets of Agadez, the imposing mosque and its minaret. Visit the market and shop for souvenirs.
Dinner at Le Pillier Italian restaurant.

Meals: breakfast, lunch
Accommodation: Hotel de la Paix or Hotel Ténéré, shower


Day 8. September 30, 2025 (Tuesday). Agadez – Tanout – Zinder (440 km, 7 hrs drive)

Early in the morning, after breakfast, by minibuses, accompanied by military escort, we head for the Damergou plateau and the Aderbissanet plain via Tanout. This arid region is the great corridor and gateway to the mythical Tenere, as well as the meeting point between the Tuareg and the Peul. We will see the rugged Tiguidit plateau, a barrier separating the plain from the dune desert. Picnic en route.
Zinder, also known as Damagaram, capital of the region of the same name, is Niger's second-largest city. It lies on an ancient and famous caravan trade route dating back to the 11th century. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Muslims used it as the capital of one of their states. Later, the Tuaregs tried to take it over from the French, but were unsuccessful. Zinder has a rich historical and architectural heritage, including the palace of the Sultanate of Zinder and the old town of Birni, whose houses are decorated with intricate geometric motifs.
Overnight in Zinder at the Birni House hotel or similar.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Birni House hotel, shower


Day 9. October 1, 2025 (Wednesday). Zinder – Maradi – Tibiri. Bori ceremony of Hausa (250 km, 5 hrs drive)

After breakfast, departure for Maradi, the economic capital of Niger. It's also the capital of the ancient empire of the Gobir and Katchina (Hausa Sultan) under the influence of neighboring Nigeria.
On the outskirts of Maradi is Tibiri where we will head to witness a big Bori trance and possession ceremony, an animist practice that survives despite Islam. It is an ancestral activity similar to the Voodoo in Benin. The ceremony will be held in front of the palace of Chief Gobir, a Sultan with very close ties to Nigeria.
Palace visit if the sultan is available.
Return to our Guest House Hotel, or Baobab hotel or similar.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Guest House Hotel, or Baobab hotel or similar, shower


Day 10. October 2, 2025 (Thursday). Maradi – Bouza – Tahoua (300 km, 7 hrs drive)

After breakfast, accompanied by military escort, we drive from Maradi to the Ader plateau, a cirque-shaped landscape with small cliffs. The landscape of Ader is dotted with adobe houses and Hausa barns, where we will be able to observe the agricultural activity of its inhabitants. We will make a stop in the village of Galmi, known for the production of onions, which are known as "the red gold of Galmi". Afterwards we drive to Bouza, an ancient town situated on the top of a small hill. The palace of the head of the canton (the title of the sultan's representative) was built there to protect him from the colonial penetration.
Late in the afternoon we will arrive in Tahoua for the night. Overnight at Hotel Tarka or Marianne.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Tarka, or Marianne or similar, shower


Day 11. October 3, 2025 (Friday). Tahoua – Yaama — Birni'n'Konni — Dogon Doutchi (350 km, 6-7 hrs driving)

If time permits, visit to the Sultan palace of Ader people in Tahua or koranic school.
Continue journey through the region of Ader, the region from which Niger's present president comes from. The adobe architecture of this region is impressive and we will make several stops to admire it. We will also stop in Yama, where one of the best examples of this architecture can be found. Yama is known as the city of 33 mosques. Several of them are imposing, but the Agha Khan Mosque is the most impressive of them all.
The Yaama Mosque is known to have won the Aga Khan Award. Amazing Yaama village of 33 mosques manually made of banko. Visiting most famous mosques and school if it is open.
Continue to Birni’n’Konni, a trading zone with neighboring Nigeria. The border is 10 km from the city, but the inhabitants live at the Nigerian pace.
Our route takes us to the Dogon Doutchi (« the large mountain in the middle ») which was once the site of Bori animistic ceremonies.
Overnight at the tourist camp, a typical place with a local atmosphere, a small bar and a simple, typical restaurant; just a place to take a shower, even if we don't say hotel – the rooms are air-conditioned and clean. Lunch en route and overnight at the Doutchi Inn.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Doutchi Inn, shower


Day 12. October 4, 2025 (Saturday). Dogon Dounchi – Dosso — Niamey — return flight (480 km, 7-8 hrs driving)

Early departure via Dosso, with a stop at the Palais Djermakoye, the Honorable Sultan Djerma.
We can reach Niamey in the late afternoon, to continue our tour of the city center before returning to our hotel.
Arrival in Niamey, late lunch at the restaurant of our choice or at Grand Hotel. Shopping at artisanal market if time permits.
Evening transfer to the airport for departure flight. International flight back home.

Meals: breakfast
Accommodation: no

* Recommended flights:
— Royal Air Maroc, departure from Niamey on October 5 at 3:15 am, arrival in Moscow on October 6 at 6:25 am, with 15 hours 20 minutes layover in Casablanca,
—Turkish Airlines, departure from Niamey on October 6 at 0:10 am, arrival in Moscow on October 6 at 17:55, with 2 hours 25 minutes stopover in Istanbul (extra night in the hotel in Niamey needed),
— any other flight after 10 pm on October 4 or in the night from October 4 to 5.


* The order of visits and excursions, as well as logistics of the expedition, can be modified according to local conditions (i.e. flight schedule, state of roads, state of security, schedule of festivals or ceremonies etc.). In the event of cancellation of domestic flight, the program can be respectively changed. If some visits and/or tours could not be done due to external conditions, they will be replaced when possible.

** The participant of expedition to Niger must be motivated to be respectful to the culture of local tribes, be aware of the objectives of the trip and possible program changes depending on external conditions, security conditions and any other reasons, be able to adapt to the new environment and culture.