• Take a canoe or motorboat along the Niger River to the Mali border of the ‘W' Game Park. Fishing is possible throughout the year, the main season being from April to September. Big-game hunting is outlawed.

• Catch a festival. Celebrate the end of the rainy season with the Peulh people's lively knees up, or witness the Cure Salée, when the nomads gather their cattle to go to new pastures and the Wodaabé tribe hold the gerewol festival.

• Climb the mosque minaret at sunset for a spectacular view of Agadez: This beautiful old Tuareg capital is still a caravan trading city: it also has a thriving tourist trade. Beautiful silver and leatherwork can be bought in the back streets.

• Venture into the Aïr Mountains, which were, until recently, home to many species not generally seen at this latitude, including leopards, lions and giraffes. However, the recent droughts have caused animal populations to dwindle rapidly.

• Arrange an expedition through the mountains to the springs at Igouloulef and Tafadek or the prehistoric site at Iferouane and beyond the Ténéré Desert and the Djado Mounta.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.