Backpackers Travel

A closer look at Europe with a limited budget? Be Backpacker

Finally, after waiting for how long to travel to Europe I was able to get a visa for a walk to several countries in Western Europe as a backpacker. His name also travel abroad, because it related to the affairs of the complete document and not a little cost, then it was my plan prepared by a very mature several months before, especially about the budget, because I pay for this trip of his own savings work for the last 2 years .

This trip is not only a physical journey alone, but meets an obsession to be a tour not only perform standard activities as sweet a busy tourist taking pictures of the program and rely on travel agents, but I wish I had an exciting experience to know the culture and interact with local people and backpacker from other countries.

For visa alone is time consuming and need a strategy, especially after the terrorist issue since 2003, several countries joined the Schengen, to tighten visa requirements for filing. For the backpacker who dream to walk the few countries in Western Europe, with limited funds, must be clever, good at reading the conditions defined so that our visa application was not rejected. Previously, I was busy surfing the Internet to obtain data that a youth hostel cheap, safe and convenient access without the need for transportation as well as transportation and accommodation there. I chose the first state visit to the Netherlands because my visa at the embassy is in my opinion not ribet procedure and takes a long time. After being interviewed when entering the visa application and requirements, and waited for 8 days, finally I was happy to see the Schengen visa from the Kingdom of the Netherlands was in my passport 7 pages. Satisfied, because I take care of myself these visa applications.

Dutch

Dated May 19 I'm leaving at 18:45 from Cengkareng Airport with KLM-810 flight to Schipol. This flight takes about 13 hours with a 2-hour transit at Kuala Lumpur Airport (compared with Sukarno Hatta airport, although both countries in southeast Asia, but the KL International Airport is much more clean, modern and comfortable), luckily, from Kuala Lumpur sitting pretty beside me a man from New Zealand who became a traveling companion on the plane, so the rest of the next 10 hours is not so boring. My companion was practically flying nearly half the world, just imagine, if you count - count he have to travel from New Zealand to Dublin, Ireland for 24 hours to transit the airport 3! From him I also get valuable feedback about the super Schipol Airport and the city of Amsterdam.

The first set foot in Schipol Airport after immigration, I got confused because terbingung, my elementary school friends had been promised to pick up did not arise because there are important purposes, I was forced to ask local people how to reach accommodations that I have a message through the website international hostel reservations services. While all information / signs and street names written in Dutch, but fortunately we do not need to speak Dutch in here, because most people can speak and understand English. The airport is building a modern, clean and has great facilities. At Schipol Airport Musée du louvreoodbisa we get information tourist attractions in the Netherlands with a service professional and friendly and without exiting the building we can get a train to some town in the Netherlands.

From Schipol I boarded the train with a ticket for 3.60 euros to Amsterdam Centraal for 30 minutes. In front of Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam is a small building Tourism & Convention Board, better known by vvv, where the tourist / traveler get more information about tourist attractions in Amsterdam and several surrounding cities, accommodation, accommodation, transport and tourism and transport tickets. By entering a 2-euro coin in the machine, we can get a map of Amsterdam. Actually if I was smart enough to read the map, do not need to bother to find the Youth Hostel which I headed. Youth Hostel there even in the midst of the city of Amsterdam, and can walk about 10 minutes from Central station, but because I have not been good at reading maps and less know the city, as a result I had to ride the metro and the money reached 1.60 euros, up and down Way down in NZ Voorburgwal, in the middle of the cold-rinrik rain with temperatures 9 degrees Celsius, and stopped at the coffee shop (Applenya Pie is really nice and not too expensive, only 2 euros) at the corner of the road NZ Voorburgwal.

The first day of my plan was like a tourist who went to the Netherlands, was the visit to Keukenhof to see the expanse of colorful tulips bloom is located not far from Delft who according to the handbook is to tour Europe's most beautiful parks in Europe. But unfortunately, according to a female officer in the Tourism Information Center Building Amsterdam Keukenhof was closed on May 19. To cover up my disappointment, I decided to go to Volendam (fishing village in the Netherlands). By pocketed round-trip ticket for Ariva-Waterland 6 euros which I bought in vvv, I take the bus number 118 that Ariva parked not far from Central Amstermdam

towards Volendam. Volendam is a beautiful fishing town with a population the majority of devout Christians. I got there at about 10:00 in the morning and most of the shops / restaurant along the beach was closed because people rushed to go to church for Mass on Sunday. Among these stores are offering Photo Studio tourists perpetuate their visit to Volendam in Volendam wearing traditional clothes. Dutch actually have some traditional clothes, but perhaps the most famous and typical Dutch regional dress Volendam is a Dutch government after it won the dress competition and traditional clothes made Dutch trade marks. In front of / in the studio glass showcase displaying all the pictures of famous people who have posed in their studios, among others, actor or sportsman photos Dutch and Europe, and a proud, perhaps because many foreign tourists from visiting Indonesia is always this coastal area, They also exhibit many Indonesian celebrity photos (that I could remember Marisa Haque, Trisha, Meli Manuhutu, Tamara Blezinsky, Rima Melati, even former President Gus Dur), it seems the way they were quite successful campaign to invite tourists from Indonesia, while I was standing in one photo studio, I heard an Indonesian tourist who insisted his friend just wanted to be photographed at Studio Gus Dur had posed. I just imagine you smiling they should examine carefully the size of the photos to find the 5 R Wahid faces in traditional clothing Volendam packaging.

