One of Africa’s most spectacular festivals
September 27 – October 5, 2019
At the end of the rainy season, each year, a specific place is chosen by the local elders deemed to be the best grazing for the cattle, and the semi-nomadic Wodaabe people gather for a week of incredible celebrations known as the Gerewol Festival and to exchange news. The festival is a mass courtship ritual where the young Wodaabe men decorate themselves with elaborate paint, layers upon layers of Jewelry, fancy hats, and elaborate costumes in a display to attract the young women in search of a partner. The men will spend hours applying makeup and dressing up, which differs greatly from clan to clan. The Sudoskai typically paint their faces in red and orange wearing beautiful tall hats and turbans, while the Njapto paint their faces in white dots and patterns wearing ostrich feathers on their heads. Once presentable, they gather in groups singing for hours while making wild eye movements to impress the beautiful young tattooed ladies. During the festival, the young girls will approach one of the dancers and signify their choice by humbly touching him. This can signify either a desire for marriage or for something brief.
Few people are privileged to witness this festival. With our excellent local guide, we travel to a remote part of the Shahel where our crew has set up a proper mobil tent camp, in advance, at the festival location. We will have the incredible opportunity to socialize with the Wodaabe during the celebration, join them for a feast, see them race through the desert, and dance for hours upon hours. The experience will take your breath away while also providing unique photographic opportunities that few others may ever have.
Itinerary
Day 1 – September 27, 2019
Arrive N’Djamena
Upon your arrival at the international airport in N’Djamena Chad you are met by a member of our ground team and transferred by private vehicle to your tranquil luxury hotel along the banks of the Chari River. This is the perfect place to unwind after your long journey and prepare for the fantastic festival ahead. Arrive anytime on this day.
Accommodations: Hilton
Day 2 – September 28, 2019
After a hardy and scrumptious breakfast, we will hop in our land cruisers and drive through the Sahel to where the Wadaabe people have chosen to hold the Gerewol festival. Once settled in our camp, we will have an introduction and leisurely visit with the Wodaabe people.
Accommodations: Proper Mobile tent camp
Day 3 – 8 – September 29, – October 4, 2019
Arriving before the festival will give us plenty of time to visit the various temporary, but ornate, family camps sites and observe the groups as they arrive. Over the next five days, we will immerse ourselves in the festival and have plenty of time to witness the different rituals of the culture and celebration. Even among this authentic community, the open and curious Wodaabe people will make you feel very much at home.
The Wodaabe are one of the largest semi-nomadic cattle-herders and traders in Africa with migrations stretching from Senegal to Sudan. They are still very traditional; the women often have tattooed faces and plait their hair often with coins or disc. Their cultural behavior emphasizes reserve and modesty, patience and fortitude, care and forethought, and loyalty to their chiefs. They place great importance on beauty and charm and are known for their elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies.
Like most tribes, the Wadaabe are split into several clans with the two most significant being the Sudoskai and the Njapto. We hope both will attend the festival, as they did last year, but if not, the other is usually close by and will do our best to visit them both.
Once started, this festival is non-stop, except during the day when the Wodaabe are resting up to prepare for the evening festivities, which also gives us some down time in camp to rest, download and review images, and discuss the creative process.
Accommodations: Proper Mobile tent camp
Day 9 – October 5, 2019
There will be one last morning to spend time with the Wodaabe before saying our good-bye’s and making our way back to N’Djamena. We have arranged for you to have a day room at the beautiful Hilton where you can enjoy a leisurely afternoon around the pool, clean up and rest up before being transferred to the airport for your flight back home.
Please book international flights after 9 PM.
Accommodations: Dayroom only -Hilton
Is this trip for you?
This adventurous photographic experience was created for passionate photographers who wish to experience one of the most elaborate festivals on the African continent. This festival is held in a remote area that changes every year. We take great care to set up a simple, but proper mobile-tented camp at the edge of the festival area. The tents are large enough for you to stand in and have simple camp beds with mattresses and a decent pillow. Though simple, it will be comfortable, much more so than the small igloo tents you erect yourself and crawl into. The food will be simple, but tasty, as our Italian partners know the importance of a delicious meal; wine, beer, soda’s, coffee and tea are included with meals. We will use a generator to charge batteries, cool drinks, and keep food well preserved, but there will not be electricity 24 hours-a-day or in your tents.
