The Sahara, Morocco
The Sahara
The Sahara Desert has a name that lives up to its reputation. Not simply because it sounds rippled and mysterious, but because the very word Sahara derives from the Arabic for…wait for it…desert. My first encounter with the almighty sands came in the form of particles scattered across the windscreens of windswept Britain in the aftermath of the 1987 hurricane.
My second experience, however, took the more traditional route: along the dunes in Morocco.
The Sahara: My Second Encounter
Borne along by a scratchy, lurching, cantankerous camel, I rose and fell with a rhythm more suited to a choppy night on the ocean than a daylight trek across ever-so-dry land.
The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world (with Antarctica qualifying, rather bizarrely, as the largest desert in the world with its lowest annual levels of precipitation.)
The Sahara spans 3.6 million square miles and scorches across North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east.
There was no way my camel was going to be able to manage that. Nor my pelvis and sandblasted face. Instead, we trekked for a few days, tried our luck at sand-boarding and took photographs that I hope you’ll enjoy.
Travel by Camel: Slow Progress
Travel by Camel: Uncomfortable Progress
Shadows in the Sand
Sandboarding – A Little More Speed Required
I first encountered the Sahara in Morocco too. I was stunned by it. Understand that I’m from the desert SW in the USA and had previously traveled in the Atacama. But there was something magical and powerful about the Sahara that stunned me. I would love to someday right the old salt caravan route down to Timbuktoo and the pilgirmige route to Mecca. Great shots, BTW!!
In Central Vietnam,we have beautiful sand dunes as well.But these photos are amazingly gorgeous.