Volendam had much to feel something is missing if not crossed over to Marken, a small island opposite the fishing village Volendam. In front of ticket ferry, from a distance of 5 meters I've heard the cries of my grandfather in several languages (English, Italian, French, Spanish, German and Dutch of course) invites tourists to take a ferry to Marken. Ferry Ships that crossed into Marken everything we owned and managed by local fishermen and their children. In Marken we can visit souvenir shops and restaurants hereditary have been around for a hundred years ago. Here we are also able to taste the catch of fishermen, in the form of tuna, shrimp, crabs and others with prices ranging from 2 to 4 euros per one small portion.

From Marken after browsing NZ Voorburgwal street from Amsterdam Centraal me rest awhile in Dam Square. Some tourists teenager who just got off the busy station pulled his suitcase with books Lonely Planet: Europe on the hand. In this plaza all the tourists enjoy a sunny afternoon in spring a few people busy taking a photo of himself and photos of buildings, Museums and Churches around the Dam Square, a few cool people to feed hundreds of pigeons and partly to see the action that senirupawan act like a statue waiting Nostradamus wearing people - people passing on the Dam square gives the coin 2 or 5 euros. Want pictures side by side with U2 lead singer Bono or Elvys Presley with costs 17.5 euros? On one side
Dam Square stood Madame Tussaud Museum which is famous for its wax statue of the world celebrities. So after being in a long queue, a few minutes later I was busy looking at the statues of world leaders, queen and king, and the other world celebrities from the arts, music and sports. Statue of Robin William's British singer George Clooney and Bono (U2 lead singer Music Group), Julia Robert, Lady Diana and Elvys Presley sucking enough interest and more visitors to take pictures with my visitors style that is not less exciting. It's just that before I could photograph together with famous people, we have exciting experience.
Before seeing the sculptures handsome and beautiful, in the beginning there were parts that describe the history of the establishment of an atmosphere of Amsterdam with a blurred, dark and scary, and more frightening when suddenly a large figure of a man with blood stained clothes and faces scary roar aloud, with hands that try to touch the guests. Spontaneous many visitors who screamed in terror, including myself, running quickly left the room. Apparently, the attraction is the museum manager attempts to provide a different experience to its visitors, but also demonstrated the process of making wax.

Out of Madame Tussaud was 18:30 hours and the sky Amsterdam in the spring was still light. I decided to follow the road around Amsterdam on foot through the University of Amsterdam on the famous area in Amsterdam, Red Light (original name of this street is Nieuwendijk), originally the hell I want to withdraw my intention here because the aura somewhat "scary" for people I'm innocent, let alone when I started to step toward Red Light District and past several guards restaurant or store big sex with greasy-looking coat mencekamkan plus more because by the time I was there was the roar of police cars. Well, I was going to turn around and go back to a place to stay through the University of Amsterdam and Dam Square, but I think, than the curious, I remain indifferent to it. Quite sad passing scene of young women scantily clad and beautiful on display in glass windows along the alley at the Red Light. In the shops visited by tourists in the surrounding region in addition to t-shirts that read Amsterdam, the other trinkets (bags, hats, etc.) bearing Amsterdam or marijuana leaves pictures and of course also sold dried marijuana and cannabis with a variety of quality wrapped in transparent plastic. It was not unusual to see compactor sipping cool marijuana freely on the street, the Dutch government is to give legality to them. What a country! Also here a lot of services and manufacturing tattoo piercing.

The next day I decided to fulfill my other obsession, enjoying one of the painters painting my idol, adherents impressionisme flow - more precisely pointilisme's flow-van Gogh. I remember I was so impressed with the paintings painter whose full name was Vincent van Gogh, when I first knew him from the lessons of Fine Arts in junior high school. Because of its location far enough away from Dam Square, I had to take Metro to the

there. It was true also in the employee suggestion Tourism Information Center yesterday, much better if I had bought the tickets there, so no need to wait in a long queue in front of the Van Gogh Museum. I was in a queue of visitors with a ticket that is not too long, whereas in my hand to those who queue to buy tickets at the Museum. Exactly 10 hours of opening the museum entrance, security guards with green uniforms and the uniforms striking black suit in the museum was ready mode with handi talkienya. Security guard at the museum is very tight, after passing the entrance examination, bag or jacket should be placed in the care that kept local teenagers, to capture the paintings of Van Gogh was strictly forbidden, if not uniform black suits will reprimand us .

