Billy Hughes, 9, of Baltimore, Md., for his question:

IS THERE REALLY SUCH A PLACE AS TIMBUKTU?

 Timbuktu isn't an imaginary town located in the middle of the wilderness.  It is actually a small trading city in central Mali, located near  the southern edge of the Sahara and about eight miles from the Niger River.

  Since the 1600s, Timbuktu has declined in both importance and population. Today many of its mud and brick buildings have crumbled or lie half buried in shifting sands.

But at one time the town was one of the richest commercial spots in Africa and a center of Muslim learning.

Founded in about 1100, Timbuktu was known as the "meeting point of camel and canoe." Goods from North Africa were exchanged there for products from the forests and grasslands of West Africa. Camel caravans still pass through the town today.