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How to Visit Timbuktu; My Experience in Al-Qaeda Territory

I’ve been on a roll since finishing my journey to every country in the world! I had entered every dangerous country, but sometimes I had been so scared that the visits were quite fleeting. That was the case for visiting Central African Republic but I’ve since gone back and see it properly. Not quite the same but I went to Afghanistan before the Taliban (with my mum!), but I’ve now been back to a very different Afghanistan since. And then I could say the same for Syria, Eritrea, and Libya too. Mali though? That took the biscuit. Did you really SEE Mali without including at least trying to visit Timbuktu? That’s a no in my books.

Timbuktu may well be THE ACTUAL final frontier of adventure travel. Only a handful of people per year brave it. It’s a nightmare to organise logistically, it’s expensive, and it’s dangerous. Sounds right up my street to be honest.

How to Visit Timbuktu; Land or Air

If you’re going to claim to be the first and the only person to truly finish the ULTIMATE explorer’s Grand Slam, then you gotta go the whole hog. So that meant I HAD to visit Timbuktu. 2 large problems had prevented me in the past:

1. It’s deep in Al-Qaeda territory. The terrorist group there is actually Ansar Dine, but funded and controlled by Al Qaeda. They inflict Sharia law, and Timbuktu is capital of the region. Wonderful.
2. There are only 2 ways to visit Timbuktu
   • By land/river. By land/river, you have to go deep through the islamist stronghold for days across land and boat. If they hear you’re there, you’re kidnapped. 100%. It actually happened to 2 friends of friends, on different trips, in the last 2 years. So, I put that in the maybe pile.
   • By air. Ok in theory, but Al Qaeda were attacking the pilots who landed on commercial domestic flights there. So the ONE domestic flight per week lands under military cover, and instantly returns to Bamako the capital, within minutes. So if I took that, I could either stay for 5 mins or 1 week. Great.
   • AND the airport was attacked and destroyed by Islamists just a couple of years ago. But the run way still works, and is still used.

My first visit to Mali

In 2016, I spent almost a year going from Cape Town to Casablanca overland (much harder that my Cape Town to Cairo overland trip). That time I crossed the border from Ivory Coast, overland, into rural Mali. It was also quite dangerous there, but it was only a 3 day trip, as I then moved East into the relative safe haven of Burkina Faso. I hadn’t been to either Bamako, the hectic capital, or Timbuktu, the gem of Mali. I needed a new plan to do it right.

My plan to Visit Timbuktu

So how was I going to do this? I very much don’t want to die, I love my life these days, so I didn’t want to overland and then go in the river boat. It was just too risky after my contact in Mali had one of his tourists kidnapped less than 18 months ago doing just that. That left only the flight option.

I have a friend in Mali who I had been in contact for a long time. I asked him could he help me book a private plane from Bamako, the Capital, to Timbuktu. Sure, he said. Dangerous, expensive but possible. And so it began.

The rough plan was to hire a local plane, land in Timbuktu, spend the day there and fly out late afternoon before the jihadists knew I was there. Smart? Kinda? Not really. Anyway, that was the plan. The only issue was that this is 10s of thousands of dollars for a plane and pilot, danger money, bribes to the governer of Timbuktu to let me land and stay etc etc.

Trip Cancelled due to Islamist incursions

The trip was originally planned for November 2023, and I had 16 friends who shared the cost of the plane while I organised everything.

Then, 2 weeks before the trip, the predictable happened. Al-Qaeda affiliate terror groups attacked the town of Timbuktu. They burned villages, blew up the airport, killed indiscriminately. For just the 2nd time ever I had to cancel a OneStep4Ward trip (the first was last year, when I had to postpone my Central African Republic tour when the rebels attacked the capital, wild times. We ended up going, also quite a a scary trip).

My group are a hardcore bunch. I told them that I was postponing until May 2024, but if they want to cancel it’s ok. A couple took the signs of the universe, and the realisation that travel to Timbuktu was legitimately dangerous and bowed out. And I certainly didn’t blame them. This trip was giving me plenty of sleepless nights. Am I going to get these people killed? And myself? Should I just cancel?

The bribes I had paid for my original november dates was gone, money down the drain. Also I paid tens of thousands for the plane on the basis that we’d fill it, so now with cancellations, I’m losing money on a trip that cost me months of work! What a life haha.

Organising a group trip to Timbuktu

The new trip in May was coming around and we had our new dates confirmed. I never had been so invested with the precarious political situation of Mali in my life. All my crew managed to get their visas, with various visits to Washington, Brussels. I personally DHL’d my passport to Europe. Headaches all around.

I couldn’t advertise the trip publically. I couldn’t publish the dates, or the locations of my trip incase the terrorists saw it. A blogger ran a trip recently in Afghanistan and did just that. The result? 7 dead by ISIS.

Thankfully, last-minute, through my network of weird travel people, we filled the plane and I wasn’t going to lose a fortune. It was time to do this.

Our Timbuktu Itinerary

My itinerary to visit Timbuktu was this:

DAY 1: Arrive Bamako, dinner and (plenty of) drinks. We all knew each other, so no need to sign safety waivers, or cringe introductions. Perfect.

DAY 2: Fly to Timbuktu, spend the day there, escape before anyone knows we landed, and fly to Mopti. All on a private plane.

DAY 3: Drive to Djenne, the second coolest place in Mali. Sleep in Segou

DAY 4: Road trip to Siby, various villages and tribes en route.

DAY 5: Niger river, Dogon Dances. Camp, drink, celebrate. We survived.

Rescheduled Timbuktu trip but cancelled flight!

Simple right? Hmmmm. The days before everyone flew to Bamako, our private plane was cancelled. Their pilots were being attacked in Timbuktu so they weren’t willing to fly there anymore.

