desert crossing

[Stez]

Hello to everybody...i am writing to know if somebody has heard something
about the big desert crossing...
I heard about it when i was a child and now i would like to make it.
I remember someone told me it was the main way throw the desert that for
centuries and centuries Tuareg had been thrown by cammels for commercial
things......

Do you know something about it?
You know where i could go to find information?

thanksto everybody..
Bye
Stefano

[Jean-Marc V. Liotier]

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 23:28:14 +0100, Stez wrote:

> Hello to everybody...i am writing to know if somebody has heard
> something about the big desert crossing... I heard about it when i was a
> child and now i would like to make it. I remember someone told me it was
> the main way throw the desert that for centuries and centuries Tuareg
> had been thrown by cammels for commercial things......

I do not think anybody has ever heard of a Tuareg being thrown by camels,
let alone commercially for I do not believe the locals to be keen on
extreme sports. Tourists may be interested though.

That said, I guess that you talk about the camel caravans that trade in
the Sahara. Many of them have been replaced by overloaded trucks older
than me (you don't know what 'overloaded' means until you have seen these
trucks) but some of them are still operating. Sometimes more than 200
camels tread itineraries such as Agadez to Bilma via Arbre du Ténéré
and Fachi, about 450 km crossed in just fifteen days with up to fifty
kilometres a day between the wells. The most common traffic is caravans
bringing supplies up north and coming back with salt slabs. Timbuktu to
Taoudenni is one of the most famous such routes.

There are many operators offering camel rides in the desert, you just have
to pick one, and the usual caveats about tour operators apply. Joining a
genuine commercial caravan may also be a possibility.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_saltcaravan.html
http://www.rosemarysheel.com/c%20caravan%20salt%20Moor%20shadow%20copy.jpg

More about the saharan salt trade :
http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/history111/stories_of_salt.htm

[Stez]

Thanks really indeed Jean-Marc V. Liotier.

[Polvere]

Jean-Marc V. Liotier wrote:
[CUT]

Can you write some links of "tour operator" that sell Sahara cross travels?
Thank you!
Bye
Davide