i got all of the following information from different travel/info websites. i don’t have many pictures at the moment; Insha’Allah as i come across more images i’ll post them in the coming days. But really don’t have a lot to go on at the moment. Watch this space - i’ll be posting more images soon:)
i’ve listed the sources i used at the end. The first few paras. are from an independent type of writing/travel website.
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Timbuktu is a real place. It’s a city of 50,000 people located at the southern edge of the Sahara in the African country of Mali. You can reach the city by lazy riverboat in three days from the capital city of Bamako. Two very long days - the second over a track through a sandy waste - will get you to Timbuktu by four-wheel drive vehicle.
There are few real roads in this vast country, only sandy tracks, and, when you travel in an ancient Toyota LandCruiser, you often find yourself a few hundred miles from the nearest hostelry when the sun goes down. Then, one takes advantage of the hospitality of the Tuareg nomads. In the gathering darkness, the custom is to blink the lights of your vehicle and wait for a response. Sometimes, there is none, and you drive another mile or two and blink the lights again, on and off, on and off. Eventually, you’ll get an answer. A flashlight beam or a burning brand in the distance will answer your blink with one of its own. You are being offered the hospitality of a Tuareg encampment.
One possible view, flying into Timbuktu:
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Nomads around the world are famous for their hospitality, and the blue-turbaned Tuaregs are no different. Tuareg bandits might rob you out on the road, but once accepted into their camp you are perfectly safe.
The Tuareg are the Blue Men of the Sahara, so-called for the deep indigo dyes used in their robes. All of their adult life, the tall, fair Tuareg men cover themselves with a long blue veil, which the most conservative will not remove in front of others even to eat. Long known as warriors, traders, and capable guides through the dangers of the Sahara desert, the Tuareg find their independence now threatened as drought after drought kills their herds. Like so many others, they are pushed south as the desert expands. Many have been forced to give up their nomadic lifestyle and move to the cities for work. As they leave the desert, many leave behind their age-old way of life.
Tuareg men at prayer
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Tuareg men returning from prayer
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A very cute Tuareg child…
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And a Tuareg female.
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Sources: Way out there, Larry Thompson; Tuaregs; Tuareg culture; Nomadic ‘Blue Men’ of the Desert Try to Go Roam Again
