This magnificent desolation of fractured stone comprises most of the Sahara itself.
Searing heat and biting winds have conspired with the barren frost to crack rock and boulder.
There is a simple yet savage beauty to the Hamada and this beauty is seen in the welcoming faces of the Berbers that dwell here.
These are a stone strong people, created seemingly from the bones of the earth itself.
Like most earth connected folk they have a carriage of peace, a Zen like quality of present and clear mind.
Splitting the endless terracotas, the minarets of the mosques throw their prayers into the crystal skies as the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer.
At the foot these meditative towers children run and play, utterly free with their imaginations. Sticks, rocks and desiccated water courses become magical kingdoms and ancient Moorish scimitars.
As the sun sets, we move onward through the vastness toward the great sand seas, a tiny speck with its attendant plume of dust.
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Photos courtesy of the author.