0:00:03 > 0:00:06The Sahara Desert, Mali,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10home to one of Earth's most mysterious and legendary places.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Africa's fabled city of gold, Timbuktu.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23My name's Alice Morrison.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I'm an Arabist and explorer.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27I live in Morocco,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31and since childhood I've dreamt of making the gruelling journey
0:00:31 > 0:00:34across the Sahara to see this ancient city
0:00:34 > 0:00:37before it's lost forever to sand and war.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41I love touching history.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47In this series I'll trek 2,000 miles following ancient trade routes,
0:00:47 > 0:00:52often known as salt roads, across some of the world's most hostile lands.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Timbuktu is at the centre of all these trade routes
0:00:56 > 0:00:59and I want to follow them and find it and see what's there.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04I'll pass through some magical places that time has barely touched.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Oh, wow!
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Relying on the hospitality of Berber nomads.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:01:12 > 0:01:15He's just cutting up the heart.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And I'll come face-to-face with some frightening modern-day realities.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22I'm beginning to feel quite nervous.
0:01:22 > 0:01:23Travelling deep beneath the veil
0:01:23 > 0:01:27into the heart of ancient and modern North Africa
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I'll discover its incredible forgotten history
0:01:30 > 0:01:34en route to the legendary city of gold, Timbuktu.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44I've already trekked 800 miles
0:01:44 > 0:01:46from the top of Morocco
0:01:46 > 0:01:48to the edge of the Sahara Desert.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Scaling the high Atlas and Jbel Saghro mountains
0:01:53 > 0:01:55to reach the market town of Rissani.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00Along the way I've experienced first-hand how tough the journey was
0:02:00 > 0:02:03for the traders who used these often dangerous routes
0:02:03 > 0:02:05to transport their goods.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10But it's still more than 1,000 miles to Timbuktu
0:02:10 > 0:02:12and it's about to get tougher.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17- Hafida.- Hi.- Hi.- How are you?
0:02:17 > 0:02:19I'm meeting up with Hafida Hdoubane,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Morocco's first-ever female trekking guide.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25She's stocking up on provisions for the desert.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Take this. Taste it, see if it's OK.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30- Delicious, yeah.- That's nice?
0:02:30 > 0:02:34I think the best one is that so I will take from there.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Her expertise is going to help me on what was the most perilous part
0:02:37 > 0:02:39of the traders' journey.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49The Sahara, the deadliest of deserts.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56It spans 11 countries, a vast area of more than 3 million square miles.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02It can reach staggering temperatures of 50 degrees plus,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06but this morning at the Chebbi dunes it's a little chilly.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Our mode of transport is authentic trans-Saharan.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Hafida and I will be making this trip, like so many before us, by camel.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Ben Didi and Hussain are going to help us steer these ships of the desert.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Maybe now is not the time to say, "I'm not that keen on camels."
0:03:34 > 0:03:36They bite, they spit.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Which camel is the nicest camel?
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Getting on is the nerve-racking bit for me.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Apparently God designed the camel with the desert in mind,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00so I hope He's a good designer.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03The camel's mentioned in seven verses of the Quran
0:04:03 > 0:04:07and they're known for their cunning, their sense of direction,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09their intelligence, and slightly worrying for me,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12apparently they're very vengeful
0:04:12 > 0:04:15if you are a cruel or intolerant master or mistress.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28For the traders of old it was a 50-day journey,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31across the seemingly endless sands of the Sahara,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33all the way to Timbuktu.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40They were following routes forged on trade in two precious commodities,
0:04:40 > 0:04:45gold and salt, and it must have been a magnificent sight
0:04:45 > 0:04:49as caravans, often made up of 1,000 camels or more,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52filed across the desert in pursuit of riches.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58You can't walk in this desert without falling in love with it.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00It's such an incredibly beautiful landscape,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03but it was incredibly perilous.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Probably the most dangerous stage of the journey.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Bandits all around here ready to rob the caravans,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11water was in incredibly short supply
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and people did die of thirst all the time.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17So, even though for me it's so romantic walking through the dunes
0:05:17 > 0:05:20as the sun sets, as the sky looks all blue,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24but actually, when you did it for real, this is why the goods,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28when they got to the other end, cost so much - it was the danger factor.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39But in the scorching heat of the desert,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43one thing was more valuable than anything else they were carrying -
0:05:43 > 0:05:44water.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Many travellers met their death in the sand,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56as the great medieval adventurer, Ibn Battuta recounts...