Furthermore, Djenne was under attack, and off the itinerary for good. So everything was in limbo. People had paid a fortune, some of them were en route. What the hell was I going to do. On to plan C.

We contacted every plane company in West Africa. And finally we had a solution. Once a week there is a ‘commercial’ flight for locals to Timbuktu. It lands, and IMMEDIATELY returns to avoid attack. We know a French guy with a plane, but he also refused to fly to Timbuktu. After payments (out of my pocket), and discussions the plan was this.

Plan C

My group would buy 16 spots on the commercial flight (again out of my pocket- you win some, you lose some!). We’d land in Timbuktu and see the old city in the morning. After 4 hours or so, the Frenchman would call us on sat-phone. His plane would leave the capital, and land in Timbuktu within 2 hours.

We had to be at the airstrip (at the destroyed airport terminal) on time so his plane would land, pick us up, and take off before anyone knew we were there. DEAL! Expensive again, but it works. He wouldn’t take us there, and then wait, it was too dangerous. But this solution with taking the commercial flight there, letting that plane leave us in Timbuktu, and then have the Frenchman pick us up later, worked. At least in theory.

The entire itinerary was chopped and changed. But the legends that travel with me, I knew they’d be cool. This way we could be one of less than 1000 people to see Timbuktu in the last decade. I’ll let them know the info over beers in Bamako.

Visiting Timbuktu; My Experience

FINALLY, it was time. We all met up in Bamako. God I love these guys! i told them all the whole situation, everyone was buzzing. If a little nervous.

We spent the next 3 days visiting Siby, Segou, voodoo markets. A brilliant 3 days in undiscovered Mali. But we were all here for the main event, Timbuktu.

Timbuktu

Early start to the airport, and of course we were the only foreigners boarding the flight. We didn’t really know what to expect upon landing in Timbuktu, but we saw the half blown up airport which was a worry of course.

Disembarking, I was nervous. Scared even. But our fixers had done an AMAZING job. They essentially had Timbuktu on lock-down for us. A huge security team. AK47s. Endless police stops. Closing roads. Pretty wild to be honest.

Soon we were in Timbuktu old city. Visiting the Mosque. I couldn’t believe I was here. It was quite emotional for me. To realise a dream. The sleepless nights. The trust people had put in me. The vast sums of money. Much like when I made it to Socotra, Yemen on that cargo ship. Same feeling. Knowing how rare, and difficult it is to be somewhere so magical. A place you dreamed of as a kid. And it was unreal.

Sankore Timbuktu

On a side note, I used to play Civilization as a kid on my computer. And to be at the University of Sankore in person, after building it on games for more than a decade was a geeky, special moment.

Timbuktu Old city

With our security team in place, we took a tour of Timbuktu old city. Timbuktu used to be a famous tourist destination amongst ‘real’ travelers. A major stop on the trans-saharan caravan. One of the ancient stops on the pilgrimages to Mecca for all of West Africa. But that was decades ago. And the political landscape now is very, very different.

We were looked at like aliens, albeit with smiles. And boy did we ever get the full Saharan experience. When I rescheduled the trip from the postponed original November dates, I had to find a time that worked with all my other adventures. How about May 2024? Sure. Done.

I didn’t think about the fact that this would be THE SAHARA. IN MAY. IN SUMMER. Genius Johnny boy. It was 45 degrees or so. ROASTING HOT. But, in a weird way, it was almost appropriate. Timbuktu should feel like this. Hot. Exotic. Risky.

Local culture in Timbuktu

We had word that the Frenchman had sent his plane from Bamako. That meant we had 90 minutes left before our evacuation. We had time to eat with the locals. A truly beautiful experience. The culture in Timbuktu isn’t like what you find in Morocco or Egypt, where people play up to the crowd of tourists. This, like visiting Mauritania, is the real Sahara.

We clambered into the tent for lunch and ate with the elders of the village. We had hired some local musicians to show us how they pass their evenings. Truly magical.

Escaping Timbuktu

And with that, we were out of there. Straight to the airport, and on to the Frenchman’s plane.

One last sight at the airport though? A group of Russian Wagner mercenaries manning the gun turrets. Smirking at us as we drove by. It was time to leave. Ironically, as scary as Wagner are, they are against the Islamist insurgents. So that means they’re on our side? I guess? Anyway, I didn’t hang around to ask them.

On the plane we went. Delighted, ecstatic, RELIEVED. We did it. And we lived to tell the tale. The fact it was 45 degrees, and the plane had no aircon was the least of our worries.

And with that we flew to Mopti. And had a chance to experience the famous Dogon mask dances, before camping. What a night we had camping. Safe and sound. Cracking open the good whiskey and sharing stories.

What. A. Ride. I won’t be repeating this tour folks.

Final thoughts to visit Timbuktu; Would I recommend?

Would I recommend you to visit Timbuktu? 99.9999% of people. For sure no. It takes a wild sense of adventure, some stupidity, a fair chunk of cash, and a lifelong dream. For our group of weirdos, it made sense. Just.

But as the organiser? Knowing what was happening. The costs, the stress, the risk. It was just about worth it. But to know I’ve visited Timbuktu. That’s priceless. A beautiful place in a beautiful world. But one that is fraught with danger. Not for the lighthearted. On to the next one.

If you want an adventure folks, come join me! I have trips coming up to:

Mauritania

Mauritania (including a 160km ultra marathon)

Libya

Syria

Eritrea

Pakistan, Kashmir and China (charity trip)

Madagascar

Mongolia and the Eagle festival (charity trip)

Turkmenistan – August 2024 (details TBC). Instagram DM me.