Must See Niger - Agadez

With its wide sandy streets and Sudanese architecture, Agadez is one of the more interesting towns in Niger, and is one of those strange towns that ebb and flow on the tide of history. In medieval times it was a flourishing city at the edge of the desert.

It overflowed with camel trains, caravanserai, slave traders, and gold transporters. By the mid-19th century Agadez looked all but doomed, but since then the population skyrocketed twice - with the discovery of uranium, and again when drought drove thousands of dispossessed people here in the 1970s.

Today the pulse of the city is dependant on the state, or disarray, of the newest peace accord between the government and Tuareg rebels.