A closer look

Try booking a flight to a festival that doesn't actually have a fixed date or location. The Wodaabe nomads of Niger host the Gerewol, an intense, week-long male beauty pageant and courtship ritual, but only when the rainy season dictates the pastures are green enough. For intrepid travelers, planning to attend means relying on vague satellite phone tips and literal word-of-mouth across the Sahara, transforming the simple act of RSVPing into a grueling anthropological expedition.