We are in a remote location where there are no permanent accommodations, so if you need luxury and all your regular creature comforts, this is not the trip for you. This trip is best suited for experienced travelers who enjoy adventure, are flexible, patient, have an open mind, a good sense of humor, and will embrace this incredible experience!
This trip was logistically designed to give passionate photographers the chance to experience and photograph the Gerewol festival. Photographers should be confident in their working knowledge of their equipment and the basics of photography- shutter speed, aperture, iso, exposure and how they relate to each other. Although this is not a workshop to teach photographers new skills, there will be a lot of discussion on photography and informal instruction throughout the trip. Piper is always available to assist you with your vision and any questions you may have. A benefit in traveling with a small group of photographers is that we all have valuable creative and technical experience to share and everyone learns a lot from each other.
While our trip is designed for photographers, our visit should be sensitive, respectful, and beneficial to the communities we visit. We build time into our itinerary to interact with the local people that will lead to a more itnimate experience, rather than just charging in with camera in hand, and clicking off as many shots as possible in a short amount of time. It is a privilege to visit these unique tribal areas, and we want it to be a positive experience for them. We also believe in empowering the local communities to look after themselves, and we feel the best way to do this is economically. We work with a small, successful, licensed local operator who employs local people. Our visit will offer income to the local areas we visit.
Important Details
The Price
The price of this unique cultural festival based on double occupancy (sharing a room) is USD $7,695.00**
The price of this unique cultural festival based on single occupancy is USD $8,790.00**
Single supplement is $1,095.00** ” if available.” Single accommodations are limited.
If a solo guest wishes to share a room, we will do our best to match them with another guest of the same gender. If we cannot match a solo guest with another guest of the same gender, then the single supplement of USD$1095.00 will be charged.
Payment Terms
- USD $1,995.00 non-refundable depositto confirm your place on this photo tour
- 2nd payment of USD $2,500.00 + single accommodation fee (if applicable) is due on December 15, 2018
- Final payment/balance is due June 15, 2019
We highly recommend trip and cancellation insurance.
What’s Included:
- Accommodations
- Airport transfers to/from N’Djamena International Airport on arrival and departure date.
- All 3 meals of the day with mineral water (except on arrival and departure days)
- Tourist standard 4X4 utility vehicle with air-conditioning
- National English speaking guide very knowledgeable about Chad with good relationships with the Wodaabe
- Water, beer, soda, coffee, and tea with lunch and dinner
- Village fee’s
- Local taxes
- Local Woodabe tax
What’s NOT Included
- International airfare and/or between your home and Chad
- Visas
- Travel Insurance
- Personal purchases (including shopping, spirits, laundry, telephone calls etc.)
- Gratuities for our main guide, drivers, and camp staff
- Pre- and Post- expeditions tours or transportation
- Meals or accommodations before or after the expedition (except as noted in the detailed itinerary)
- Meals and beverages on the day of arrival, this is considered a travel day
TRIP DATES
**The dates of the following years festival are determined at the time of the festival closing. They are approximately the same time each year, given a few days in either direction. We will confirm the dates with you as soon as they are available (usually by mid October). Any participant signing up for this trip would need to block out travel time from September 15 – October 15, 2019. Participants should not purchase any airfare until Piper Mackay Photo Safari confirms the dates.
*** To give you the best possible price, we do not automatically build into the price an allowance to cover possible increases from currency fluctuation. This trip was priced at 1USD to €.80. Therefore, as currencies fluctuate constantly around the world, it may be necessary for us to make a slight adjust to the cost before the final payment if there is a fluctuation of more than 5%.
REGISTRATION AND DEPOSIT
If you are excited to join this unique tribal festival now is the time to secure your spot as these 10 spots will go quickly and once they are gone, they are gone! Use the buttons below to fill out your online e-registration form and to make your deposit. We must receive both your completed registration form and your deposit/s to confirm your spot.
Registration form – Please complete all the required fields. At the end of the form you will be asked to confirm your email address, which will complete the registration. A copy of your registration will be emailed to you and to Piper Mackay Photo Safaris.
Deposit– Use the button below to make your deposit. You do not need to have a Paypal account to use this payment service. You may make more than one deposit at a time by changing the quantity on the purchase details.
