Timbuktu (Tombouctou) was once an important trade stop, but now it seems like a sandy place in the middle of nowhere. It took us three whole days in a boat just to arrive at this town located at the edge of the Sahara Desert.

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Only 15,000 people live here. That may sound like a lot, but it's really not that many for a city. We were practically the only tourists.

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Everywhere we walked we found ourselves surrounded by sand - streets of sand, sidewalks of sand. It began to feel more like walking through a desert with small buildings than in a city near the desert. Sand got in everything - my shoes, my clothes, even all of the food that I ate.

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Everyone wanted to be our guides around the city. Most of the time three boys who were cousins led us around. One was Hamada, who is 14 years old, another was his older brother, Bamoi, and the other boy was Mahamodou who is 12 years old. All three of them can speak English, French, and their own language, Songhai! Thank goodness they led us around. Otherwise we would have gotten lost in all that sand!