Niger River

Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic

Timbuktu historian and philosopher Ismael Diadie Haidara takes a trip on the Niger River. His Moorish ancestors fled Andalusia when Spain expelled Muslims. The story of the Moors' exodus and arrival in Mali is contained in Tarikh al-fattash, a history of the Mali Empire and one of Timbuktu's most important ancient manuscripts.