Arte - Rivers of the World (2009) 3 Niger

Rivers are an essential source of life and food. The world's greatest cities have risen and fallen along their banks. They can be passages of commerce or crusade, untamed natural forces or generous energy suppliers. Rivers of the World is a beautifully shot series exploring the most spectacular rivers of the planet across all five continents. The names alone possess a legendary resonance - Niger, Okavango, Mekong, Urubamba, Colorado, Orinoco, and Nile. The great geographical diversity embodied by all these rivers is explored along with the people who live on and from these waters and who devote themselves to their protection. Long may they continue to flow.

Part 3: Niger
The Niger carries its myths across the whole of West Africa. In Mali it bathes the waterfronts of Djenn, a town built from the earth it stands on, and of Timbuktu, the pearl of the desert. From Bamako to Gao the river is for some the mother spirit, for others the magical and mysterious Queen of the Waters, but it is worshipped by all for its immense power