0:05:58 > 0:06:00"We passed a caravan on the way
0:06:00 > 0:06:02"and they told us that some of their party
0:06:02 > 0:06:05"had become separated from them.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07"We found one of them dead under a shrub
0:06:07 > 0:06:10"with his clothes on and a whip in his hand.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13"The water was only about a mile from him."
0:06:16 > 0:06:19As dusk approaches, we find a sheltered spot
0:06:19 > 0:06:21to make camp before nightfall.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34I'm descending to bribery to keep Hamoun, my camel, sweet.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37I've broken out the dates.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41We bought these dates for ourselves, but I think Hamoun deserves them
0:06:41 > 0:06:43more than I did, cos he did all the work today.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50At this time of year,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53the temperature often plummets to below freezing.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Wood for the fire would have been an essential part
0:06:57 > 0:06:59of the caravan's huge cargo.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:07:07 > 0:07:10By the fire we swap stories.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15Hafida is a rare creature, a female guide in an all-male profession.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19But what she tells me about her extraordinary family history is shocking.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23So, my great-grandfather,
0:07:23 > 0:07:29they gave him a gift, like a woman, from Ethiopia because she's...
0:07:29 > 0:07:34she's a slave and he married her.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37And she gives him a boy, it was my grandfather.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39What happened to your grandfather?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42My grandfather, he was born a slave,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46so he married my grandmother that is a slave also.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50So, my father, he is a slave too.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54To me, it's incredible that he could be born a slave in modern Morocco.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Yeah, we don't really speak about slaves in Morocco.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03It's a bit, um, what we say, taboo.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10Because, it's a suffering history, but it exists.
0:08:10 > 0:08:16It wasn't very far away, just 20th century.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22An estimated 13 million slaves were transported north across the Sahara,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25a similar number to those shipped to America.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30To this day, slavery has never officially been abolished in Morocco.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33I'm proud of it.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38Me, I'm born also from this slave's family.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40This country is like a mosaic.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45We have black, we have white, we have Arab, we have Berber,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49we have Jewish, we have a lot of...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52faces, a lot of tradition,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55a lot of culture, and that makes this country very rich.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I'm humbled by Hafida's story.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05In Morocco there are whole villages of people descended from the slaves
0:09:05 > 0:09:08who were forced along the salt roads from West Africa.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11The country's culture has been enriched
0:09:11 > 0:09:14by the traditions they brought with them.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18This is so magical.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19I just woke up.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22It's still the middle of the night, but I woke up,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and I looked up and I can see the Milky Way,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and I can also see the Plough, absolutely clear.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32A most beautiful night.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39We get up with the dawn
0:09:39 > 0:09:42like the traders who had to beat the heat of the day.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48I feel like I'm getting a taste of what life would have been like.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Quite difficult days,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52difficult on the body,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55having to trust yourself to somebody else completely
0:09:55 > 0:09:56because you don't know the way.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Moments of huge beauty in the desert
0:09:59 > 0:10:01because it is stunning, the landscape.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03And then night-time,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08food, hot tea and the time to just socialise with everyone around you.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Just after sunrise we're back out in the desert again and heading south.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28We have 15 miles to cover today,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31which should take our camels about five hours.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44In the past, caravans would be guided by highly paid Berbers
0:10:44 > 0:10:49who navigated by the sun, the stars, and the shape of the dunes,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53and acted as security to keep the merchants safe from raiders.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Climbing to the top of one of the highest dunes,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05the view across the desert stretches all the way to Algeria.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14This is the border between Morocco and Algeria.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18- Yeah.- And it's, like, 1,500 kilometres.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- Wow!- Yeah.
0:11:20 > 0:11:21And how far away is it from here?
0:11:21 > 0:11:23It's like 60km from here.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Morocco's border with Algeria has been closed since 1994
0:11:28 > 0:11:31after a terrorist attack in Marrakech
0:11:31 > 0:11:34brought relations between the two to an all-time low.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37It's said to cost the Moroccan economy
0:11:37 > 0:11:392 billion a year in lost trade.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45It also means I can't go any further along this particular trade route.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48But the network of routes was extensive
0:11:48 > 0:11:50so there are other possibilities.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Hafida's made it quite clear that the Algerian border
0:11:52 > 0:11:54is completely shut and no longer an option.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59That southern route was a quick way down, was the fastest way down,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03but there is also a western route, which, although it's slower,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07was in fact safer because there were more places to provision
0:12:07 > 0:12:09along the way, it was more populated.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11So that seems the logical way to try next.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Taking the road west means saying goodbye to Hafida,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and my now-beloved camel, Hamoun.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I'm driving towards the city of Guelmim.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29This particular route came to prominence in the 18th century
0:12:29 > 0:12:30when Guelmim became one of
0:12:30 > 0:12:33the biggest trading crossroads in North Africa.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40I'm skirting across the northern edge of the Sahara
0:12:40 > 0:12:43and making a stop in a desert town called Tamegroute
0:12:43 > 0:12:46because I've heard it holds a secret treasure.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52This sign in Arabic says...
