Things have changed, but in some ways not a whole heck of a lot, since Byron wrote in Don Juan of that “impracticable place Timbuctoo / where Geography finds no one to oblige her / with such a chart as may be safely stuck to.” Though modern charts are surely sticktoable, Timbuktu remains synonymous with romantic remoteness. Most pilgrimages to Timbuktu entail lengthy and arduous drives. Instead, our chartered flights transport us from Bamako to the Sahel and whoosh us into the actually quite practicable city itself.

In the Middle Ages, Timbuktu was a dazzling center of scholarship and trade perched on the edge of the Sahara. We’ll explore not only the faded glories of this fabled city but also such exotic sites as the Grand Mosque of Djenné (the world’s largest mud mosque), the bustling city of Mopti, and the Dogon region, where a complex animistic cosmology reigns, inspiring mask ceremonies, vibrant rock paintings, and mystical cliff dwellings. Then, aboard the 34-guest Callisto, a spiffy, modern cruiser we last encountered on the Adriatic, we’ll voyage down the Senegal’s Saloum River and The Gambia’s eponymous waterway, visiting remote, fascinating fishing villages and exploring Kiang West National Park, the bird-thronged sanctuary of the Baobolong Wetland Reserve, and the River Gambia National Park, home of the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust. We conclude in the rambunctious markets, fine museums, and poignant historical ties to the slave trade of Dakar, capital of Senegal, a city whose climate, Richard West wrote in his classic The White Tribes of Africa, “is not only better than most in Africa, but better than that of France.”

Day 1: USA to Bamako, Mali • Day 2: arrive in Bamako, Hotel Sofitel L’Amitie • Day 3: Bamako, Hotel Sofitel L’Amitie • Day 4: fly to Mopti, visit mud brick mosques, Hotel Kanaga • Day 5: excursion to Djenné, Hotel Kanaga • Day 6: excursion to Dogon villages, Hotel Kanaga • Day 7: fly to Timbuktu for tour, and on to Bamako, Hotel Sofitel L’Amitie • Day 8: fly to Dakar, Senegal, board Callisto • Days 9–14: aboard the Callisto, cruising Casamance, Gambia, and Saloum Rivers, and by sea to Dakar • Day 15: disembark at Dakar, tour Goree Island, catch international flights westward (Le Meridien President Hotel day room) • Day 16: arrive in USA.

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