The old pickup truck rumbled slowly down the road, it was heading from Korioume to Timbuktu about 15km away. The landscape was pure Sahel with sand covered by small bushes and the road wound lazily through it. The truck was packed to the brim with people and baggage and it was well past its prime, but it eventually reached the main square of Timbuktu and its occupants piled out.
Timbuktu was once a great center of learning in the Muslim world, center of a rich trade network and the symbol of Africa’s mysteries and inaccessibility. The name is derived from the name of the old woman who was put in charge of the settlement, her name was Bouctou which meant large navel (possibly a deformity), the Tim comes from the word for well. So, the simple combination of the well of Bouctou gave birth to one of the world’s most famous name. Sadly, today it is a shadow of its former self, full of advertising and nothing to convey its past greatness, and this was the world that Mr Cam, CJ and Pien stepped out into.
It was around 9:00 but the day was getting hot, the sand was soft under their feet as they walked through the central square. They had picked up a following of a few guides trying to get their business; they picked a hotel and headed of in its direction. The hotel was two large simple buildings; they haggled for a room and settled on a price. They retired to the room for a short while to freshen up before heading out into the city.
They wanted to arrange a camel trip out into the desert and were met with plenty of options when then stepped outside, after the standard haggling it was all sorted out for later in the day. The next stop was to arrange transport back to Mopti via 4×4. The group found the cars and sorted everything out; the car would pick them up at 3am the next day.
After this the rest of the day was spent wondering around. Past old buildings with amazing doors, old mosques, down sandy lanes in between mud buildings and wandering through the market. The feel of the place was a busy one as people buzzed around the market; the sand filled streets gave the whole place a secluded look. The people filled the otherwise drab city with flashes of colour. Their robes, head dresses, skirts and wraps shone in the sunlight projecting their bright yellows, deep blues and a rainbow of other colours into the air.
The day rolled on and the trio sought refuge on the roof of the central market where they could take a drink and relax. From here they had a good view over the city and down on to the market below which brimmed with activity and colour as people went about their business. Here they met a Tuareg who lived in the city part of the time and out on the Camel trains for the rest. He took them to his tent for some tea and to show them some of the silver crafts that the Tuareg are famous for. The spent a small time here before heading back to the hotel for a short rest before their Camel trek.
The sun was low in the sky when they roused themselves to go and meet their guide to be led to their Camels. They walked across the sand dunes of the outskirts of town before they came across three camels waiting in the shade with a group of men around them. CJ had been on a camel before, but it was not an experience that Pien or Mr Cam had ever had and were eager to experience. The group was helped onto the camels and they rose with a few bumps before the trio found them smiling back at one another before atop the great creatures.
The camels plodded out of the city and the buildings gave way to tents and the vegetation thinned. Mr Cam smiled as he soon found himself riding a camel in-between Sahara sand dudes, even if it was only on the very edge. The camels were led out into the desert and the city sank away behind them. They walked for awhile and Mr Cam noted that the camel’s seat did not exactly provide comfort for a male rider as the beast went up and down the dunes. They walked for awhile longer before stopping at a small group of tents, a Tuareg village. Here the camels kneeled, and their riders left their perches atop them, they walked out onto some of the dunes before sitting and listening to the silence of the desert.
The companions played in the sand for awhile, the sand was soft and very fine as it passed through their figures. They were then invited to take tea on atop of the dune near the village. As they sat and sipped the tea the heat of the day began to slip away as the sun neared the horizon. After chatting for a bit and emptying the teapot the party returned to their indifferent beasts, and once more they rose and began the trip back. The trip back passed quickly, and the dunes slipped away, and the desert melded with the Sahel countryside and before the group knew it the sun had set on their backs and they we are dismounting and walking back to the hotel.
The rest of the night passed without trouble, they ate, drank and then retired for the night so they could get up early to catch their 4×4. The group had enjoyed Timbuktu but there was not a huge amount to do here and they felt that leaving the next day was the right thing to-do. 3:00 came all too quickly and found the trio still rubbing the sleep from their eyes as they boarded the 4×4. The car was loaded as follows; the driver of course had his own seat, the other front seat was shared between two people, the middle seat had four people feeling very cozy and the back had six people crammed in the best they could. The group had a paid a bit extra to obtain space on the middle seat.
So, off the car went until it hit the Niger River about 20mins later, here they had to wait for the ferry to start running, along with 40 other cars. The very started to load about 30mins later and the groups car just missed getting on, but luckily there was a second ferry, this ferry’s engine had burned out so two small boats had been lashed to the sides, so they could use their outboard engines to push the boat forward, it was loaded and off they went. The boat was in no hurry and it took a long time to reach the offloading point, but this is where the fun began.
The ferry could only get so close to the sand shore, so the cars had to use a lot of force to get through the water and the sand, so they wouldn’t get stuck. Mr Cam stood and watched the offloading for awhile before noticing the other ferry being loaded a short distance down the shore. Already onboard was a few cars and two camels. At the boarding ramp there was a commotion going on, as Mr Cam looked it became clear there was a third camel to load and this one was not fond of boats. It was sitting down with no intention of moving, a group of men pulled on the rope from its bridle, while another group pulled on its body and a third pushed from behind. The camel stood its ground but began to lose slowly as the group slowly dragged the great beast across the sand and up the boarding ramp. Mr Cam looked on with amusement as this whole scene played out and chuckled to himself that you couldn’t make this stuff up.
Soon the group’s car was off the ferry and back on the road. The road was an extremely bumpy one and contained many large puddles due to the recent rain. The car bumped along this road, spraying water everywhere as is pushed through the puddles. It was a long and uncomfortable journey, but the group found themselves walking into Hotel No Problem in Mopti at around 15:00, dirty, tiered, a bit bruised and hungry.
At a time like this Mr Cam thought there is only one thing you can do. So, Mr Cam went swimming.
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