Alice Morrison journeys beneath the veil along Africa's infamous salt roads from Morocco via the Sahara Desert to the legendary city of Gold, Timbuktu.

Chapter 1:
Setting off from Tangier, Alice learns how the routes were forged by the demand for gold from the mines of sub-Saharan Africa. She then passes through the Islamic city Fes, home to the world's oldest university, catches a train to the great market town of Marrakech and treks across the Atlas Mountains, before visiting the ancient caves of salt, the commodity that gave the roads their name.

Chapter 2:
Alice embarks on a camel trek over the dunes of the Sahara, 3.5 million square miles of desert, for the second and final part of her journey to Timbuktu. Along the way she visits a livestock market that centuries ago provided merchants with their camels, before reaching her final destination. Far from the legendary City of Gold, Timbuktu is a city where UN solders keep a fragile peace after an incursion by Islamic extremists in 2012. Alice relives the city's glorious past with a visit to its world famous mosques, meets the Tuaregs - desert nomads who have sought refuge in there - and celebrates at a party with her newfound friends.