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"The
Sahara is priest, mage, and confessor, a place so purely
itself, we can finally see ourselves clearly."
William McBride
Sahara:
the greatest desert in the world, rending Africa in two,
with its endless mountains of sand, dunes that stretch
beyond the imagination. Evenings of such clarity one can
see the literal dome of the earth, and fall asleep
counting the innumerable stars - one forgets how many
there are. This is the land of camels, and nomads, of
ancient songs and the great winds.
The
Sahara is a challenge, not easily reached, but richly
rewarding those who make the journey. To get there, one
travels along ancient river routes, lined with oases,
blooming, green lifelines that extend like veins into
the heart of the desert. Along these ancient paths are
constructed the ksar and kasbahs, mudbrick fortresses
and towns that rise mysteriously out of the very earth,
only to return, in time, like melting sandcastles.
Most
famous of these is the Draa Valley, the land of a
thousand kasbahs, starting point for trans-Saharan camel
routes of old, when tens of thousands of camels would
make the perilous, many-months journey across the sands
to bring back treasures from the East.
- Ouarzazate
- Zagora
-
Tinghir
- Merzouga
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