Day 6: On the road to Timbuktu: “Il n’y a pas de problème”
I didn’t mention this, but until now all but 120 km or so of the trip have been on paved roads. Now comes the stretch of “piste” from Douantza to Timbuktu (just under 200 km). We hired two 4WD vehicles for this. The inspiring phrase: “Je suis au voulant, Dieu conduit” (I am at the wheel, god is driving) was written on the dashboard of the car I was in. Doesn’t really inspire confidence, I my bro’ pointed out. He’s done this road before too and that time his Landcruiser slipped and landed on its side. “Can we slow down?” we asked the driver as we were barreling on the rutted-road dodging cattle. “Il y a pas de problème!” he says. Later when we take a break and he opens the hood and looks under the car and starts fiddling, I ask: “Il y a quoi?” “Il n’y a pas de problème.” That I love: nothing is ever a problem here. Things might not work very well (or at all), but “il y a pas de problème.”

(Mama la Magnifique, on the road to Timbuktu)

We picnicked under the thin shade of a poor little shrub-like tree in the sand. It was over 40 degrees Celsius. Yes, we’re definitely getting closer to the Sahara. Claire-Marie pointed out that she never realized “Vache qui rit” cheese was this good (it gets better when in Africa, we concluded).

(Waiting to cross the Niger on the "bac" before entering Timbuktu)

Arrived in Timbuktu, we quickly headed out to the sand dunes. Aguisa our guide had already organized firewood, diner, mattresses, etc. for our night out on the dunes. We did make it out to the dunes before the sunset. We found a perfect dune to spend the night on. We had tea, watched Touareg kids play in the sand (“they live in a sand-box; how fun!”), ate couscous, and sat by the fire listening to Aguisa’s story of traveling with the camel caravan across the desert.

(Dinner in the Sahara Desert on a sand dune)