#sahara

#sahara

The Sahara Desert is Not Covered in SandPeople who live far from the Sahara Desert get their vision of it from movies. In Lawrence of Arabia or Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Sahara is a vast expanse of sand dunes. You may be surprised to find out that only about a quarter of the Sahara Desert is covered in sand! The vast majority of the Sahara is a hard surface, made up of scrubland, mountains, valleys, or salt flats.

Winners of the Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2021Nature is full of beauty and perfection. Being with nature is like looking at a masterpiece. It's a good thing that a camera exists so that we can capture nature's artwork.Photographers from all over the world share their views of nature for the Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2021. The photos are breathtaking, inspiring, and even moving. The grand prize winner of the contest catches a western lowland female gorilla 'Malui' walking through a cloud of butterflies. This was captured by Anup Shah in December 2011 at Bai Hokou, Dzanga Sangha Special Dense Forest Reserve, Central African Republic.Check out all the images that won by category over at The Nature Conservancy.Image above: Anup Shah/TNC Photo Contest 2021#nature #photocontest #gorilla

The Blue Men of the Sahara: Why the Nomadic Tuareg People Wear Blue ClothesThe Saharan daraa (the long and loose gown) and the tagelmusts (the cloth used as a turban) are garments from northern Africa that go back as far as the 7th and 8th centuries. Today, the fashion styles trending in African cities are those from the Western world. But for the nomadic Tuareg people, the so-called "blue men of the Sahara," these garments remain as the main attire.The question is, why won't they change their look? Well, the answer is simple. The clothes are effective against the desert's scorching heat.According to Dahid Jdeidou, the local guide in Mauritania, the daraa allows for the right airflow, and helps the person conserve body water while he travels across the desert.But it doesn't mean that the style doesn't evolve. Thanks to the low-cost chemical dyes from Asia and Europe, it is now possible to have fabrics with varying shades of blue.But why blue? The reason is people who had white daraas had the privilege to clean their clothes everyday. Those with colored daraas are people from the lower class.Learn more about the history of the garments over at BBC Travel.(All Images: Juan Martinez)#History #Daraa #Tagelmusts #Sahara #Tuareg #Fashion