I am amazed by Vincent van Gogh Foundation, which manages the museum is a professional, including the presentation of a collection of very interesting paintings. This may occur because they are also working with a large bank in the Netherlands to fund their programs. If the Indonesian government can do the same thing, attracting tourists and residents of Indonesia to visit the museum ...

Managers exhibit paintings in a few decades of Van Gogh's life, writing a series featuring Van Gogh's life since she was small, the school at the seminary until he switched his career as a painter began by working as a beginner at some offices in Belgium and France. Want to know the journey of life and works of Van Gogh? There was one particular room that contained many books, and also if we are tired around the building and up the stairs 4-storey building, we can see in the computer museum collections provided in this room. In this room we also teach how to make paintings like the Van Gogh, for example, explained how and materials to create a basic canvas before starting to paint, the difference with the Van Gogh painting painter painting Pointilisme flow in the same era with him. Out of the exit, there are souvenir shops that sell post cards, books, bookmark and even a large poster of Van Gogh paintings reproduction.

Brussels, Belgium

The next day I decided to melanglang into neighboring countries, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels is a city that is not too large. Most of the population communicate in Dutch and French, so I had to bring my French dictionary pocket wherever I go. After previously booked a room at the Center Vincent Van Gogh (Youth Hostel) is located at 8 Rue Traversiere in http://www.hostelworld.com, so I boarded the train from Amsterdam Central to Brussels Midi in the ticket price of 33.4 euros. Hostel devoted young children under the age of 35 years used to be the kind of apartment where Van Gogh once lived, is located not far from Le jardin Botanique (Botanique Park). Hostel which is this old building, run by young kids so obviously teenage atmosphere. In the lobby of all backpacker from various countries could become acquainted and talk about their journey, drinking beer or other drinks, surf the Internet, or billiard playing in the middle of the living room with rock music that echoed the room is not too broad. Lobby is getting crowded after 6 pm, because that's when the cafe opened.

Not many attractions that can be visited in Brussels. The first day I walked into Le Jardin Botanique, Grand Place, and the Museum Smurf Comics. Le Botanique is a city park decorated with ornamental plants and colorful water pools and bronze statues that had been there since the Middle Ages. At that time I saw a group of small children of men who shouted play football cool, young couple is making love couple, tourists were posing for the camera and pedestrians through the park happier than they have to pass the sidewalk. From the park I went on the streets during the Grand Place, past the Super City Mall and several buildings of Baroque-style city. Prior to the Grand Place, I pass a hallway full of cafes and restaurants Greece, Italy and Morocco. Restaurant waiters who looked lovely with a clean white dress or a suit calling the pedestrians to stop by their restaurant. It's just that I had my stomach fill with kebabs that I bought at small shops owned by Turks near the Mall. Grand Place is not too different from the Dam Square, in here people gathered both locals and tourists to admire the old buildings with beautiful architecture.

If France has the Eiffel Tower, Italy Tower of Pisa is famous for, then Belgium has Atomium. So on the second day before I left Brussels, I decided to go to Belgium this land mark. Because of its location far enough away from the hostel where I stayed, I had to take Metro Line 1 A is stopped at the Heysel Bus Station. Compared with the two towers that I mentioned earlier, this Atomium building is still very young relative, as newly built in 1958 and renovated in 2003 and not too high, the height from the ground until the ball reaches the highest 102 meters .. As the name implies, Atomium is a giant metal ball 9 diameter of 18 meters each connected / supported with metal. Each - each ball has a specific function, such as on the ball besides Perama where visitors buy tickets in the show is also a permanent place, at saatitu exhibited munggil cars with bright colors like candy. Visitors can reach the highest ball through the elevator after buying tickets for 7 euros. At this highest sphere we can see the scene below through a screen-like computer, or if you want a romantic atmosphere with a taste of typical Belgian food, could drop the ball on the top floor is the "Panorama Restaurant". Want to visit and know better the European in minutes? Not far from the Atomium are other attractions that are not less interesting, Thumbnail Europe. Here we get to know the countries in Europe through a miniature landmarks of each country. Unfortunately I have reached in his wallet again to see these mini Europe.

