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Jewels of the desert
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We followed the route of the ancient salt caravans, the Azalai, through the dunes of the Sahara. The photo is of one of many camel caravans we observed during this visit.
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Our journey started in Zinder, where we loaded up in 4 wheelers and headed north into the desert. We stopped to visit the Beri Beri, the Toubou, and the Wodabbe and Tuareg enroute, camping at nightfall.
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The winds were constant, howling and sending fine grains of sand, creating new dunes and excavating others. One night, a sandstorm built a dune on one side of our tent, and excavated the bottom of the tent. There was no level ground to sleep on. Quite the experience.
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Another day, a retired German mineralogist, shared with us some mystery of the desert. There were burnt "twigs" in the sand. These turned out to be fulgerites, created at that moment in time when lightning hits sand. The heat fuses the glass particles, forming beautiful "twig" like shapes. What fragile treasures these were.
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