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Festival In The Desert trip 2009
Barrie Birch:
Guy, THANK YOU for making magical moments happen in my life. The Mali trip was fab and exceeded the high expectations I had. I loved it all and we were blessed to have such a great crowd of people. So much credit goes to you and the wonderful Ally. Al and I loved Bamako, despite no live music in the week. I will return and certainly have a taste for W Africa. Keep me informed of you future plans. I may well be a repeat customer.
Richard Ross: I'm home and missing Mali already. Thanks for a truly memorable trip. From here 2 Timbuktu did a great job.
Cruise Senegal Trip 2009
Sacha Schoenfeld
Caroline and I both really loved the week, and have only good things to say about the trip. Great mix of people, great boat, great food, great guide! So a real winner – am sure everyone felt the same.
Ted and David Black. Scotland. February 2009
We had no idea what to expect of Western Africa, although we have previously been to most countries in the East and the South of Africa. The Senegal River Trip was a really great way to get a first feel for Western Africa. There are few river boats left now in Africa and this one was definitely worth the trip. Le Bou El Mogdad was bit more comfortable too than we expected - and served up better food than we expected. The trip gave a great insight into the continued existence of tribal subsistence living in the country - and for the twitchers there was really good birding as well in the Parc d'oiseau De Dijouf. (February we were there - for those birders who are keen to know where it fits in the migration routes. Try also the Iles de la Madelaine just a few K off Dakar if you have a few hours left for birding on the way home.) )
While Senegal is not big on either desert or big mammals it has given us a real thirst now to widen our West Africa experiences, and a trip with fromhere2timbuktu to Mali, and then the Cameroons, and then maybe Gabon in now definitely on our agenda. (Not all at the one time!)
Oh - and we should mention that Guy isn't a bad guide either!!! Very good actually. He makes it all happen - but quietly. Guy does a nice number in travelling Toureg style as well.
As General Paton famously said "I shall return".
Sara Wilmott
I just want to say what a great trip we had- I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise- previously having thought I'd NEVER go on one! Still I think it was a cruise "with a difference"- all v relaxed & informal- you do make an excellent guide /leader- not too bossy but making it clear what's required.
Jasmine Grassie: Weird to be back in the wilds of Radnorshire after feeling like I'd been rolled in the sands of West Africa - so many impressions, sights, sounds, tastes, and it took a little while not to address every stranger in my appalling french! What a party. I have nothing but good to say, and a huge thank you for being so cool and collected, and flexible.
Gilly Miller.
Huge congratulations to the maestro! WHAT a holiday! We just loved it all and I know just how much time and work you put into it. Every single hotel and eatery choice was perfect and no one even fell out - always a bonus.
Comments from The Festival In The Desert Trip Jan 08:
It was a truly inspiring and amazing holiday. Every day was a new adventure; every part of the country, from the plains, the river to the desert was a revelation - made me want to come back to Africa again and again. Our 'leaders' Guy and Aly were constant sources of fun, knowledge and information, coping with ever changing arrangements with extremely good humour.
It would be impossible to say what was the highlight of the holiday - music in the desert, the dramatic tuareg and their camels, surfing down a sand dune, walking in the Dogon country, visiting villages, waking up in Timbuctoo and looking out over the sand sea, falling asleep on the roof of a beautiful mud brick building while looking up at a blur of stars and a rising moon.. oh...and the cliff top villages cut into the rock face in the Dogon were something I will never forget.
Sara-Jane Hall, UK
A lot of people blench at the thought - or memory - of group travel.
I hadn't done it before going to Mali this year, and I had serious
reservations. But I could NEVER have had the amazing experiences that
I had without a lot more time at my disposal - not to mention
preparation, organisation, research etc. And in fact the group
experience was great fun, honest. The group chemistry was great. That
was partly luck of the draw, but it also had a whole lot to do with
Guy's knack of creating a positive, fun, cooperative dynamic. And Aly
is brilliant - a quiet fixer who knows everyone. As for Mali and the
Festival - magic. It's another world. I definitely recommend the
experience.
Amanda Vinnicombe, UK
Jane O’Toole, Uk
The Festival In The Desert was totally fantastic, definitely one of life’s peak highlights that left me planning my next trip to Mali.
Exotic,magic adventure and desret music to carry you across the dunes til dawn. I can’t recommend it highly enough. And Guy was great fun.
Go for it!
Faye, New Zealand
I went on Guy's inaugural tour last year and I really enjoyed it. I had spent a couple of months already travelling in Southern and Eastern Africa before joining the group in Mali so I was a little bit tired when I arrived in Mali but Guy's enthusiasm picked me up, and in fairness Mali is a pretty special place. I found it to be the most distinctive and culturally interesting country I had visited in sub-Saharan Africa. If you have a bit of patience and go with the flow its hard not to enjoy it. The itinerary is good and you have time to see most of the major sites. At times things will change along the way but it'll work itself out in the end. So sit back and enjoy. oh and the drive to the festival is the most fun i'd had in a car!
Shane Ryder, Ireland
My trip to Mali this January was the most fabulous way to start the year - I was really struck by the colour and vibrancy of the country and the holiday was full of adventure and fantastic new experiences - sleeping on rooves under starred filled skies, sailing past hippos on the Niger river, haggling for bargains in bustling markets, exploring ancient cave dwellings and, of course, listening to the music of Mali in the festival in the desert - accompanied by a camel or three.
Travelling in Africa is not for control freaks and you have to adopt the same relaxed attitude as those around you but once you do that everything is fine. Tour organiser Guy Lankester was a great leader - unflappable, relaxed and always ready with an entertaining anecodote and his in-country host Aly who kept everything under control, had the broadest and most frequent smile of anyone I've met. Overall an amazing holiday - I'll be back!
Bryony Worthington, UK
Aly was the best guide ever!! I cannot think of another guide who is as good. He was nice, friendly, open-minded and always there for us. I can't think of one thing he did wrong. We were able to rely on him completely and it was also great to talk with him about Mali and subjects like homosexuality, polygamy, slaves, etc that we couldn't talk about with anyone else. Everywhere we went he knew people and we were constantly being told how lucky we were to be with the best guide in Mali! :) We always knew what we were going to do in advance and he asked us what we thought about it and then adapted the schedule if needed. Even after we left him he kept checking up on us and helped us with a few things. He was perfect!
Sarid and Rhissa, our Tuareg guides in the desert, too were so nice and always doing everything they could to make us happy and comfortable. They would have set us up with families for the whole month in every place we visited had we let them!
I feel like we were very well prepared and informed before we left by Guy.
All in all the whole trip was amazing and nothing went badly wrong. The people were so nice and I loved meeting so many malians and so few tourists!
Helen Stevenson, USA, who travelled in Mali with her sister Laura on their own bespoke trip
Overland From Uk 2 Timbuktu
Diane Simcoe:, Nov 22 2008 - 2 Jan 2009
GOBSMACKINGLY AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFULLY FANTASTIC TOUR LED BY A MAD FUNNY INVENTIVE CLEVER GUIDE. Thank you.
Stefan Simanowitz
Dear Gaye the Tuareg, - enjoy the rest of your time out here and thanks for everything - its been a really fantastic trip.
