Journey by pinnace on the Niger to Timbuktu    
     

The Sahel between dry savannah and Sahara


Our river expedition on the Niger usually starts in Konna/Mopti with Kabara, the harbour of Timbuktu as our destination. Soon the main bed branches out into numerous 20m wide canal-like tributaries, which cut into the landscape before emptying, as if in a kind of natural funnel, into the Debo lake estuary. Reeds and swamp stretch to the farthest horizon form the lake's backdrop. On isolated sandbanks, cormorants dry their plumage in the sun. The bird life here is dazzling. Here may be seen blue kingfishers, white starlings, herons, black kites, ospreys, weaverbirds and buzzards. In the cold months of December and January (maximum daily temperature of 30°C/ 86°F) innumerable hippopotami leave the water to warm their thick hides in the sun. The animals are protected and have increased significantly in the past few years. Crocodiles on the other hand, have completely died out.
North of the Debo Lake, the vegetation gets rapidly thinner. Lush vegetable gardens, baobabs and tamarind trees spring out of bare sandbanks, akazian groves and spurge growth. Instead of the cattle herds of the Peul we now see sheep and goats grazing the riverbanks. Occasionally we pass poor looking Bozo settlements, collections of simple huts made of palm mats with reed grass roofs. From Niafounké onwards we are bewitched by the fantastic panorama of the Sahel landscape. Over the nearly 2 miles wide river we look out over the alluvial plain with its riparian forest and to the north the edge of the desert. Sand dunes curve gently upwards, contrasting wonderfully with the dark water of the Niger and the blue sky.
On the banks we see lonely palms, nomad tents, dome shaped Bella huts and as ever the square clay houses. The stream meanders in a northeast direction. Our pinasse Captain steers in extravagant patterns to avoid the numerous shallows, invisible to the untrained eye. Nearing Timbuktu we pass broad rice fields flooded by diesel pumps. This elbow of the river is known as Mali's rice basket. The city itself is the gateway to the desert. The dry climate, cool nights and veiled Arabs indicate that we have finally reached the southern edge of the Sahara, the northernmost point of our journey.