Highlights of West Africa Overland

The stone circles of Senegambia comprise 93 separate circles along 350 kilometres of the River Gambia. They are clustered into four main groups - Wassu, Wanar, Sine Ngayene and Kerbatch. Each circle contains between 8 and 14 stones, cylindrical or polygonal in shape, between 1 and 2.5 metres high and weighing up to 7 tonnes. They are thought to be dated between the third century BC and the sixteenth century AD though little is known about the society that produced them.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Stone Circles of Senegambia

The island of Gorée, off the coast of Senegal opposite Dakar, is a small and peaceful island which was once the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast. Approximately 20 million Africans passed through the island on their way to the Americas between the mid-1500s and the mid-1800s. The architectural remains today include the grim and cramped slave quarters and the elegant houses of the slave traders. These now house museums and serve as a reminder of this shameful period of human exploitation.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Island of Gorée

The Malian capital of Bamako is a bustling city of over one million people situated on the banks of the Niger River. The National Museum provides an excellent introduction to Malian history and culture with impressive collections of masks, textiles and ancient artefacts. West Africa is renowned for its music and Bamako is an excellent spot for catching live bands, particularly on the Route de Bla Bla. Elsewhere Grande Marche is a huge market selling food, clothes and some more unusual produce in its fetish stalls.

Djenné is one of the oldest towns in West Africa, inhabited since 250 BC. It was an important centre of the trans-Saharan gold trade and the spread of Islam. The Grand Mosque, built in 1906, is the largest mud brick building in the world, a truly unique and extraordinary site. The facade has to be restored every year after the rainy season by thousands of volunteers. Elsewhere the town is a maze of narrow alleyways and traditional mud-brick houses, seemingly little changed in centuries, ripe for wandering and exploration. The Monday market is one of the most lively in West Africa, these days food, spices, fabrics and pottery are for sale rather than the gold, ivory and slaves of days gone by.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Old Towns of Djenné

Bandiagara is a 135 kilometre long escarpment of cliffs and sandy plateaus. It has been inhabited by the Dogon people for over 600 years when they fled here to escape Islamic persecutors. The Dogon still live a very traditional lifestyle in villages with some beautiful architecture, such as flat-roofed huts, tapering granaries, clifftop cemeteries and communal meeting places (Togu Na). The Dogon are famous for their elaborate masked dances and ceremonies which are integral to their traditional beliefs. This region is an excellent area for trekking - along, up and down the escarpment as you travel between the Dogon villages.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)

The Niger River is the third longest river in Africa and is a major thoroughfare in Mali connecting Mopti to Timbuktu. A quintessential experience of travelling in Mali is to take a river cruise to Timbuktu aboard a pinasse - traditional wooden boats powered by engines. On the way you can visit riverside villages such as those belonging to the Bozo, a tribe of nomadic fishermen, view the wildlife of the river including hippos and bird species such as egrets, herons, sandpipers and hammerkops and camp at night on the river's edge. The real highlight however is simply watching the scenes of life on the river - Fulani herdsmen taking their cattle into the river for watering, boats carrying goods, livestock and passengers down the river and women lining the banks washing clothes.

Timbuktu is one of the most evocative and mysterious names for travellers. Located on the edge of the Sahara desert, it became rich as an important trading town and once had one of the largest universities of the world, Koranic Sankore University, as it became the intellectual and spiritual centre for the propagation of Islam throughout west Africa. Today, Timbuktu's attractions include the three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, as well as the old houses of European explorers.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Timbuktu

Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, is a vibrant and chaotic city and one of the cultural centres of West Africa. Once the capital of the Mossi empire, Ouaga is now home to all the country's major ethnic tribes. The city is famed for its nightlife and as a centre to experience the music for which the region is renowned.

Bobo-Dioulasso is Burkina Faso's second city and is one of the most vibrant and attractive in West Africa. The city is a mix of French and Sudanese style colonial architecture, with highlights including the train station and the Great Mosque, built to resemble the famous mosque of Djenne. The Grand Marché contains a great selection of tribal arts from all over West Africa and the unique masks of this region. Bobo-Dioulasso is known as the 'Music Capital of Burkina Faso' and the city comes alive at night-time and the weekend with the rhythms of West African music

The small village of Gorom Gorom in north-east Burkina Faso is renowned for its Thursday market, one of the most famous, colourful and interesting in West Africa. A diverse range of ethnic groups can be seen at the market including indigo-clad Tuareg nomads who arrive by camel from the Sahara Desert, Bella people who were the former slaves of the Tuareg, Songhai farmers and the Fulani herders and their women adorned with heavy gold earrings. The markets sells a huge range of goods including leather, fabrics, elaborate African printed cotton and intricate Tuareg jewellery while livestock are traded at an adjacent animal market.

