here the salt mine has been working
since the 11th century in Tao tini the
landscape changes with the day a
pockmarked 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 on 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
that marked the direction of prevailing
winds as they travel through the desert
they come upon well after well with a
caravan 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 10 days walk north of Timbuktu
in the middle of a Syrian desert down to
a litre or two of
but they don’t panic they remain
extraordinarily calm they send a guide
to track down a rumored 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
pockmarked 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 on 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
that marked the direction of prevailing
winds as they travel through the desert
they come upon well after well with a
caravan 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 10 days walk north of Timbuktu
in the middle of a Syrian desert down to
a litre or two of
but they don’t panic they remain
extraordinarily calm they send a guide
to track down a rumored 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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