0:12:52 > 0:12:53SHE SPEAKS ARABIC
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Which means a treasury or a treasure trove of books.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Very surprising to find that here in such a small remote place.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10This sanctuary is a Zaouia, a centre of Islamic learning,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13which houses a library of 4,000 ancient books.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Its custodian is 89-year-old Hajj Khalifa El Fasi.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23His family have handed down this job from father to son
0:13:23 > 0:13:26since it was founded in the 11th century.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Now his son, Rashid, works alongside him.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22This Malian scholar left behind rare manuscripts,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25which, as an Arabist, I'm dying to get my hands on.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15How exciting that these roads I've been travelling were on a kind of
0:15:15 > 0:15:18medieval information highway and knowledge network.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25I almost, but not quite, got to touch 400 years of history.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31That book in the library is absolute evidence that the trade routes
0:15:31 > 0:15:35between sub-Saharan Africa and this area of north Africa
0:15:35 > 0:15:40brought knowledge and learning, as well as just gold and salt.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45And that knowledge made its way across the water to Europe
0:15:45 > 0:15:49where ideas from Muslim scholars on subjects like philosophy,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53science and mathematics informed the European Renaissance.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02A 350-mile bus journey brings me to the market town of Guelmim.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06It's nicknamed Bab Sahara, gateway to the desert.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was known for its huge camel market,
0:16:20 > 0:16:25the medieval equivalent of a massive car showroom full of four-by-fours.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28I want to see if any of that trade survives.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32This is a fantastic livestock market, full of noise and colour
0:16:32 > 0:16:33and smell.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36But, actually, I'm looking for camels because it used to be
0:16:36 > 0:16:40the biggest camel market in the whole of north-west Africa
0:16:40 > 0:16:42and I haven't seen any yet.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I'm imagining this market in the days of trans-Saharan trade,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49bustling with merchants bartering for camels by the hundred.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Eventually, I find a small collection of them in a corner.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Today, the trade is very different.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAE
0:17:03 > 0:17:05So times have really changed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08In days of old, this was the place to buy your camel
0:17:08 > 0:17:11and to refuel your camel for the trek across the Sahara,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13or from the Sahara up to the north.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15But now these camels are actually used for food
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and we've just been told
0:17:17 > 0:17:20that one camel can feed up to 300 people for a party.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23So that's mainly what people come and buy them for now.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Ahmed al Ansari's family has been in the business for generations.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32If anyone knows the going rate for a camel, it's him.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35It depends. It depends on the camel.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38If the camel is very strong...
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- Yes.- ..the price is like that.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43If the camel is not strong, the camel is down.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Sometimes you can find a camel and it's 20,000 dirhams.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50But it's very, very big, you know?
0:17:50 > 0:17:53It's enough for 500, 600 persons.
0:17:58 > 0:18:0120,000 dirhams is £1,500.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04After my trip across the desert on Hamoun,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06it seems like a bargain to me.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07And it's easy to imagine
0:18:07 > 0:18:11why a strong camel was an asset for Saharan traders
0:18:11 > 0:18:14when they might carry loads of up to 200 kilos.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Apparently, the white camel is called the president of the caravan
0:18:22 > 0:18:24because it can sniff out water.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28So they used to send it ahead to find where the water was in the desert
0:18:28 > 0:18:29and it was highly valued.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37The days of camel caravans are clearly over,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40so I'm making the next leg of my journey by car.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44I'm going south towards the town of Zag, 115 miles away.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49There's a military checkpoint at the entrance to the town
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and people in Guelmim have told me I'm unlikely to get through.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58I'm about 25km outside of Zag on the western route
0:18:58 > 0:19:01that the merchants followed towards Timbuktu.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04The issue here is, of course,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06that the borders have changed since those times
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and political and social tensions here are quite high.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Zag is the last town before the border with Western Sahara.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19A territory that's been disputed by Morocco,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Mauritania, and the Sahrawi Berbers who have always lived there.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28When Morocco secured control of it in 1979,
0:19:28 > 0:19:33they turned the area into a military zone and built a long sand berm
0:19:33 > 0:19:35to keep out local independence fighters.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39I'm just getting everything ready. I've got my permit
0:19:39 > 0:19:43and I've got the map to show them where I'm going at the checkpoint,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47but I am really nervous that we're not going to get through.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51It's a military zone, there is a lot of tension over the Western Sahara