Broken Heart

A broken heart (or heartbreak) is a common metaphor used to describe the intense emotional pain or suffering one feels after losing a loved one, through death, divorce, breakup, moving, being rejected or other means. It is an extremely old and widespread metaphor, dating to at least the Indian Ramayana writings (400 BC-200 AD).^[1]

Heartbreak is usually associated with losing a spouse or loved one, though losing a parent, child, pet or close friend can also "break one's heart". The phrase refers to the physical pain one may feel in the chest as a result of the loss. Although "heartbreak" is usually a metaphor, there is a condition - appropriately known as Broken Heart Syndrome - where a traumatizing incident triggers the brain to distribute chemicals that weaken heart tissue.^[2]

Philosophical views

For many people having a broken heart is something that may not be recognized at first, as it takes time for an emotional or physical loss to be fully acknowledged. As Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson states:

Human beings are not always aware of what they are feeling. Like animals, they may not be able to put their feelings into words. This does not mean they have no feelings. Sigmund Freud once speculated that a man could be in love with a woman for six years and not know it until many years later. Such a man, with all the goodwill in the world, could not have verbalized what he did not know. He had the feelings, but he did not know about them. It may sound like a paradox — paradoxical because when we think of a feeling, we think of something that we are consciously aware of feeling. As Freud put it in his 1915 article The Unconscious: "It is surely of the essence of an emotion that we should be aware of it. Yet it is beyond question that we can 'have' feelings that we do not know about."^[3]

In classical references

• This biblical reference highlights the issues of pain surrounding a broken heart:

Psalm 69:20 Insults have broken my heart and left me weak, I looked for sympathy but there was none; I found no one to comfort me.

In this Psalm, King David says that insults have broken his heart, not loss or pain. It is also popular belief that rejection, major or minor, can break an individual's heart. This heartbreak can be greatly increased if rejected by a loved one or someone whom you respect.

Broken Heart Syndrome

In many legends and fictional tales, characters die after suffering a devastating loss. But even in reality people die from what appears to be a broken heart. Broken heart syndrome is commonly blamed for the death of a person whose spouse is already deceased, but the cause is not always so clear-cut. The condition can be triggered by sudden emotional stress caused by a traumatic breakup, the death of a loved one, or even the shock of a surprise party.^[5] Broken Heart syndrome is clinically different from a heart attack because the patients have few risk factors for heart disease and were previously healthy prior to the heart muscles weakening. The recovery rates for those suffering from "broken heart syndrome" are faster than those who had heart attacks and complete recovery to the heart was achieved within two weeks.^[6]

Feelings associated

The symptoms of a "broken heart" can manifest themselves through psychological pain but for many the effect is physical. Although the experience is regarded commonly as indescribable, the following is a list of common symptoms that occur:

• A perceived tightness of the chest, similar to an anxiety attack
• Stomachache and/or loss of appetite
• Partial or complete insomnia
• Anger
• Shock
• Nostalgia
• Apathy (loss of interest)
• Feelings of loneliness
• Feelings of hopelessness and despair
• Loss of self-respect and/or self-esteem
• Medical or psychological illness (for example depression)
• Suicidal thoughts (in extreme cases)
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• The thousand-yard stare
• Constant or frequent crying
• A feeling of complete emptiness
• In extreme cases, death^[5]

See also

• Anger
• Stress cardiomyopathy, also known as "broken heart syndrome"
• Heart
• Heart (symbol)
• Emptiness
• Limerence
• Love
• Loneliness
• Grief
• Suffering
• Physical pain
• Psychological pain
• Interpersonal relationship
• Intimate relationship
• Depression

Sahara Desert

The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎, aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. To the south, it is delimited by the Sahel: a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna that comprises the northern region of central and western Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Sahara has an intermittent history that may go back as much as 3 million years.^[1] Some of the sand dunes can reach 180 metres (600 ft) in height.^[2] The name comes from the Arabic word for desert: (صَحراء), "ṣaḥrā´" ( صحراء (help·info); /sˤɑħrɑːʔ/).^[3][4]

Contents [hide] 1 Overview 2 Geography 3 Climate history 4 Ecoregions 5 Fauna 6 History 6.1 Berbers 6.2 Egyptians 6.3 Nubians 6.4 Phoenicians 6.5 Greeks 6.6 Urban civilization 6.7 Trans-Saharan trade 6.8 European imperialism 6.9 Modern times 7 Peoples and languages 8 Countries in the Sahara 9 See also 10 References 11 Notes 12 External links

[edit] Overview

The top image shows the Safsaf Oasis on the surface of the Sahara. The bottom (using radar) is the rock layer underneath, revealing black channels cut by the meandering of an ancient river that once fed the oasis.

The Sahara's boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea and Egypt on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south. The Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Ténéré desert and the Libyan desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3,415 m/11,200 ft) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan and the Congo River Basin. Most of the Sahara consists of rocky hamada; ergs (large sand dunes) form only a minor part.

