Travel Guides

Only when hearing the word “desert” most of us will make a step back. But living longer or shorter in the desert is a challenge for many people. And about the people who permanently rule their lives in the deserts, they must be really tough indeed. I think that in the future the mankind must learn to conquer the deserts, and more and more people will live there, as the surfaces occupied by the deserts worldwide are huge.

If you simply think to the deserts as totally hostile lands or as sandy yellow uniform surfaces, you are teribly wrong. There are oasis in any deserts, and the deserts are not the same, there are huge differences between them! Some deserts are yellow, some reddish, some white, etc. I selected from the many deserts of our planet a few who are the most significant and interesting in my opinion.

May be you did not hear until now about Nouakchott. I can forgive, there is no matter, I can understand that. But please don’t let it happen again, as you are a profesional traveler, aren’t you?

Aerial View of Nouakchott, a city initially designed for 15000 people, which is counting now 1 million

But Sahara must be well known to you, even if it is one of the toughest places on Earth. There are no many cities in Sahara, and Nouakchott is the biggest of them. I would say, Nouakchott is the capital of Sahara, if you understand what I mean. Fact is that Mauritania desperately needed a capital after gaining independence from France in the 60’s, and thus Nouakchott became the capital of Mauritania. Unfortunately, it was designed first for 15000 people only, but today counts 1 Million, and the explosive development continues. Meanwhile, the big infrastructure problems have been partially  solved. The city has some wealthy citizens in the neighborhood of Las Palmas, but also counts unending slums wit poor hygienic conditions (e.g. Kosovo). But even the poor citizens are very happy here in Nouakchott, as they are mostly Sahara refugees due to the dramatic droughts from the last decades.

Nothing can be more exotic than Timbuktu, which is a little town in the southern part (Sahel) of the Sahara Desert.

The town might look empoverished, inhabited by poor people. But Timbuktu is near the Morgana. In my opinion, the existence of this town is a celebration of life in Sahara, and a symbol of the human strength. Some people say, after visiting Timbuktu, that it looks desolant. Must be a joke. it really looks marvelous, as you consider the continous fight with the Sahara Desert.

Timbuktu represents such a miracle and attaction for many people worlwide, that it has even an airport. It is probably the word’s tinniest city having an airport(32 000 inhabitants).

Sahara, in Arabic, means already desert. Also, Sahara desert is already a tautology, a pleonasm! Beg you pardon for that. Actually, Sahara is the second large desert on Earth, after Antarctica. And if you say desert, think nevertheless to the following leaving creatures:camels, dromedaries, goats, scorpions, cheetah, monitor lizard, sand vipers (the bite is seldom lethal!)

• There are already more than I thought ever. And don’t forget the humans, there is a history here, and even a rich one. Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Nubians and Romans left traces here. And also the mysterious urban civilization of Garamantes

A Saharan village in Mali

A Tuareg man

It is for sure a big adventure a travel in Sahara, but you will discover something special and will have no time to rest! If you are an adventurer. And if you are not, let me think to a visit in a city of Sahara special for you.

It is mourning in the northern hemisphere. Covered cloudy sky, rain and snow falls. You can get mad, you can have a strong depression! escape it by traveling some exotic destinations, in the sun:

Sahara desert

Australia

Argentina

New Zealand

The many Islands from the Pacific Ocean

Which would be your favorite destination? If you let me know it, I will guide you there, telling you a lot about that territory. Or may be you have another preference list…