Things to Do in Sahel Region

Dori Sunday camel market

Arrive just after dawn when herders unload nervous young dromedaries that grunt like rusty gates. You'll smell damp leather and hear rapid bargaining in Fulfulde. Strings of amber beads change hands for payment. Watching a test ride is half the fun. Camels groan, sand fliess up. The crowd parts with theatrical whoops.

Ranch de Nazinga wildlife loop

The laterite track crackles beneath the 4WD while you scan for elephants among tiger-striped grass. Branches snap, somewhere a francolin whistles. The air smells of warm marula fruit when the vehicle pauses by the watering hole where buffalo come to slurp at sunset.

Gorom-Gorom Thursday salt market

Tuareg men in indigo turbans unload slab salt hewn from the Sahara, the crystals crunching like brittle glass underfoot. You'll taste gritty mineral on your lips while donkeys bray. Millet sacks thud onto scales balanced from a tree branch. It feels medieval, only broken by the rasp of a portable radio.

Cascades de Bagré by pirogue

The White Volta spreads wide here, its brown water slapping aluminum hulls while fishermen hum Mossi work songs. Acacia shadows stripe the banks. You'll smell wet earth when the skipper cuts the engine and lets you drift beer beneath a mango tree buzzing with bee-eaters.

Mare aux Hippopotames wildlife hide

From the reed blind you watch hippos sigh, sending up clouds of dank vapor that mingle with incense from a nearby village. Purple herons pick through lily pads. Every so often the water bulges as a bull hippo yawns, revealing pink gums and the sound of a leaking drum.

Dori centre: basic campement with shared showers, handy for the Monday livestock market

Gorom-Gorom campement bi-weekly: Tuareg-run mud-brick huts, ceiling fans drone you to sleep

Nazinga Ranch eco-lodge: solar power, you'll hear baboons at dawn from the balcony

Bagré dam guesthouse: breeze off the water, fishermen mend nets outside your window

Pô auberge: simple rooms around a mango courtyard, good base for the hippo lake

Fada N'Gourma mission: clean courtyard, church bells compete with mosque at prayer time