People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago^[5] since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles ^[6] survive, with half found in the Tassili n'Ajjer in southeast Algeria. Fossils of dinosaurs, including Afrovenator, Jobaria and Ouranosaurus, have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olive tree are found to grow. The region has been this way since about 5000 years ago. Some 2.5 million people currently live in the Sahara, most of these in Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. Dominant ethnicities in the Sahara are various Berber groups including Tuareg tribes, various Arabised Berber groups such as the Hassaniya-speaking Maure (Moors, also known as Sahrawis), and various black African ethnicities including Tubu, Nubians, Zaghawa, Kanuri, Peul (Fulani), Hausa and Songhai. Important cities located in the Sahara include Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania; Tamanrasset, Ouargla, Bechar, Hassi Messaoud, Ghardaia, El Oued, Algeria; Timbuktu, Mali; Agadez, Niger; Ghat, Libya; and Faya-Largeau, Chad.

[edit] Geography

A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the Saharan area

The Sahara covers huge parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia. It is one of three distinct physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division.

The desert landforms of the Sahara are shaped by wind (eolian) or by occasional rains, and include sand dunes and dune fields or sand seas (erg), stone plateaus (hamada), gravel plains (reg), dry valleys (wadi), and salt flats (shatt or chott).^[7] Unusual landforms include the Richat Structure in Mauritania.

Several deeply dissected mountains and mountain ranges, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a shield volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad.

Most of the rivers and streams in the Sahara are seasonal or intermittent, the chief exception being the Nile River, which crosses the desert from its origins in central Africa to empty into the Mediterranean. Underground aquifers sometimes reach the surface, forming oases, including the Bahariya, Ghardaïa, Timimoun, Kufrah, and Siwah.

The central part of the Sahara is hyper-arid, with little vegetation. The northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis where moisture collects.

To the north, the Sahara reaches to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt and portions of Libya, but in Cyrenaica and the Magreb, the Sahara borders Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub ecoregions of northern Africa, which have a Mediterranean climate characterized by a winter rainy season. According to the botanical criteria of Frank White^[8] and geographer Robert Capot-Rey,^[9][10] the northern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the northern limit of Date Palm cultivation (Phoenix dactylifera), and the southern limit of Esparto (Stipa tenacissima), a grass typical of the Mediterranean climate portion of the Maghreb and Iberia. The northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm (3.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation.^[11]

To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of dry tropical savanna with a summer rainy season that extends across Africa from east to west. The southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha (a drought-tolerant member of the Chenopodiaceae), or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel.^[9][10] According to climatic criteria, the southern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm (5.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation (note that this is a long-term average, since precipitation varies strongly from one year to another).^[11]

[edit] Climate history

An oasis in the Ahaggar Mountains

An intense Saharan dust storm sent a massive dust plume northwestward over the Atlantic Ocean on March 2, 2003

The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variation between wet and dry over the last few hundred thousand years.^[12] During the last glacial period, the Sahara was even bigger than it is today, extending south beyond its current boundaries.^[13] The end of the glacial period brought more rain to the Sahara, from about 8000 BC to 6000 BC, perhaps due to low pressure areas over the collapsing ice sheets to the north.^[14]

Once the ice sheets were gone, northern Sahara dried out. But in southern Sahara, the drying trend was soon counteracted by the monsoon, which brought rain further north than it does today. The monsoon is due to heating of air over the land during summer. The hot air rises and pulls in cool, wet air from the ocean, which causes rain. Thus, though it seems counterintuitive, the Sahara was wetter when it received more insolation in the summer. This was caused by a stronger tilt in Earth's axis of orbit than today, and perihelion occurred at the end of July.^[15]

By around 3400 BC, the monsoon retreated south to approximately where it is today,^[16] leading to the gradual desertification of the Sahara.^[17] The Sahara is now as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.^[12] These conditions are responsible for what has been called the Sahara pump theory.

The Sahara has one of the harshest climates in the world. The prevailing north-easterly wind often causes the sand to form sand storms and dust devils.^[18] Half of the Sahara receives less than 2 centimetres (0.79 in) of rain per year, and the rest receives up to 10 cm (3.9 in) per year.^[19] The rainfall happens very rarely, but when it does it is usually torrential when it occurs after long dry periods, which can last for years.

The southern boundary of the Sahara, as measured by rainfall, was observed to both advance and retreat between 1980 and 1990. As a result of drought in the Sahel, the southern boundary moved south 130 kilometres (81 mi) overall during that period.^[20]. Deforestation has also caused the Sahara to advance south in recent years^{[citation needed]}, as trees and bushes continue to be used as fuel source.

