Bob leaves the silence and emptiness of the Sahara desert from an isolated settlement of sand covered buildings that are the town of Arouane. He travels 250 kilometres south to the legendry City of Timbuktu, the gate way to the desert, where he reflects on traditional and modern ways of education, largely believed to be a key to Africa's success. He then journeys by river to the cosmopolitan port of Mopti and on to the largest mud building in the world, a mosque, in Djenne. He finishes his journey on the spectacular Bandiagara escarpment in Dogon country, Mali, where he stumbles upon a modern day tribe of slaves trying to break free from their chains through learning.