Gao Region People & Culture

There are basically two options as far as getting to Gao, you will either go via the Niger or via the road.  Between Mopti/Sevare and Gao you really need to take a bus but between Timbuktu and Gao you can choose to either take a boat down the Niger River or take a 4WD through the Sahara.  The river option is great if you have a few days and can either coordinate it with the Comanav ferry or have enough spare cash to hire your own boat, otherwise you're looking at a very long, fairly uncomfortable, but kind of cool 4WD trip through the desert in the middle of the night.  Getting to and from Gao is nothing if not an adventure!

I was in Gao in either December 1997 or in January 1998. I was on my way to Mopti after spending a couple of days in the Dogon country. There is a nice mosque to visit

In Goa there is a nice mosque to visit, though, it is not as impressive as the one that you can see in Djenne