Recent signals indicate that the Sahara and surrounding regions are greening due to increased rainfall. Satellites show extensive regreening of the Sahel between 1982 and 2002, and in both Eastern and Western Sahara a more than 20 year long trend of increased grazing areas and flourishing trees and shrubs has been observed by climate scientist Stefan Kröpelin.^[21]

[edit] Ecoregions

The major topographic features of the Saharan region.

The Sahara comprises several distinct ecoregions, whose variations in temperature, rainfall, elevation, and soils harbor distinct communities of plants and animals. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the ecoregions of the Sahara include:

• Atlantic coastal desert: The coastal desert occupies a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, where fog generated offshore by the cool Canary Current provides sufficient moisture to sustain a variety of lichens, succulents, and shrubs. It covers 39,900 square kilometers (15,400 square miles) in Western Sahara and Mauritania.^[22]
• North Saharan steppe and woodlands: This ecoregion lies along the northern edge of the desert, next to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of the northern Maghreb and Cyrenaica. Winter rains sustain shrublands and dry woodlands that form a transition between the Mediterranean climate regions to the north and the hyper-arid Sahara proper to the south. It covers 1,675,300 square km (646,800 square miles) in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.^[23]
• Sahara desert: This ecoregion covers the hyper-arid central portion of the Sahara where rainfall is minimal and sporadic. Vegetation is rare, and this ecoregion consists mostly of sand dunes (erg, chech, raoui), stone plateaus (hamadas), gravel plains (reg), dry valleys (wadis), and salt flats. It covers 4,639,900 square km (1,791,500 square miles) of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan.^[24]
• South Saharan steppe and woodlands: The South Saharan steppe and woodlands occupy a narrow band running east and west between the hyper-arid Sahara and the Sahel savannas to the south. Movements of the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) bring summer rains during July and August which average 100 to 200 mm (3.9 to 7.9 in), but vary greatly from year to year. These rains sustain summer pastures of grasses and herbs, with dry woodlands and shrublands along seasonal watercourses. The ecoregion covers 1,101,700 square km (425,400 square miles) in Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan.^[25]
• West Saharan montane xeric woodlands: Several volcanic highlands in the western portion of the Sahara provide a cooler, moister environment that supports Saharo-Mediterranean woodlands and shrublands. The ecoregion covers 258,100 square kilometers (99,700 square miles), mostly in the Tassili n'Ajjer of Algeria, with smaller enclaves in the Aïr of Niger, the Dhar Adrar of Mauritania, and the Adrar des Iforas of Mali and Algeria.^[26]
• Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands: The Tibesti and Jebel Uweinat highlands foster higher, more regular rainfall and cooler temperatures, which support woodlands and shrublands of palms, acacias, myrtle, oleander, Tamarix, and several rare and endemic plants. The ecoregion covers 82,200 square km (31,700 square miles) in the Tibesti of Chad and Libya, and Jebel Uweinat on the border of Egypt, Libya, and Sudan.^[27]
• Saharan halophytics: Seasonally-flooded saline depressions in the Sahara are home to halophytic, or salt-adapted, plant communities. The Saharan halophytics cover 54,000 square km (20,800 square miles), including the Qattara and Siwa depressions in northern Egypt, the Tunisian salt lakes of central Tunisia, Chott Melghir in Algeria, and smaller areas of Algeria, Mauritania, and Western Sahara.^[28].
• Tanezrouft: One of the harshest regions on Earth and the driest in the Sahara, contains no vegetation and very little life.

[edit] Fauna

Shadows of camels with travelers on dunes in Tunisia

• Dromedary camels and goats are the most domesticated animals found in the Sahara. Because of its qualities of sobriety, endurance and speed, the dromedary is the favorite animal used by nomads.
• The Leiurus quinquestriatus (aka deathstalker) scorpion which can be 10 cm (3.9 in) long. Its venom contains large amounts of agitoxin and scyllatoxin and is very dangerous; however, a sting from this scorpion rarely kills a healthy adult.
• The monitor lizard. It has been suggested that the occasional habit of varanids to stand on their two hind legs and to appear to "monitor" their surroundings led to the original Arabic name waral ورل, which is translated to English as "monitor".^[29]
• Sand vipers, which average less than 50 cm (20 in) in length. Many have a pair of horns, one over each eye. Active at night, they usually lie buried in the sand with only their eyes visible. Bites are painful, but rarely fatal.
• The African Wild Dog has some populations confirmed^{[citation needed]} in the southern Sahara and is frequently misidentified as the cryptid Adjule.
• The fennec fox, pale fox and rüppell's fox, are omnivorous canids living in many parts of Sahara.
• The hyrax. It first appears in the fossil record over 40 million years ago, and for many millions of years hyraxes were the primary terrestrial herbivore in Africa.
• The ostrich which is a flightless bird native to Africa. They have become rare.
• The addax, a large white antelope, is a threatened species. Adapted to the desert, they can remain months without drinking, even a whole year.
• The Saharan cheetah lives in Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso. There remain less than 250 mature cheetahs which are very cautious, fleeing any human presence. The cheetah avoids the sun from April to October. It then seeks the shelter of shrubs such as balanites and acacias. They are unusually pale.^[30][31]
• The dorcas gazelle is a north African gazelle that can also go for a long time without water.

