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Sahara - 1999

Sahara - 1999

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-18 22:44:17

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was the absolute absence of humidity, the heat, and the wind, which seemed refreshing but which made us dehydrate all the faster.

We were never free from an underlying fear that we would run out of water. We had casks of water slung, reassuringly, across the camels' backs, but we were always anxious that there would not be enough to last us to the next well. Obviously, we took great pains not to waste a drop. We had taken the wise precaution of adding Amuchina to our flasks, which made the water safer to drink, but took away any pleasure in drinking it. When we finished the water in our flasks, we had to top up from our casks. These were made from goats which had been gutted and then filled with sand, a traditional trick which ensures that the skin keeps its elasticity. The cask's hairy exterior and the process of continual evaporation which occurs inside, keeps the water fresh. The water is poured from the cask through one of the hooves, together with several small insects. Tannin from the goat's hide causes the water to have a brownish colour. We would never have dreamt of drinking such water at home, but since everything in life is relative, here in the midst of the desert nobody made any complaint.

When one of us was tired, he hitched a lift on a camel. The camel would kneel down to let us alight, first lowering his fore-legs until he was resting on his two scarred front knees, then his back legs, in a slow wave-like motion. The rest of us marched on grimly, at a steady four miles an hour. Our pace slowed noticeably when we came to the dunes, which from afar had appeared to be soft, golden hills, shimmering on the horizon. The beauty and majesty of the dunes are equalled by the peril that they hold for the unwary. The wind shapes them at will, forming long, symmetrical waves. All vegetation ceases here, but not all life. We saw the track of a snake, but wee didn't meet him, or he us, I'm glad to say. If there is no wind, ...