The Source of the Niger

West Africa's great river - the Niger, which waters Bamako, Timbuktu and Niamey on its 4,000-kilometre crescent - begins as a spring you can step across in the highlands near Faranah, close to the Sierra Leone border. The source is sacred ground, tended by the local community whose custodians accompany visitors for the last forest walk to the spring's quiet pool, where offerings and etiquette mark the water's status. The journey is the immersion: Faranah's river-town life, villages of the Kissi and Kuranko country, and the young Niger already gathering its tributaries as the road follows it north.

The landscape

• The sacred spring - the great river's first pool in the forest.
• The custodians' telling - the source's guardianship and rites.
• The young Niger - the stream gathering strength toward Faranah.
• The highland villages - Kissi and Kuranko country en route.

When to go

November to March keeps the village roads and forest paths passable; the rains that feed the river close them with cheerful irony. Arrange guides in Faranah - the visit runs on local accompaniment.

Things to know

This is pilgrimage-style travel: the destination is a modest spring whose meaning does the work, reached by rough roads and walking, with fees and rites as the custodians direct - approach it that way or not at all. Facilities beyond Faranah are minimal. The reward is standing at a geography lesson's beginning.

Nearby

Faranah, the Upper Niger's young valley and the Fouta Djallon rising west.