Timelab Pro Films (June 26, 2023) – Mauritania revealed itself to us like a symphony of nature’s elements. When we experienced the raw power of the earth, the gentle touch of the wind, the captivating dance of fire, and soothing embrace of water, it felt like there was an invisible force, a fifth element, giving meaning to everything that surrounded us.
Among the calm sand dunes, we met people who found their peace amidst the shifting sands, while others, along the shore, were braving the ocean. And in between, the wondrous Eye of the Sahara stood as a silent witness.
Like a celestial watching over the ever-changing life amid the timeless dunes, quietly keeping the secrets of the past. Immersed in the nature of Mauritania, we felt wonder and connection to the timeless history.
Author of the project: Andrew Efimov
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest.
FRANCE 24 (June 5, 2023) – A long trek across the desert of northeastern Niger brings visitors to one of the most astonishing and rewarding sights in the Sahel: fortified villages of salt and clay built on rocks, besieged by the Sahara sands.
Generations of travelers have stood before the “ksars” of Djado, wandering their crenellated walls, watchtowers, secretive passages and wells, all of them testifying to a skilled but unknown hand.
The now ruined city Djado is located on the southern end of the Djado Pleateau in the Sahara in northern Niger. It is not clear who built the complex of fortified mud buildings (ksars). The city was a part Trans-Saharan trading network of the Kanuri people whose Kanem-Bornu Empire was founded before 1000 CE and at its greater extent covered what is now Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, southern Lybia and Eastern Niger.
It is not clear what caused the abandonment of the city after the 1860s: increased desertification, conflict or even a mosquito infestation have been proposed as possible causes. Since then it has been used by Toubou nomads for the cultivation of dates. The site also contains rock drawings and carvings from 12,000 to 6,000 BCE, depicting the fauna that roved the prehistoric Sahara. The Djado Plateau was added to the UNESCO Tenative List in 2006.
Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest.
Six days deep into the heart of the Sahara (in October-November 2022), into one of the most picturesque parts of the desert: Tassili n’Ajjer National Park of Algeria, near the borders with Libya and Niger.
Located in a strange lunar landscape of great geological interest, this site has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world. More than 15,000 drawings and engravings record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara from 6000 BC to the first centuries of the present era. The geological formations are of outstanding scenic interest, with eroded sandstones forming ‘forests of rock’.
Ancient food in the Merzouga Region of Morocco. Merzouga is a small Moroccan town in the Sahara Desert, near the Algerian border. It’s known as a gateway to Erg Chebbi, a huge expanse of sand dunes north of town. West of Merzouga, Dayet Srji is a seasonal salt lake that’s often dry in summer. When full, it attracts a wide range of migratory and desert birds, including desert warblers, Egyptian nightjars and, occasionally, flamingos.
Restaurants: Dar Aytma Restaurant and Dar Gnaoua Bambara.
Few places on earth compare to the Sahara Desert, a natural wonder of vast plains and sun-baked dunes that dominates the south and east of Morocco. The world’s largest hot desert, the Sahara stretches a staggering 5.6 million square miles (9 million square kilometers) over several countries. Hemmed in by the Atlas mountain range, the Saharan sands are one of Morocco’s many highlights.
Circular, drought-resistant ‘Tolou Keur’ gardens have sprung up in Senegal, marking a more local approach to what is known as Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative.
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest.
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel is a project led by the African Union, initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara, by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel.
It was once common practice to herd camels hundreds of kilometers through the desert. Now, with only a handful of herders left, the ancient art of desert navigation will soon be lost. From the south of Morocco, the great Sahara Desert extends more than a thousand kilometers into Mauritania. Hot and dry, the desert is hostile to life.
Yet for centuries, camel herders have successfully traveled back and forth across this landscape, between their herd’s winter and summer camps. Today, only some thousand families remain dedicated to this traditional way of life. They breed dromedaries: domesticated, one-humped camels. Among these guardians of the old ways are the shepherds Moulay and Hadrami, both of the Oulad Ben Sbaa tribe. Their families live in the city, having abandoned the nomadic life.
But Moulay and Hadrami are passionate shepherds, closely bonded to their 200 camels. In this rich documentary, the men take us along as they go about their work: arming themselves against sandstorms, preparing their herd for nightly migrations, and searching the desert’s endless expanse for lost newborn animals and their mothers. An invaluable glimpse into the hardscrabble existence of these shepherds, the film shows a way of a life that will soon cease to exist.
Development banks and states pledged a total of $14.32 billion over the next four years to build a “Great Green Wall” to help contain desertification in Africa’s northern Sahel region. But what exactly is it and how much progress has been made?
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel is Africa’s flagship initiative to combat the increasing desertification. Led by the African Union, the initiative aims to transform the lives of millions of people by creating a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa.
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