0:19:51 > 0:19:53and this really is one of the points
0:19:53 > 0:19:55that I think could block our journey.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06- Bonjour.- Bonjour.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10THEY SPEAK ARABIC
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It turns out my worries were totally unfounded.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Instead of a show of military bravado,
0:20:21 > 0:20:26I'm warmly welcomed and waved through the checkpoint and into Zag,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28a town straight out of a spaghetti Western.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33Here, I want to find someone to take me on to the border,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36but when I ask around, everyone says it's not possible to get there.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Finally, a local cloth trader, Mansour Hamadi,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44agrees to take me down the road south of Zag towards the border.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49He used to travel it himself to buy fabrics in Mauritania.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53But just four miles along the track, he stops the car.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56This is as far as he is prepared to go.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13The military presence doesn't bode well for my onward journey.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Mansour tells me there are thousands of unexploded mines
0:22:10 > 0:22:12along both of these roads
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and the conflict between the different factions is very much alive.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21This is extremely frustrating. This should be so simple.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23I'm actually standing on a crossroads
0:22:23 > 0:22:26for two roads that go to Timbuktu.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30That one goes through Tindouf and this one goes through Mahbes.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33But unlike the days of old,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36when the merchants passed freely along these routes,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39I can't go and the reason is there is a built-up military zone,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42this area is under dispute, it is mined,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46and there is absolutely no possibility for me to cross.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50So, I'm stuck, I'm absolutely stuck here, there is nothing I can do.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58I'm out of options.
0:22:58 > 0:22:59I can't follow the salt roads
0:22:59 > 0:23:02through the closed border and a military zone.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07So, to continue on my quest for Timbuktu, I have to fly 1,000 miles
0:23:07 > 0:23:11over the no-go territory of Western Sahara and Mauritania
0:23:11 > 0:23:13directly into Mali.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26This is Bamako, the capital of Mali,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Arriving here is an assault on the senses.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I feel like I've been parachuted into craziness.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45I'm in the heart of West Africa and everything's going at ten times
0:23:45 > 0:23:47the pace of normal. It's brighter, it's noisier,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50I keep sneezing because of the chillies.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53What an incredible contrast to the sounds of the Sahara.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Just couldn't be more different.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58We're still 700 miles from Timbuktu,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01but I've spotted something in the market
0:24:01 > 0:24:03that tells me I'm on the right track.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Timbuktu?
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Everywhere I go, there are glimpses of Timbuktu luring me in.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Here I've found this massive block of salt,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14which must have come down from the north, through the city,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16and all its way over here to Bamako.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22I've found salt. Now I'm searching for
0:24:22 > 0:24:25the other prized commodity of these trade routes - gold.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Mali is the third-largest producer in Africa,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33yielding over 50 tonnes of gold a year.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37In the Middle Ages, the great West African empires of Ghana,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Mali, and Songhai got rich from it.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Gold is still mined here and I'm keen to see a working mine
0:24:51 > 0:24:54for myself and maybe do some prospecting.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58So I'm making for Narena, 40 miles south-west of Bamako,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01taking the local transport with some of the workers.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07SHE SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:25:07 > 0:25:10It's a sociable ride and I learn a new phrase in Mandinka,
0:25:10 > 0:25:11the local language.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13SHE SPEAKS MADINKA
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Slow down. It's getting a bit bumpy.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19We're off-roading through the bush on the way to the gold mine.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34We rattle to a halt at what I'm told is the mine.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38I was expecting a modern, hi-tech operation,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40but instead I'm greeted by the sight
0:25:40 > 0:25:43of people busily wielding picks and shovels.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48This is a community mine run by the local landowner.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52You have to pay him a fee before you can mine here.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55- Assalaamu Alaikum.- Walaykum assalam.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I've brought him a traditional gift of kola nuts.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13The Malian equivalent of a nice bottle of red.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15SHE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Keita has an entourage
0:26:16 > 0:26:19who seem amused by my eagerness to do some gold mining.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Yacouba is the chief's cousin and the mine's foreman.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43The mine has only been open for eight months.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47He said, "Do you want to see gold?"
