In addition to Gary's fine corrections:

The stands will offer everything from button and tiny bags of seeds to goats and dried fish.

buttons

because there is one of the few chances to take a shower

this is

The silence and the light filtering in really strike me, and the movie "The Sheltering Sky" comes to mind.

(NO reason to change from present to past here.)

A journey to Mali

At the sunset we reach the ferry that crosses the river Bani to get to Djenne and from far away we could can already see the outline of its mosque. (il tuo storia è nel presente, piu diretto) When we reach the city we set up our tents in a 'campament'. A campament is a facility to camp made up by of several high platforms , similar to flat roofs, where you set up your tent. This is made done in order to stay clear of animals and maybe also to enjoy more the fresh night breeze more.
At sunset I get up early, while in the other tents all is silent e and noiseless. (silent= noiseless, allora no ha bisogna le due) I dress, I grab my camera and I get down from the platform. I reach the square in front of the mosque, in the ground there are the marks for the poles used to assemble the stalls. The first traders are beginning to prepare their stalls and I cannot fancy/forsee imagine how this big, empty, noiseless space will turn in a few hours into a clutter of people, colours (negli statti uniti scrivono 'colors'), scents, stinks (forse 'foul odours' è meglio) and goods of every types. A crowd from far-flung villages is going/is bound to come here in a few hours -- on foot, by boat or crammed in lorries. The stands will offer everything from button and tiny bags of seeds to goats and dried fish.
After this short tour, I go back to the campement because there is one of the few chances to take a shower and I don't want not to miss it. At 9AM we meet with two boys who are our guides to visit to the mosque. Their role is a little dodgy because they explain to us that you need an escort to enter the mosque, but then they get us through the gateway in a sneaky way. The silence and the light filtering in really struck me and the movie " The Sheltering Sky" came to my mind. (adesso parli nel passato!) At the end of the tour we climb to the higher part of the building where we can watch at the whole market from above .

Molto bene! É un paese interessante