Camel Journey

picking up from my previous Timbuktu dream adventure leads us to...

DREAM ADVENTURE NUMBER 21: Timbuktu to Taoudenni via the Salt Road on camels



WHEN: November to February
HOW LONG: about 2 weeks, some 500 miles

"Join a Touareg caravan leaving from Timbuktu for a journey of a lifetime. There is austere beauty in the desert, and little sound other than the soft shoe shuffle of camels moving over hard sand and sharp stones. Sleeping under the stars (could you even imagine the view?!) in the immense silence of the desert is a profound experience. Days begin before sun up, and the caravan travels doggedly until darkness falls. Strong, sweet mint tea is frequently brewed and beings to taste like nectar from the gods. At night, rice and dried meat is cooked and eaten, with a sprinkling of sand thrown in. Reaching the halfway point of Arouane, a tiny settlement en route, feels like a great achievement. From there on in, the desert is empty -- no grass, no trees, just sand stretching to the horizon. There is little wildlife -- desert rats, lizards, beetles and perhaps gazelles, but you may pass camel bones: bleached by the sun they underline the fact that your life is in the hands of your guide. When the stony desert becomes sand dunes, you know you are within reach of Taoudenni. Here, in a vast basin that was once a sea, a couple hundred men dig for salt, living in primitive, almost Biblical conditions. However, within 24 hours the camels are fully loaded with their heavy cargo, and are ready to being the trek back to Timbuktu and civilization."
*501 Must-Take Journeys. London: Octopus Publishing Group Lmtd, 2008.

You can also rent 4x4s to do the journey and it takes about 3 days but I'd really want the whole experience of being part of a camel caravan. With nothing else to do, think about the realizations and thinking about yourself and life that you can accomplish. To me, after completing that journey, I'd feel like I'd just climb a mountain or something. Plus the temperatures there can reach 120 degrees. Holy shit. It'd be such a savage journey.

You can also arrange with Tuaregs to take you out on tours for relatively cheap if you want to go on one shorter than 2 weeks.

Timbuktu

DREAM ADVENTURE NUMBER ELEVEN: Boat up the Niger River to visit Timbuktu



In this 2 to 4 day journey along Africa's third longest river, the Niger, you will set out from Mopti in Mali and take a pinasse; motorized canoe with a domed grass canopy.



"The flood plains around Mopti provide a wonderful habitat for birds of all sorts, inccluding many migratory species, and the river itself is home to many fish and the occasional manatee. You may well see hippos too -- their large, irascible presence alerting you to the fragility of your craft. The river is full of activity: local boats carry goods and livestock, fast boats speed tourists to Timbuktu, men fish, women wash clothes at the river's edge or pound millet in a time-honoured fasion. This journey is fun: from time to time the pinasse stops at a village, which you can explore while provisions are bought, appreciating the Moorish mud brick architecture and meeting tribal people such as Fulani and Bozo. Lunch is cooked on  board and at night, tents are pitched on the riverbank and dinner is cooked by the fire. Gradually scenery changes: marshlands give way to grasslands and finally, the desert. The trip ends at Korioume, just 6 miles along a paved road from Timbuktu."
*501 Must-Take Journeys. London: Octopus Publishing Group Lmtd, 2008.