Sahara

An experienced explorer and naturalist guides listeners through the stark yet startlingly diverse world of the Sahara. Drawing on years of field study, he compares the desert’s endless dunes to the frozen expanses of the poles, highlighting how both demand a rare blend of stamina and curiosity. The opening chapters set the stage with vivid depictions of sun‑scorched plains, sudden sandstorms, and the fleeting mercy of desert rain.

The heart of the narrative follows a fifteen‑month trek from Kano in Nigeria to Touggourt in Algeria, beginning with a caravan of thirty‑six camels and ending with a single animal and two companions. Along the way the author records extraordinary adaptations among birds, mammals and the hardy peoples who survive around sparse oases such as Bilma and Fachi, where forts are built from salt blocks. Episodes of peril—blinding storms, desperate searches for water, and a gripping tale of a Tuareg man’s pursuit of his kidnapped wife—offer intimate insight into the desert’s relentless challenges and the human drama it engenders. Listeners also find detailed naturalist notes cataloguing the region’s unique fauna.