0:26:56 > 0:26:57Assalaamu Alaikum.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00These men are the modern-day version of the traders of old,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02buying gold to sell on.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I'm surprised it's all so shiny and bright.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Somehow I thought it would be in big rocks and you wouldn't
0:27:14 > 0:27:17actually be able to see that it's real gold, which it obviously is.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And these guys here are weighing it and pushing it out.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Apparently the price varies a lot.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26But it's great to see it here.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33At the moment gold sells for the equivalent of £20 per gram.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36The mine here produces three to four kilograms a month.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41It's hard to work out where it's all coming from.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45All I can see is a series of holes in the ground,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47but it turns out all of them are mine shafts
0:27:47 > 0:27:49with people working down them.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Working underground appears to be a male-only zone,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06but I'm desperate to have a go myself.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Time to get my hands dirty... if they'll let me.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50It's boiling hot, this is really hard work.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53All the miners are laughing at me, but I'm actually doing my best.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59There's a lot of hard graft involved in striking gold.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02And once you've used all your muscle power
0:29:02 > 0:29:04to shovel earth from the ground,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08actually spotting the gold is more difficult than you might think,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10even with the help of a metal detector.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:29:34 > 0:29:36I found gold.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39When I say I found it, me and 30 excited miners found it.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43I think that's going to pay for me to get all the way to Timbuktu.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47I'm told my piece of gold is too small to be weighed,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49but I don't care,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52this is trans-Saharan trade in the palm of my hand.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57This is just a small community mine, but you can see the potential
0:29:57 > 0:30:00for enormous amounts of gold coming out of the ground.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03I already found my own little nugget, I dug it up myself,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05and it makes me realise that Timbuktu,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09this mythical city of gold, may actually be a reality.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19I'm finally setting off on the last leg of my journey.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22I've travelled 2,000 miles to get to Mali
0:30:22 > 0:30:27and there's just one last 700-mile stretch before I reach Timbuktu.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30It looks so simple on the map, a short plane ride away,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33but while once all routes led to the city,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36recent events have changed that.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37Allahu akbar.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Allahu akbar.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41- NEWSREADER:- 'On the night of April 1st,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45'Islamists and local Tuareg rebels drove into Timbuktu.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49'By dawn they were in control.'
0:30:51 > 0:30:55In 2012, rebels invaded Timbuktu,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57turning it from a cultural treasure trove
0:30:57 > 0:31:00into one of the world's most dangerous places.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Tuareg separatists wanted to create an independent state.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08But they were soon supplanted by Islamic militants
0:31:08 > 0:31:12who implemented their own extreme version of Sharia law.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17A year later, French and Malian troops reclaimed the city.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Now, a UN presence keeps the fragile peace there.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32The security situation means flights are strictly limited.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35I'm camping out at Bamako airport, trying to get on a military plane.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40This is the most difficult leg of the journey
0:31:40 > 0:31:43because the only way to get into Timbuktu now is with the UN.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45The political situation means that even in the olden days
0:31:45 > 0:31:48when the traders came across the Sahara and had to face
0:31:48 > 0:31:51all those difficulties, it's now worse,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53it's harder to get into the city.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02After waiting around, I finally managed to pick up a flight.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06I feel as excited as those early European explorers must have felt.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12"At last we arrived safely at Timbuktu.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15"At the moment when the sun touched the horizon,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18"that was when I saw this capital of Sudan,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22"which for so long had been the focus of all my desires.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24"Entering that mysterious city,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28"which all the civilised nations of Europe have striven for,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31"I was seized by an inexpressible feeling of satisfaction."
