Travel Guide Ségou

Located 220 km from Bamako, Segou is an indispensable stopover before accessing the country's major tourist attractions. This city deserves to be stopped a few days ago. The tour operators did not, moreover, mislead themselves: most of them now programmed the city of Balazans in their stay. Sign of the dynamism of Segou, the Festival du Niger, which gathers every year a large audience of music lovers.It is the river that makes the city rich. Built along Niger, it houses tens of thousands of bambara farmers and pêcheurs and bozo fishermen. Dozens of canoes continually cross the river to connect the villages of the surrounding area to the great city. Every day fishermen return quantities of carp, silures, and especially huge captains of several kilos. It is also here that the famous Office of Niger was founded in 1932. He planned to make this region the attic of West Africa. Without achieving its objectives, nearly 100 000 ha are now irrigated and allow sugar cane and rice cultivation.The name Segou comes from «so koro», meaning «with the feet of shea trees». If shea butter, which is used for butter, soap and cosmetic products, has given its name to the city, Segou is most famous for another tree, balanzan. In Segou, the number of these huge trees at abundant foliage amounts to 4 444. A legend reports the existence of a 4 445 th balanzan, which would be dwarf and hunchback, and whose location would remain mysterious.At the entrance to the city, the visitor will be able to contemplate beautiful buildings dating from the colonial era, including large Sudanese and cube mansions that now serve administrative buildings. Some of them are unfortunately left behind. Nevertheless, the Ségoviens decided to undertake several renovations to rehabilitate this historic heritage. . is renowned for its architectural quality and its gardens. One of the specificities of its constructions is the red color of the deck. Generally ocre, it is not the quality of the earth that differs but the fact that the inhabitants of Segou adjoignent of shea trees in its preparation. The house thus resists the weather better and it dispense every year as we do elsewhere. For example, five years pass between two crépissages. You can't talk about Segou without talking about the Ségoviens. They are known for their stubbornness. They have always rejected Islamization, preferring animism, mead consumption and Muslim attitude hunting.Malians will often tell you that the most beautiful women in the country are in Segou. It is true that the Ségoviennes are very charming and are very elegant. Perhaps this is why the Malian Textile Company (Comatex) has chosen to settle here… Segou also has a rich and varied craft. Here you will find the most beautiful bogolans and the finest pottery in the country. Another reason to stop there!Read: Segou, by Maryse Condé. Through 2 exciting, the walls of the earth and the earth in tatters, this author tells the story of the Bambara Kingdom, the th century prosperous and noble at the arrival of the colonists. These two novels outline the history of this vital civilization of Mali, through the péripéties of the family of Dousika Traoré. Pages to eat in the airplane!