Timbuktu However, a new paved road is under construction between Niono and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The road will pass through Nampala, Léré, Niafunké, Tonka, Diré and Goundam. The completed section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the Office du Niger. The section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund. Timbuktu Airport is served by both Air Mali and Mali Air Express, hosting flights to and from Bamako,
Timbuktu has been dubbed the 'Harmattan Haze'. Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms. The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans-Saharan trade route; nowadays, the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in