The Best Way of Exploring Nile and Niger

National parks of Africa has always been its premier attraction for the tourists, its mountains have received quite a lot of tourist traffic and now the hip lifestyle of its metropolises has become the reason for the thousands of tourists heading to the continent. But in all this one aspect of this gigantic and gorgeous continent has been left almost untouched and that’s the rivers of Africa.

Africa has some of the longest and the most beautiful rivers in the world and some of them have been the creators and destroyers of some great African civilization. Two of these rivers are still playing an important part in the daily life of their respective countries. One is the famous Nile, the great river that provided the ancient photonic Egyptian civilization with fertile clay and ample water resources that made it flourish. The second being the river Niger that has been the trade route between the central and western African countries for centuries.

Of course one can hire a luxurious yacht to take you for a tour of these rivers but travelling in the traditional ways of these rivers has its own charm. For example, for travelling in the Nile a traditional sailing boat called Felucca has been in use for the last two millennia and you will find quite a few of them still sailing in its waters. If you have taken a cheap flight to Cairo then take a couple of hour drive to Aswan city and you can hire a Felucca to take you up the river from there. Sailing in a Felucca is a classic experience where you will get the real feel of the Nile.

Do not forget to take a sleeping bag with you and spend at least one night on the boat as it will leave an everlasting impression on your memory with a calm of the river and a clear sky full of stars. There are quite a few small islands in the river and if you are not fond of sleeping on the boat then you can always get off it and camp on these beautiful islands.

Although Niger passes through quite a few central and western African countries the best sailing experience is provided by the journey made in Mali between Mopti and the fairy tale city of Timbuktu. The journey requires a 3-day sail so again do not forget to take your sleeping bag with you. What makes this journey so special is the vastness of the Niger River flowing in the centre of the huge desert of Mali that stretches for as far as the eye can see.

You can decide to travel with the local fairy service that runs between the two places but the problem is that they are used to get really overcrowded and it will be hard for you to enjoy the scenic beauty along the journey in such a crowd. So you can hire a traditional sailing boat from Mopti to take you to Timbuktu and for saving some of your hard earned cash you can tag along with a small tourist group making the same journey.