There exist other animals in the Sahara (birds in particular) such as African Silverbill and Black-throated Firefinch among others.

[edit] History

Photo of the Sahara from 1908

[edit] Berbers

Berbers are one of the oldest known inhabitants of the Sahara Desert.^{[citation needed]} They are the people that occupied (and still occupy) more than two thirds of the Sahara's total surface.^{[citation needed]}The Garamantes Berbers built a prosperous empire in the heart of the desert.^{[citation needed]} The Tuareg nomads continue, to present day, to inhabit and move across wide Sahara surfaces in Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, and Libya. Some of the oldest Berber Tifinagh inscriptions are found in Southern Algeria, Northern Mali and Niger.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Egyptians

By 6000 BC predynastic Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and constructing large buildings. Subsistence in organized and permanent settlements in predynastic Egypt by the middle of the 6th millennium BC centered predominantly on cereal and animal agriculture: cattle, goats, pigs and sheep. Metal objects replaced prior ones of stone. Tanning of animal skins, pottery and weaving are commonplace in this era also.^[32] There are indications of seasonal or only temporary occupation of the Al Fayyum in the 6th millennium BC, with food activities centering on fishing, hunting and food-gathering. Stone arrowheads, knives and scrapers are common.^[33] Burial items include pottery, jewelry, farming and hunting equipment, and assorted foods including dried meat and fruit. Burial in desert environments appears to enhance Egyptian preservation rites, and dead are buried facing due west.^[32] By 3400 BC, the Sahara was as dry as it is today, and it became a largely impenetrable barrier to humans, with only scattered settlements around the oases, but little trade or commerce through the desert. The one major exception was the Nile Valley. The Nile, however, was impassable at several cataracts, making trade and contact by boat difficult.

[edit] Nubians

During the Neolithic, before the onset of desertification, the central Sudan had been a rich environment supporting a large population ranging across what is now barren desert, like the Wadi el-Qa'ab. By the 5th millennium BC, the peoples who inhabited what is now called Nubia, were full participants in the "agricultural revolution," living a settled lifestyle with domesticated plants and animals. Saharan rock art of cattle and herdsmen found suggests the presence of a cattle cult like those found in Sudan and other pastoral societies in Africa today.^[34] Megaliths found at Nabta Playa are overt examples of probably the world's first known Archaeoastronomy devices, predating Stonehenge by some 1000 years.^[35] This complexity, as observed at Nabta Playa, and as expressed by different levels of authority within the society there, likely formed the basis for the structure of both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.^[36]

[edit] Phoenicians

A Saharan village in Mali

The peoples of Phoenicia, who flourished between 1200-800 BC, created a confederation of kingdoms across the entire Sahara to Egypt. They generally settled along the Mediterranean coast, as well as the Sahara, among the peoples of Ancient Libya, who were the ancestors of peoples who speak Berber languages in North Africa and the Sahara today, including the Tuareg of the central Sahara.

The Phoenician alphabet seems to have been adopted by the ancient Libyans of north Africa, and Tifinagh is still used today by Berber-speaking Tuareg camel herders of the central Sahara.

Sometime between 633 BC and 530 BC, Hanno the Navigator either established or reinforced Phoenician colonies in Western Sahara, but all ancient remains have vanished with virtually no trace. (See History of Western Sahara.)

[edit] Greeks

By 500 BC, a new influence arrived in the form of the Greeks. Greek traders spread along the eastern coast of the desert, establishing trading colonies along the Red Sea coast. The Carthaginians explored the Atlantic coast of the desert. But the turbulence of the waters and the lack of markets never led to an extensive presence further south than modern Morocco. Centralized states thus surrounded the desert on the north and east; it remained outside the control of these states. Raids from the nomadic Berber people of the desert were a constant concern of those living on the edge of the desert.