0:32:37 > 0:32:39But when I touch down at Timbuktu,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41I'm faced with the alarming reality
0:32:41 > 0:32:44of a city which is effectively under siege.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49It's really chilling to come into all these military checkpoints.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52In the airport you see civilians and people greeting their families
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and then here, it's all military personnel,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57it's barbed wire everywhere, there's weapons everywhere.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07There are only three miles of the Sahara between me and Timbuktu.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11After travelling 2,000 miles, I'm just a few minutes away
0:33:11 > 0:33:13and I'm getting butterflies.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17The city's world-famous mosques are some of
0:33:17 > 0:33:20the last surviving remnants of the medieval trader era
0:33:20 > 0:33:24and I'm heading for one of them, the Sankore.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27I've been waiting for this moment for years.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29It's been a really, really long journey
0:33:29 > 0:33:30with lots of obstacles in the way.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Slightly different ones from the traders,
0:33:33 > 0:33:34but the same kind of feeling.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39And now I get it, my first glimpse of the icon of Timbuktu -
0:33:39 > 0:33:41this beautiful, stunning mosque
0:33:41 > 0:33:44that looks nothing like anything I've seen before.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48You can see it in pictures, but it's not the same as being here.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55The Sankore Mosque was built in the 14th century
0:33:55 > 0:33:58and its name means, white nobles,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02reflecting the pale-skinned Berbers who ruled the city.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06It must have been a hugely imposing sight for medieval traders
0:34:06 > 0:34:08as they emerged from the desert.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14I love touching history.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Just imagine all the people that made this,
0:34:17 > 0:34:19all the people that have worshipped inside.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24It's a symbol, but it's so much more than that because it's actually
0:34:24 > 0:34:26a living, breathing place, the centre of the city.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35The inside of the mosque is reserved for Muslim worshippers.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37But just the sight of it transports me back
0:34:37 > 0:34:40to the heady days of trans-Saharan trade.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48I'm picturing this main square at the height of Timbuktu's glory
0:34:48 > 0:34:51when it would be a cacophony of crazy noise and colour,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54with everybody here, the caravans, the merchants,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57people trading every good imaginable.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Over there, we'd have people sitting with their weighing scales,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02weighing out the goods.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Maybe over there you'd have the horrible scenes of the slaves
0:35:04 > 0:35:07getting ready to be loaded up and taken up to the north,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09crying because they didn't know where they were going,
0:35:09 > 0:35:10what was going to happen to them.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16Just a melee of humanity - Jews and Arabs, Tuaregs, Songhai,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18all mixing together to make this
0:35:18 > 0:35:21the most important trading centre of its day,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23the city of gold.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31The cultural richness of the city,
0:35:31 > 0:35:35with its fabulous mosques, grew out of its material wealth.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39The oldest and largest of them, the Djinguereber,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42was built by the greatest king of Mali, Mansa Musa.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50Though I'm not a Muslim, I've been granted special permission to go in.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Under the tall arches, I find Salem Ould Elhadjie,
0:35:58 > 0:35:59a historian and storyteller,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03who tells me the tale of the richest man in history,
0:36:03 > 0:36:04Mansa Musa.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41Tales of Mansa Musa's astonishing wealth spread across the globe
0:37:41 > 0:37:43and thus began the legend of Timbuktu.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49Many explorers over the centuries tried and failed to reach it.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52In the 19th century,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54a French explorer's club even offered a prize
0:37:54 > 0:37:58to the first adventurer to reach the city and return.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02But the first man to get here wasn't French, he was British.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Major Alexander Gordon Laing's house.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08This is where he stayed in Timbuktu when he was here
0:38:08 > 0:38:11and it's one of the places I've really, really wanted to come to.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14He's a fellow Scot and I consider him an extremely brave man.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25Alexander Gordon Laing reached Timbuktu in 1826.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29It had taken him a year to trek from Tripoli across the Sahara,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32and on the way he'd been viciously attacked and robbed.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37Tuaregs had fractured his jaw and nearly cut off his right hand,
0:38:37 > 0:38:38and he had a musket ball in his hip.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44I have a copy of the letter he wrote when he arrived here.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46He was only 32 years old.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50"I have been busily employed during my stay,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53"searching the records in the town, which are abundant.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58"But my situation in Timbuktu has been rendered exceedingly unsafe
0:38:58 > 0:39:01"by the unfriendly disposition of the Fulas,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04"whose Sultan has expressed his hostility to me
0:39:04 > 0:39:06"in no equivocal terms.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10"He has now got intelligence of my being in Timbuktu
0:39:10 > 0:39:13"and as a party of Fulas are hourly expected,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17"Alkaidy Boubacar, who is an excellent good man,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19"and who trembles for my safety,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23"has strongly urged my immediate departure."
0:39:25 > 0:39:28This was the last letter Laing ever wrote.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31After fleeing Timbuktu, he was captured
0:39:31 > 0:39:34and then brutally strangled by Tuareg raiders.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40It's bittersweet, sitting here in Laing's house...
0:39:40 > 0:39:43reading his letter in the place that he stayed in Timbuktu.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46I'm here, I'm wandering the same streets that he did.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48He died in such a horrible way,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50but he achieved such an incredible thing.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53It puts my puny attempts to get here into perspective.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57This man was incredibly courageous.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00He knew that he might die, but he still did it
0:40:00 > 0:40:03in the interests of finding out about this great city.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05I wish I had half that courage.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Two years later, in 1828, a Frenchman, Rene Caillie,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16won the race for Timbuktu and returned alive
0:40:16 > 0:40:19to claim the 10,000-franc prize.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22That's more than £75,000 in today's money.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26It was a prize which had cost Laing his life.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Today, 60,000 people live in Timbuktu,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40a mix of the different tribes who have made their mark on this city
0:40:40 > 0:40:42throughout its history.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46It was founded in the 12th century by the Tuaregs
0:40:46 > 0:40:49with their trademark scarves and fierce reputation.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53They're nomads of the Sahara
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and the mainstay of the caravan trade across the desert.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Most still live a nomadic life, like the Agata family
0:41:01 > 0:41:03who come to Timbuktu to trade.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Muhammad's forefathers grew rich
0:41:10 > 0:41:12from trading in salt and Malian gold.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15He still uses that gold in his jewellery.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54Since the militants' incursion, the Sahara has become too dangerous,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57even for Tuareg nomads,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and the Agatas now rely on their jewellery to survive.
