In the lifeless sand dunes, "blue people" with faces covered with blankets are traded with salt.
This land is so lifeless that it is even called a desert in the desert. It lies as far from the sea as possible in the Sahara. In the desert of Tiniri in Niger, completely cut off from the sea, to the very horizon stretches the ocean of sand dunes, the highest in the world, up to 250 m and more.
But Tiniri is still not only sand. On a territory the size of California, there are rocky plateaus, thoroughly blown away by the desert wind, and fantastic rock formations. On the eastern border of Tiniri in the oasis is the village of Bilma — the starting point of camel caravans, on which the Tuareg used to travel more than 560 km through the desert, transporting salt for sale on the market in Agadez. By name of Bilma is named Big Erg-Bilma — an extensive sandy plain stretching east from the Niger to Chad for 1200 kilometers. The southern half of it is formed by parallel ridges of dunes, each more than 160 kilometers in length and 1 kilometer in width. Carpathian trails run along the valleys between the ridges. The nomadic Tuareg tribes inhabiting these inhospitable places are known as the "blue people" — for their complexion. Tuareg men close their faces to protect the skin from the withering sun and wind. Blue paint from the fabric, which riders wrap their head, goes to the skin - hence their second name.
Salt of the earth
The place of salt extraction lies next to Bilma. If you dig a hole and fill it with water, the natural salt is easily washed out of the soil. A crust of salt crystals appears on the surface of the water; They are collected, and then conical salt heads weighing about 18 kilograms each are pressed into wooden forms.
Caravans of camels go through the red-hot Tiniri at a steady pace and go from 14 to 18 hours a day. There are very few landmarks. Acacia, known as the "Tiniri tree", was the only tree that travelers could see in a few days' journey. She pointed to one of the few wells along the caravan path, where you can stock yourself up with precious moisture until the next well. Acacia was destroyed in 1973.
It takes at least 15 days to reach Agadez, the center of commerce and the place where the largest camel market is located in the mountains of Air. However, camels are a thing of the past, because today the Tuareg give preference to jeeps, on which you can cross the desert in just a few days.
Unlike the arid desert, the plateau of Air can hardly be called completely sterile. Sources near Mount Bagzane allow farmers to grow dates, olives and other crops on mountain terraces.
Of the large animals that are found in these parts, mention should be made of gazelles, ostriches, baboons and antelopes. The ancient inhabitants of Air left a memory of themselves in the form of rock carvings, some of them 5000 years old. Images of elephants, rhinoceroses and giraffes indicate that once caravan paths passed through grassy plains, and not through hot sands.
Ship of the Desert
Touareg dromedary — single-horned camels, carrying salt heads through Tiniri, are perfectly adapted to the desert. In one sitting, a camel can drink more than 130 liters of water, which its body spends very economically: camel's dung is very dry, urine is released in small quantities, and sweat glands begin to function only if the body temperature rises 6-8 ° above normal .
Camels are content with scanty food, as they store fat in the humps. Their feet are covered with an elastic dermal sole, thanks to which the feet of a camel do not sink in the sand. Nostrils can be tightly closed to protect against flying sand.