It is a trackless place and beyond the fringes is only navigable on foot and by camel.
Crossing the fearsome black Reg, a furnace like landscape of rock and dust one enters the realm of the high dunes.
This is the Erg, a hyper-arid region where even the hardest plants whither and die.
This is amongst the most animate of all the earth’s landscapes as the crescents of sand ripple and shimmer like the tigers flanks.
Within its form there is a magnificent sensuousness of smooth curve and suggestive shadow.
It is beguiling in its beauty, yet within its mesmeric sands lie certain death for the unwary and foolhardy.
Death stalker scorpions, Nubian spitting cobras and Moorish vipers inhabit shade and crack.
But most of all the unforgiving sun draws moisture from all life. It’s sheer intensity robs us of vision and breath.
Yet even here the in the heart of the desolation the nomad may be found crossing the barchan like some Persian fable.
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Photo courtesy of the author.