The Saharan Desert

Was there a time today where you thought that you were going to die of being too hot or too cold? Did you hurry to change the setting on your thermostat so you wouldn’t have to suffer the hardship of being uncomfortable? If so, you probably wouldn’t like to live in the Saharan Desert, where temperatures can become a matter of life and death. The Saharan desert is a very unique area in many ways. These may be put into three categories, the area’s unique terrain, climate, and culture. Let’s start off with the unique terrain.

            The Saharan Desert has very unique terrain features. In this desert, there are seas of huge san dunes that stretch for miles. These large piles of sand we call sand dunes are piles of wind blown sand can stand up to 300 meters tall. The Arabs call these seas of sand “ergs”. Another interesting landform that is found in the Sahara is Desert Pavement, flat land that is covered in gravel the Arabs also have an interesting name for the formation, calling them “regs”. These formations can be found in the western part of the Sahara, in a country called Mauritania. A Sabkha, the Arabic word for a salt flats, is a dry lake bed of a once present salty lake. They are present in the eastern part of the Sahara. A large part of what shapes these formations comes from the Saharan desert’s unique climate.

            The Saharan Desert has a very unique climate. Temperatures in this desert can go up from 136 degrees Fahrenheit in the day, to below freezing at night. This paired with the low precipitation(less than 10 inches per year) makes the Sahara a very tough place to live in. Dangerous dust storms also occur in the Sahara. This happens when wind blows large amounts of sand into the air, creating massive waves of sand flying so fast it can take the paint of cars and damage people’s skin. The climate of this land has not only shaped the rock formations, but the people as well.

            The Saharan Desert and its people have a very unique culture. The main use of transport for the many tribes people in the Sahara is the Camel. These amazing animals can go for months without water and can carry large weights across the desert, making them very useful for the distances tribesmen travel. These animals can have one hump (Dromedary) or two humps (Bactrian). These tribesmen also need a place to sleep in the cold temperatures, so they use large tents. The music of the Saharan People is also very interesting, at night many like to watch as the women dance for the men to music that is very influenced by middle eastern music.

            The Saharan desert has a very unique terrain, climate, and culture. The Saharan way of life is certainly different from the rest of the world. When our days become what we call “hard” or “discouraging” we would do well to remember to put our lives into perspective to the hard life of a person who lives in the Saharan Desert.