0:42:15 > 0:42:16- Zacate.- Zacate.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31I've been invited to join the family for lunch,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34which Muhammad's wife, Maya, is preparing.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42The meat is goat, cooked slowly to tenderise it.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57I want to know if it's true
0:42:57 > 0:43:00that in this warrior culture, women rule the roost.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09I'm not used to seeing men veiled
0:44:09 > 0:44:11and women uncovered in a Muslim country.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13It's a complete role reversal.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Maya has provided a feast.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29But times are hard for the Agata family.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33The security risks in Timbuktu have scared away the tourists
0:44:33 > 0:44:36and it's too dangerous to cross the desert to trade.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Their nomadic lifestyle is on hold.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51To me, Timbuktu seems a peaceful, friendly place,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54but the UN presence all over the city is a constant reminder
0:44:54 > 0:44:58of the dangers that lurk outside its boundaries.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02And that's where I'm going next - to follow the salt road south.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12What made Timbuktu such a great centre of trade
0:45:12 > 0:45:15was its geographical location.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18A crossroads between the desert of the Sahara
0:45:18 > 0:45:19and the great Niger River.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25The Niger lies just five miles south of Timbuktu,
0:45:25 > 0:45:28but once again, I have to rely on the UN to take me there.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33This time in an armoured convoy on one of their daily patrols.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40There are 1,200 UN peacekeeping troops in Timbuktu,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43their third largest force in the world,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45and Mali is their deadliest mission.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59My driver, Kai, tells me that only two weeks before I arrived,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01there was a rocket attack here.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06So, when you patrol, are you looking out for anything in particular?
0:46:06 > 0:46:11Everything that's sort of unusual, or...is it calm or not?
0:46:13 > 0:46:16You can't sort of pinpoint what you're looking for,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20you're just looking that is it... the same way that it usually is.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29The desert eventually gives way to a sea of green.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31This is where the camel met the canoe
0:46:31 > 0:46:34in the days of trans-Saharan trade.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40And when I see the Niger River for the first time,
0:46:40 > 0:46:41it takes my breath away.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48The port of Korioume is going about its daily business,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52oblivious, it seems, to the danger around it.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54And I'm curious to know what kind of goods
0:46:54 > 0:46:56are passing through here today.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57Monsieur.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09Ibrahim is the harbour master here.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13Two boats have just pulled in and are unloading their cargo.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31There's a huge variety of merchandise
0:47:31 > 0:47:34including a whole consignment of motorbikes...
0:47:35 > 0:47:39..but hiding under a tarpaulin is something much more interesting.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Just uncovered a big treasure trove of salt.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53This is an exciting discovery.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56I'd thought that the salt trade through Timbuktu had been halted,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59but here it is, in huge 30kg tablets,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01waiting to be shipped south.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Ibrahim tells me that Saharan salt is still highly prized.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22In days of old it was vital to preserve meat.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Now it's a gourmet item, and after all these centuries
0:48:26 > 0:48:30it's still an important part of Timbuktu's trade.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41Timbuktu is a place where legends abound -
0:48:41 > 0:48:46of fierce Tuareg warriors and brave, moustachioed, European explorers.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50But I'm here to meet some unlikely heroes, the librarians.
0:48:52 > 0:48:53- Bonjour.- Bonjour.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04In its heyday, Timbuktu was one of
0:49:04 > 0:49:07the world's most important centres of learning.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Priceless manuscripts were created here
0:49:10 > 0:49:14and transported via the trade routes throughout Africa and into Europe.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Here at the Ahmed Baba Institute,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24Bouya and his team had collected thousands of them.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32When the Islamic extremists took over the city in 2012,
0:49:32 > 0:49:36the heritage of a whole continent was put in jeopardy.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07But the librarians were determined to save their treasure.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28At dead of night, they began sneaking the books out,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32hidden in trunks, right under the noses of the militants.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Haidera and the librarians managed to smuggle out
0:50:47 > 0:50:49almost all of the collection.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55But in January 2013,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59when Timbuktu was finally reclaimed by French and Malian troops,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02the extremists committed one final act of vandalism
0:51:02 > 0:51:04as they fled the city.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11They brought out a box of the remaining books and set fire to it.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Throughout history, men have burned books,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45fearing the knowledge they contain.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50The charred remains of the manuscripts have become
0:51:50 > 0:51:54part of the collection, fragments of Africa's golden past.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Since I've been in Timbuktu,
0:52:30 > 0:52:34I've been really touched by how the city has coped with
0:52:34 > 0:52:36all it's been through in recent years.
