Heart of the Sahara
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Every week throughout the winter,
caravans of up to fifty camels arrive bellowing and snorting in
Timbuktu. They are at the end of a three-week, 450-mile trek and
each carries four huge slabs of Taoudenni salt, the ‘white
gold’ of the Sahara. Taoudenni is Mali’s remotest and
most primitive settlement – a posting from Hell. With three
camels and a Moorish guide, John set off from Timbuktu to find
stunning desert landscapes and a life lived much as it was a millennium
ago, when salt was, literally, worth its weight in gold.
“Gather your breath . . . then tell us all about it!”
(Aldro School, Surrey)
Follow
John’s journey as it happened through his regular updates:
9th December 2005 –
23rd December 2005 –
12th January 2006 –
20th January 2006
–
18th February 2006
–
9th March 2006
First update – Last update
Taoudenni trip – practical information
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Read or listen to John’s From Our Own Correspondent piece for BBC Radio 4.
Book now for this slide/sound show.
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Ready to go