Algerian Sahara II

Part II D(r)iving into Sand Seas

Since the time we first met some forty years ago on the edge of the desert of Ancient Mesopotamia, we traveled and even lived in diverse deserts around the world. In a car without AC, we crisscrossed the desert in Iraq searching for the ancient cities of Ur, Uruk, Ninive, Babylon.

We started our family in the Arizona desert studded with white saguaro cacti blooms. We drank tea in the desert of Jordan on the way to Petra, got sore riding camels in Morroco, climbed the dunes of Namib, and drove in arid Australia. More driving in the Atacama and Patagonia deserts. We stepped on land in Antarctica; did you know it is considered desert, in fact the largest in the world?

To tell the truth I am not and never was particularly fond of deserts. (Now desserts, those I am very much fond of! That’s how I remember how to spell them correctly, with double “s” as I always want seconds.)

So, really, I was not expecting that much from our Algerian Sahara desert encounter. We were here for the prehistoric rock art after all. And then right at the start to paraphrase Nat King Cole’s famous song:

🎶…

We were driving along, minding our business, (drinking in sunshine)
When out of an orange, (well blue), colored sky
FLASH, BAM, ALAKAZAM
Wonderful desert flew by,

… 🎶

And Sahara love hit us in the eye and like any person madly in love we are now shouting it from the rooftops and writing it on walls (of social media).

The Algerian Sahara is the most beautiful desert in the world! It is incredible, otherworldly, ever-changing, multi-faceted, dramatic yet tranquil, fascinating, colorful, and overseen by a deep black velvet sky studded with a myriad of stars. There is nothing like stumbling out of your tent in the middle of the night to pee and looking up straight into the vortex of Milky Way.

You can’t see the stars in the camp in the evening because there is always a fire burning long into the night

with your Tuareg companions drinking countless tiny cups of strong sweet tea strumming a guitar or chatting. And chatting. Man, those guys can talk. I would love, love to know what about.

What is so extraordinary about the Algerian Sahara is the constant surprises, new vistas, color hues, and changing rock formations. Do not nod off even for a moment in the car or you will miss something magnificent.

Alas, my poor little iPhone is not capable of capturing the vibrant true colors of this desert. And my editing skills don’t suffice. If anything, they make it look worse. Especially this unique yellow and black desert area called Adjalati just past the entrance to the renowned Tardart Rouge=Red Mountain.

A thin layer of fine black volcanic sand creates a fantastic effect and brings out the yellow.

For the first and certainly not the last time we are numbstruck by the immensity of this place, the grandeur, and the extraordinary privilege of having it all to ourselves. Somehow, far from making us feel small and insignificant, or scared and alone, it makes us feel welcome. Like these vistas were waiting just for us to be admired and extolled, like we are a perfectly fitting piece of Nature’s puzzle.

Not to be outdone the red desert warmly embraces us, too.

And when I say warmly I also mean with perfect temperatures. Sahara might be mighty hot in the summer months but right now the temperatures are perfect. In a place known for extremes on both ends, we rarely break a sweat during the day, and only a few middle of the nights could be considered nippy.

We only have one day when the weather is not optimal as Sahara wind brings the first inkling of the sand storms.

The details are worthy of attention, too. The patterns on the sand are poetry written with a calligraphic brush of the wind.

There is plenty of life in the desert still. While the megafauna has long ago moved out with desertification, the last lions were only shot in the 1920s. We still encountered half wild camels and one totally wild ass loudly protesting our presence. Coyotes are hanging around hoping for some tasty scraps. One night there was a commotion: our valiant cook Bubba sleeping out in the open single handedly managed to defend his supplies (especially dried goat) from two stealthy thiefs. We find plenty of fresh tracks in between our tents in the morning.

Birds are luckier, the baguettes that are getting staler by the minute and the day are generously shared.

Small acacia trees,

donkey melons, and tiny flowers of all kinds, many medicinal, somehow flourish, too.

The “regular” dunes, too, simply spectacular.

They go on forever and ever. And when I say forever I mean it. All the way to the horizon and over the border to Lybia and Niger.

The view from the top would take your breath away if you were not already all out of breath making your way up the steep slippery slope.

Before taking the grave risk of going down the slippery slope some people take a little rest

And some take a little fly

and others opt for a little hug

The power of wind is evident in the sand dunes driven high up the sturdy rocks.

The yin and yang of such sand and rock interactions is the unique attraction of the Algerian Sahara.

But more on that in the next installment on The Stone Forrests of Sahara.