An Algerian man in urban dress

[edit] Urban civilization

An urban civilization, the Garamantes, arose around this time in the heart of the Sahara, in a valley that is now called the Wadi al-Ajal in Fazzan, Libya.^[12] The Garamantes achieved this development by digging tunnels far into the mountains flanking the valley to tap fossil water and bring it to their fields. The Garamantes grew populous and strong, conquering their neighbors and capturing many slaves (which were put to work extending the tunnels). The ancient Greeks and the Romans knew of the Garamantes and regarded them as uncivilized nomads. However, they traded with the Garamantes, and a Roman bath has been found in the Garamantes capital of Garama. Archaeologists have found eight major towns and many other important settlements in the Garamantes territory. The Garamantes civilization eventually collapsed after they had depleted available water in the aquifers, and could no longer sustain the effort to extend the tunnels still further into the mountains.^[37]

[edit] Trans-Saharan trade

Main article: Trans-Saharan trade

The 12th Century traveller Benjamin of Tudela in the Sahara (Dumouza, 19th Century engraving)

Following the Islamic conquest of North Africa in the seventh century CE, trade across the desert intensified. The kingdoms of the Sahel, especially the Ghana Empire and the later Mali Empire, grew rich and powerful exporting gold and salt to North Africa. The emirates along the Mediterranean Sea sent south manufactured goods and horses. From the Sahara itself, salt was exported. This process turned the scattered oasis communities into trading centres, and brought them under the control of the empires on the edge of the desert. A significant slave trade crossed the desert (See Arab slave trade).

This trade persisted for several centuries until the development in Europe of the caravel allowed ships, first from Portugal but soon from all Western Europe, to sail around the desert and gather the resources from the source in Guinea. The Sahara was rapidly remarginalized.

[edit] European imperialism

At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the northern Sahara, including most of present-day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Sahel and southern Sahara were home to several independent states.

European colonialism in the Sahara began in the 19th century. France conquered Algeria from the Ottomans in 1830, and French rule spread south from Algeria and eastwards from Senegal into the upper Niger to include present-day Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (1912), Niger, and Tunisia (1881).

Egypt, under Muhammad Ali and his successors, conquered Nubia (1820-22), founded Khartoum (1823), and conquered Darfur (1874). Egypt, including the Sudan, became a British protectorate in 1882. Egypt and Britain lost control of the Sudan from 1882 to 1898 as a result of the Mahdist War. After its capture by British troops in 1898, the Sudan became a Anglo-Egyptian condominium.

Spain captured present-day Western Sahara after 1874. In 1912, Italy captured Libya from the Ottomans.

To promote the Roman Catholic religion in the desert, the Pope in 1868 appointed a delegate Apostolic of the Sahara and the Sudan; later in the 19th century his jurisdiction was reorganized into the Vicariate Apostolic of Sahara.

[edit] Modern times

A natural rock arch in south western Libya

Egypt became independent of Britain in 1936, although the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 allowed Britain to keep troops in Egypt and maintained the British-Egyptian condominium in the Sudan. British military forces were withdrawn in 1954.

Most of the Saharan states achieved independence after World War II: Libya in 1951, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia in 1956, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger in 1960, and Algeria in 1962. Spain withdrew from Western Sahara in 1975, and it was partitioned between Mauritania and Morocco. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, but Morocco continues to hold the territory.

The modern era has seen a number of mines and communities develop to exploit the desert's natural resources. These include large deposits of oil and natural gas in Algeria and Libya and large deposits of phosphates in Morocco and Western Sahara.

A number of Trans-African highways have been proposed across the Sahara, including the Cairo-Dakar Highway along the Atlantic coast, the Trans-Sahara Highway from Algiers on the Mediterranean to Kano in Nigeria, the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway from Tripoli in Libya to Ndjamena in Chad, and the Cairo-Cape Town Highway which follows the Nile. Each of these highways is partially complete, with significant gaps and unpaved sections.

[edit] Peoples and languages

The Sahara is home to a number of peoples and languages. Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Sahara, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Berber people are found from western Egypt to Morocco, including the Tuareg pastoralists of the central Sahara. The Beja live in the Red Sea Hills of southeastern Egypt and eastern Sudan. The Arabic, Berber, and Beja languages are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family.

Speakers of the Nilo-Saharan language family also inhabit the Sahara, including the Fur of Darfur in western Sudan and the Saharan languages of Niger, Chad and western Sudan, which includes the Kanuri, Tedaga, and Dazaga.

[edit] Countries in the Sahara

The following countries are either fully or partially covered by the Sahara.

• Algeria
• Chad
• Egypt
• Libya
• Morocco
• Mauritania
• Mali
• Niger
• Sudan
• Tunisia
• Western Sahara

[edit] See also

• List of deserts by area
• Arid Lands Information Network
• Azaouad
• Sahara Conservation Fund
• Saharan explorers

[edit] References

• Michael Brett and Elizabeth Frentess. The Berbers. Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
• Charles-Andre Julien. History of North Africa: From the Arab Conquest to 1830. Praeger, 1970.
• Abdallah Laroui. The History of the Maghrib: An Interpretive Essay. Princeton, 1977.
• Hugh Kennedy. Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Longman, 1996.
• Richard W. Bulliet. The Camel and the Wheel. Harvard University Press, 1975. Republished with a new preface Columbia University Press, 1990.

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