Mali, Niger river, 1993
The trip by small boat (pirogue) without engine from Mopti to Tombouctou takes 10 days. Sleeping at night is on the boat or at the shore in the sand. People here are eating beside rice, the fish which can be bought from the many fishing boats. Some of the fishing methods require diving inside the net and catching the fishes there. Drinking is only possible from the river itself. Villages further away from the river use a well, which is under water when the area is flooded. There are no roads along the river, the only transportation to the many small villages with their markets is by boat. In the past the area beside the river has been rainforest, but it all disappeared and continues to disappear.

Mali, Tombouctou, 1993
Tombouctou is known as an important place not only for the camel caravans that bring all the goods from the north of Africa through the desert to the south, but also for it's high education and knowledge in the past, but this time it was a simple small town, growing more in the following years. In the past the river was connected to the town, but is now passing far from it. The desert around the town is home of many Tuareg people making business in Town, they live in small tents in a village where the next tent is so far, that one can not see it. Some Tuaregs are involved in rebel fighting against the government, sometimes they enter a village of other tribes all kill everybody there. Most of Mali is desert, only the south has green trees during the raining season, and most people live there.