"Full Lifetime Warranty on Every Tool Sold!"
We visited the weekly market in Douz, a town at the edge of the Sahara Desert, and I expected to see live animals, foodstuffs, and exotic local goods. But I forgot that people need tools in remote desert towns, too. And where there is a demand, entrepeneurs will meet it! Canon 17-55IS@23mm.
Shepherd and Flock
Canon 55-250IS @ 55mm
Ksar Oued Sultane
When there is drought in the desert, the first thing one tribe of nomads would do is look to steal the food of another, weaker tribe of nomads. So fortified granaries called Ksour (singular Ksar) were developed. Think of these as castle walls built up out of individual little humped cells, each with its own private door on the inside of the castle wall. Each cell belongs to a different family for their private store, and the whole is easy to guard, especially when built on top of the largest hill in an area. The architecture is a bit distinctive, and George Lucas borrowed it for alien construction in some of his Star Wars films. They are difficult to photograph, as the inside has walls all around it that block sunlight during the golden hour early/late in the day. I don't think the Industrial Safety & Health folks would approve of that stairway, do you? But those whose cells aren't on the stairway had to climb into the cell using the little handholds extending from the wall! Fortunately these are now historical curiosities and not generally in real use. Canon 17-55IS@23mm.
Sahara Dunes
Down South in the honest-to-Gawd Sahara, these dunes looked pretty good at sunset. The colors are correct. The dark spots you see are clumps of brush that I'd say were typically 4-8 feet across. Canon 55-250IS@250mm.
I am impressed at the fact of there being "brush" growing in such a hostile environment as the Sahara. Sort of goes to show one the persitance of life on the planet in regards to nature. If life can persist there, then why not elsewhere in our universe? I did however, key on the "Star Wars" appearance of that grainery, really an odd but idealy situated and benefical structure, though I cannot say much for the building codes back then.