San

San sits on the main road between Ségou and Mopti and holds a mud-brick mosque in the Sudanese style, but what UNESCO recognised is the Sanké mon: once a year, on a set day, the whole community enters the Sanké pond at a signal and fishes it collectively with hand nets in a rite that lasts a few hours, followed by masked dances. It was inscribed in 2009 on the list of practices needing urgent safeguarding.

What you actually see

• The Sanké mon - the collective fishing of the pond on a single set day each year.
• The hand-net fishing - the whole community entering the water at a signal.
• The masked dances - the performances that follow the fishing.
• The Sudanese mosque - the mud-brick building in the town.

When to go

The Sanké mon falls on a set day, usually in the second half of June at the start of the rains. Outside it the town is quiet. November to February is the comfortable season generally.

Honest expectations

The rite happens on one day a year and the date is set locally. Water in the pond has diminished and the practice was listed as needing urgent safeguarding for that reason. The town otherwise has little for visitors.

Nearby

Ségou is west, and Mopti is northeast.