The Royal Palaces of Abomey were built by the 12 kings of the powerful West African Kingdom of Dahomey between 1625 and 1900. Each king built his palace in the same cob-walled area. Only two survive today, but they are still used for rituals and royal ceremonies and are a reminder of a vanished kingdom. The bas relief decorations on the walls provide graphic depictions of battle scenes and document the history of this warrior kingdom. At Abomey you can witness a Geladan Mask Ceremony used by locals to communicate with spirits (and entertain tourists).

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Royal Palaces of Abomey

The town of Ouidah is the spiritual home of voodoo and was an important centre for the slave trade, remembered today at the old Portuguese fort. The voodoo culture is evidenced at the Python Temple, an important site for Ouidah's ancient snake cult.

Pendjari National Park is located in the north-west corner of Benin and has a wide range of mammal and bird species including elephant, buffalo, lion and various antelopes such as kob, waterbuck, hartebeest and duiker.

The Atakora Mountains in northern Benin are home to a number of traditional tribal groups including the Tamberma, Bessoribe, Betiabe, Wama and Somba. They still hunt with bows and arrows, practice initiation rituals to mark passage through childhood and puberty and live in three storey houses with the ground floor for animals, first floor for the kitchen and top floor for living space and sleeping. This region is a great location for trekking through the mountains between the trial villages and learning more about the their lives and traditions.

Lome, Togo's capital, is a remarkable mix of colonial architecture and native culture. French, German and British settlers have left some grandiose buildings to admire while the country's history and culture can be explored at the National Museum with exhibits such as potteries, costumes, wood carvings and traditional musical instruments and medicinal remedies. Lomo's real attractions are its markets however, in particular the fetish market (Marché des Feticheurs) at Akedessewa where supplies for traditional medicines used by witch doctors can be found, including skulls of monkeys, snake skins, warthog teeth, lion and leopard skin and dried birds.

Lake Togo lies east of the capital Lome and covers some 13 km². Travelling on pirogue, the traditional dugout canoe used by local fishermen, you can visit various towns and villages along the lakes edge such as Agbodrafo and Togoville, which are centres for voodoo culture. The historic town of Togoville contains a royal palace and German colonial church from the early 20th century as well as numerous voodoo shrines and fetish stalls.

The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo covers some 500 km² and is home to the Batammariba. Their remarkable mud tower-houses, known as Takienta are a symbol of Togo and represent some of the most beautiful examples of traditional African architecture still existing. The towers are fortified dwellings which contain granaries and living quarters and are grouped into villages which also include ceremonial spaces.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba

Kumasi was the spiritual and historic capital of the Ashanti Kingdom. Today it is Ghana's second largest city with a population of over one million people. The Manhyia Palace was the former home of the Ashanti kings and today houses a museum. The Armed Forces Museum details the conflicts of the 20th century. Kumasi is also home to West Africa's largest open air market - Kejetia where you can haggle for food, spices and other goods, including Ashanti drums, a key component of Ghanaian music.

The rainforest at Kakum National Park can be explored by walking along a 40 metre high canopy walkway which runs through the park allowing a unique perspective of the rainforest. The park covers 360 km² and is home to monkeys, elephants, antelope, warthogs and buffalo.

Over 20 castles were built along the Ghanaian coast by the colonial powers from the 15th century to protect their interests and for use in the slave trade. The castles at Elmina and the Cape Coast are of particular note, the latter being the centre of British administration in Ghana.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions

Mole National Park is the largest national park in Ghana, at almost 5,000 km², and was established in 1958. It is a slice of East Africa in the west, except with far fewer tourists. The savannah of the park is home to over 300 bird species and over 90 mammals, including elephant, lion, buffalo and several species of monkey and antelope. The guided walking safaris available are a particular highlight.