0:52:36 > 0:52:37THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:52:37 > 0:52:40The physical and emotional turmoil of invasion
0:52:40 > 0:52:44and the damage to its culture and lifestyle.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Today its people live with the constant threat
0:52:48 > 0:52:50of danger on their doorstep
0:52:50 > 0:52:52and many have been left in poverty.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56But the city has another enemy,
0:52:56 > 0:52:58one it's lived with since it came into existence -
0:52:58 > 0:53:00the desert.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07I love the desert, but it's a very harsh place
0:53:07 > 0:53:10and I can see that when I look around behind me at Timbuktu,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12because everywhere there's sand,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15it's encroaching, it's eating away at the buildings
0:53:15 > 0:53:18and it feels like it's almost making the city disappear.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29On every corner, I see people battling to keep the sand at bay.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35It attacks the buildings too, wind and sand eroding the walls.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38And it's a constant fight to keep those mud-built mosques
0:53:38 > 0:53:41from crumbling back into the dust.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48El Bukhari bin al-Suyuti is in charge of maintaining
0:53:48 > 0:53:50the city's cultural heritage,
0:53:50 > 0:53:54which includes fighting off the scouring effects of the weather.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18It's not just the abrasive combination of wind and sand.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Recent heavy rains have also severely damaged
0:54:21 > 0:54:24the exterior plasterwork on these mosques.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29I'm pleased that the city is getting some help from outside agencies,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32like UNESCO, to preserve these iconic buildings,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34but what's more difficult to deal with
0:54:34 > 0:54:37is the march of the Sahara into Timbuktu.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43The city is in danger of being gradually swallowed by the desert.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Timbuktu is no longer El Dorado.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24It's a charming, sleepy town that's slowly disappearing
0:55:24 > 0:55:28and it seems to me its streets are now paved with sand, not gold.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34It's a place where the Sahara, which brought untold wealth to its gates,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37has been both a blessing and a curse.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47Timbuktuans love a party.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Their fierce history, the violence of the occupation,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53the encroaching sands - nothing can stop them,
0:55:53 > 0:55:58and I've been invited to a Tuareg shindig by my friends Maya and Muhammad.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08Traditional Tuareg music has two components -
0:56:08 > 0:56:11a three-stringed tehardent and a calabash drum.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20First, the women dance and, of course, I have to join in myself.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I choose Maya as my dance partner.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:56:26 > 0:56:29It's a curiously sedate experience,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32but that all changes when it's the turn of the men.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41Oh-la-la-la!
0:56:46 > 0:56:48The women's dance was very, very gentle.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51I just had to wave my hands a little bit and wiggle my eyebrows.
0:56:51 > 0:56:52Very enjoyable.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55The men's dance is incredibly energetic.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58They're leaping up and down like little frogs.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Five years ago, when the city was occupied, all music was forbidden.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11Now, the irrepressible spirit of these desert people
0:57:11 > 0:57:15is free to express itself again in the song and dance
0:57:15 > 0:57:18that the Sahara has been witness to for centuries.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26It was the promise of gold and salt,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29as well as precious books and manuscripts,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31that brought the world to Timbuktu's gates
0:57:31 > 0:57:36and helped forge the trans-Saharan trade routes, the salt roads of old,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38that I've travelled to get here.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45Along the way, I've crossed spectacular landscapes
0:57:45 > 0:57:49and met extraordinary people with ancient ways of life.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54I've uncovered lost empires
0:57:54 > 0:57:56and found treasure in the strangest places.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01But most of all, I've finally completed my quest
0:58:01 > 0:58:05and discovered for myself the living myth of Timbuktu.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11Am I disappointed not to find my El Dorado?
0:58:11 > 0:58:15No, because in every corner you can feel the legacy
0:58:15 > 0:58:17of its magnificent past.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21It's a heritage that needs protecting,
0:58:21 > 0:58:24from both nature and mankind,
0:58:24 > 0:58:27so future generations can, like me,
0:58:27 > 0:58:30make their own journey to this magical city.