here the salt mine has been working
since the 11th century in Tao tini the
landscape changes with the day a
pockmark landscape of tailings from the
hand dug pits where the salt is mine the
abrasive sand grinds away slowly on the
bodies of the men who continue to work
the salt many have terrible sores all
over their feet and hands there are days
when your arms hurt but there are no
doctors here there is nothing there are
men who have bad wounds like this it’s
really hard but what are you going to do
the salt tablets are loaded on the
camels as the people prepare to head out
they will spend about 14 days heading
south to Timbuktu for them crossing the
desert is not merely getting from here
to there it is a process in the Sahara
Desert there is no reference point as
far as the eye can see it’s an absolute
sea of sand nighttime comes and goes
the Sun rises large in the sky as the
caravans move out in these long journeys
the guides utilize skills which have
been developed slowly literally over
generations they read the direction of
the stars they use the orientation of
the sand dunes and tracings in the sand
at mark the direction of prevailing
winds as they travel through the desert
they come upon well after well where the
caravans stop and allow their camels to
drink it’s the continuation of a
tradition a means of survival that’s
been alive for a thousand years during
their trip the caravan encounters rain
causing them to stop the rain affects
the salt and will cause it to break if
it is not allowed to dry out they are at
least a ten days walk north of Timbuktu
in the middle of a Syrian desert down to
a litre or two of water but they don’t
panic they remain extraordinarily home
they send a guide to track down a road
well and hope that the rains have been
sufficient with the little water they
have left they brew some tea they have
learned to adapt to the desert landscape
using the knowledge gained from their
ancestors over the centuries
as they get closer to Timbuktu as far as
the eye can see
the sand and the sky blends together the
camel caravans arrive in Timbuktu they
very carefully unload the cameras one
salt block at a time they stack the salt
blocks in little Adobe courtyard they
prepare to make the journey back to Tao
tini continuing the cycle of the salt
caravan
since the 11th century in Tao tini the
landscape changes with the day a
pockmark landscape of tailings from the
hand dug pits where the salt is mine the
abrasive sand grinds away slowly on the
bodies of the men who continue to work
the salt many have terrible sores all
over their feet and hands there are days
when your arms hurt but there are no
doctors here there is nothing there are
men who have bad wounds like this it’s
really hard but what are you going to do
the salt tablets are loaded on the
camels as the people prepare to head out
they will spend about 14 days heading
south to Timbuktu for them crossing the
desert is not merely getting from here
to there it is a process in the Sahara
Desert there is no reference point as
far as the eye can see it’s an absolute
sea of sand nighttime comes and goes
the Sun rises large in the sky as the
caravans move out in these long journeys
the guides utilize skills which have
been developed slowly literally over
generations they read the direction of
the stars they use the orientation of
the sand dunes and tracings in the sand
at mark the direction of prevailing
winds as they travel through the desert
they come upon well after well where the
caravans stop and allow their camels to
drink it’s the continuation of a
tradition a means of survival that’s
been alive for a thousand years during
their trip the caravan encounters rain
causing them to stop the rain affects
the salt and will cause it to break if
it is not allowed to dry out they are at
least a ten days walk north of Timbuktu
in the middle of a Syrian desert down to
a litre or two of water but they don’t
panic they remain extraordinarily home
they send a guide to track down a road
well and hope that the rains have been
sufficient with the little water they
have left they brew some tea they have
learned to adapt to the desert landscape
using the knowledge gained from their
ancestors over the centuries
as they get closer to Timbuktu as far as
the eye can see
the sand and the sky blends together the
camel caravans arrive in Timbuktu they
very carefully unload the cameras one
salt block at a time they stack the salt
blocks in little Adobe courtyard they
prepare to make the journey back to Tao
tini continuing the cycle of the salt
caravan
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