Join Museum Proprietor on an expedition to Cote d’Ivoire – Land of Masks and Masquerades, the highlight of this trip will be the Man Mask Festival – The Festival of Eighteen Mountains

The Dan People are famous for their extraordinary masks – the mask does not just cover the face but is a complete costume, and once a person is wearing them they mediate between our world and The Other World, from a young age children are brought into this culture and there are masks for every occasion and every spirit or divinity – and we aim to see as many of them as possible including the spectacular Gue Gblen stilt dance, elsewhere in the country we will visit the extraordinary modern capital and see museums and cathedrals.

21 June – 01 July 2023

Day 1 :

Wednesday

21/06/23

Flight to Abidjan (ABJ)

Flight to Abidjan.

On arrival transfer to Hotel Onomo or similar, overnight in a double room with services.

Day 2:

Thursday

22/06/23

Abidjan (ABJ)/flight/Man (MJC)

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to the airport for the Air Cote d’Ivoire flight* to Man (MJC).

Upon arrival meeting with local guide and accommodation at Hotel Les Cascades or similar, lunch. Assistance for the exchange of euros and for the possible purchase of a local phone card.

In the afternoon we’ll visit MAN: the sacred monkey forest of Gbepleu, the waterfall of Zadepleu, the handicrafts on red aloa wood, the boutiques of Dan masks, …

We will also take part in the INAUGURATION OF THE FESTIVAL DES 18 MONTAGNES.

Overnight stay in a hotel in double rooms with private facilities.

*Flight schedule and booking will be available only few months before the date, but anyhow for the festival the airline increases the frequency. We will adjust the daily program according to the timing. :Please note this flight is not included but should cost approx. €140

Day 3:

Friday

23/06/23

Man/Yacouba Villages/Man (Festival)

After breakfast departure north to TOUBA, the the heart of YACOUBA COUNTRY.

We will visit the traditional villages, with their characteristic mud huts with thatched roofs, and watch the YACOUBA MASKS coming out of the sacred forest, including the Gue Gblen on stilts, characteristic for its acrobatic qualities.

Lunch in a restaurant and return to Man.

In the afternoon we will attend the events, concerts and mask performances during the FESTIVAL.

Overnight stay in a hotel in double rooms with private facilities.

Day 4 :

Saturday

24/06/23

Man/Dan Villages/Man (Festival)

After breakfast departure for DANANE towards the border with Liberia, a region inhabited by the DAN ETHNIC GROUP and characterized by its liana bridges over the Bandama River, said to have been created by forest spirits.

Return to MAN and lunch in a restaurant.

In the afternoon we will attend the events, concerts and mask performances during the FESTIVAL.

Overnight stay in a hotel in double rooms with private facilities.

Day 5 :

Sunday

25/06/23

Man/Wé Villages/Daloa

After breakfast, we could depart with 4×4 to FACOBLY*, where in a small WE’ VILLAGE we will be able to watch an acrobatic performance by the “jongleurs de l’Ouest”, and an exit of the GUERE’ MASKS from the sacred forest.

Return to Man and lunch in a restaurant.

In the afternoon continue to Daloa, accommodation at the Hotel Imans or similar, dinner and overnight in double rooms with services.

*If Facobly jongleurs and We mask will attempt the festival, is no need to go to the village, as there will not be anyone to perform the ceremonies.

Day 6 :

Monday

26/06/23

Daloa/Yamoussoukro

After breakfast, departure for the capital of the country, stopping en route at a CACAO PLANTATION, where we will discover the secrets of the production chain of the country’s main export product. Lunch with lunch box.

Arrival in the afternoon at YAMOUSSOUKRO, where we can watch the feeding of the sacred caimans in front of the presidential palace.

Accommodation at Hotel President or similar, overnight in a double room with facilities.

Day 7 :

Tuesday

27/06/23

Yakro/Baoulé Villages/Yakro

After breakfast, departure for a BAOULE’ VILLAGE where we can admire the work of the kita weavers and take part in the GOLY MASK DANCE.

Return to YAMOUSSOUKRO (also known as “Yakro”) for lunch in a restaurant.

In the early afternoon we will visit the basilica of Notre Dame de la Paix, the largest Christian religious building in the world, modelled on St Peter’s in Rome and strongly supported by Ivorian President Felix Houphouet-Boigny.

Overnight stay in a hotel in a double room with facilities.

Day 8 :

Wednesday

28/06/23

Yamoussoukro/Abengourou

After breakfast, departure for ANIASSUE’, home to a school for animist priestesses, known as komian. Here we meet the feticheuses, guardians of ancestral divinities, and can watch the thaumaturgical dances they perform by smearing their bodies with kaolin.

Continuation to Abengourou, accommodation at Hotel Le Royaume or similar, lunch.

In the afternoon we visit the royal palace and the museum of the Agni Indenié, a people of Akan descent who emigrated from Ghana in the 17th century because of the expansionist aims of the Ashanti empire. We will meet some dignitaries dressed in traditional clothes, bringing them bottles of gin, and the king if available.

Overnight stay in double rooms with facilities.

Day 9 :

Thursday

29/06/23

Abengourou/Abidjan/Grand Bassam

Breakfast and departure for ABIDJAN, the chaotic and cosmopolitan economic centre of the country, built on a series of islands on the Ebrié lagoon connected by bridges.

City tour of the Plateau district including the Cathedral, designed by Italian architect Aldo Spirito, and the ethnographic museum with its enviable collection of masks.

Lunch in a restaurant and continue along the coast to

GRAND BASSAM, former colonial capital at the time of the French occupation, UNESCO heritage site.

Accommodation at Hotel Etoile du Sud or similar, overnight in double rooms with facilities.

Day 10 :

Friday

30/06/23

Grand Bassam/Abidjan

Breakfast and visit to GRAND BASSAM: stroll through the sleepy streets of the quartier de France,

dotted with decadent vestiges such as Governor Binger’s

palace of Governor Binger, which houses the costume

and the old post office and customs house.

Time at leisure for shopping in craft boutiques (masks, ceramics, paintings, etc.).

Lunch in a maquis on the lagoon.

Some rooms in day use on request.

Transfer to Abidjan, then the airport. End of services.

Day 11 :

Saturday

01/07/23

Abidjan (ABJ)/Flight home

Arrival at the destination airport.

Ivory Coast

Man mask festival 2023 – 11 days

€2500 per person / approx £2250, in double occupancy

email info@thelasttuesdaysociety.org for more information

In Search of Masks - Expedition to Cote d'Ivoire and The Dan Mask Festival