The Sahara Desert is the world's largest desert. It stretches across much of North Africa and covers almost 3,600,000 square miles (30% of the entire African continent).
We traveled by camel to our tent camp.
Sand makes up 25% of the Sahara with ever-changing sand dunes that cast beautiful shadows at sunrise and sunset.
Many of the sand dunes reach over 600 feet in height.
The Sahara is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean to the north, the Red Sea to the east and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River to the south.
A Nomadic Family in the Sahara Desert
We slept outside of our tent at night so that we could appreciate the Milky Way and watch it move throughout the night.
Then, Welcome the Sunrise...
And Do Yoga...
The shapes of the desert in the Sahara are created and sculpted primarily by the winds. We noticed the dunes around our camp had changed somewhat every morning.
The central part of the Sahara is extremely arid with little to no vegetation. The northern and southern sections of the desert, and the highlands, have areas with sparse grassland and desert shrub.
The stability of the atmosphere above the desert creates conditions that produce little to no rainfall.
Most of the desert has bright sunshine over 82% of the time.
Southeastern Morocco, in the shelter of the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains, is the most easily accessed area of the Sahara. Our journey across the desert was by 4x4 vehicle and by camel.
All the images are ©2014 Marty Cohen www.mscgallery.com
Credits:
All images are ©2014 by Marty Cohen