What an unreal experience.

I spent two weeks in the middle of the Sahara desert with one of my clients. I was there documenting the paleontological and paleoanthropological expedition he was funding. The aim was to discover more of the rich ancient human history of the Sahara from before it was a desert.

We had 36 armed Nigerien soldiers as our escort, and were completely isolated in the middle of nowhere. Niger is very unstable and unfortunately is surrounded by Islamic militants.

We met a number of Tuareg tribesmen, they still live an ancient mostly nomadic life, carrying swords, and riding camels. Experiencing cultures so incredibly different shifted my entire perspective on the world.

After covid I am really hoping to attend the Festival de L’Air when all the Tuareg tribes meet in the Air (pronounced ai-ear) Mountains to compete in a number of traditional sports.

I’ve had some amazing experiences, but this is probably top of the list.