I miss my oasis

My oasis is a fertile area in the middle of an arid deserted area. Every summer, we used to cross the Sahara Desert in my uncle's Land Rover 4X4. It was a long trip for a seven years old child. Indeed, our dune bashing thrilling high-speed ride across undulating golden dunes in a four-wheel drive was certainly not for the faint-hearted people. After 7 days of hurtling across the desert , and creating avalanches of cascading sand along the way, we were no doubt ready to meet my grandparents in the oasis. 

The Sahara Desert is one of the harshest, most inhospitable places on the planet, covering much of North Africa in some 3,6 million square miles of rock and windswept dunes. 

I remember the first time I discovered a cave! Inside the cave I could see beautiful primitive rock paintings. My uncle showed us how to excavate fossils. He told us that the Sahara was once a verdant oasis. The desert has long been an enigma to us locals! 

The oasis marked by a very low rainfall, must drain the water in its bosom to survive and thrive. It is by recovering and channelling the waters through long underground galleries stretching over several kilometers, and by the water contained in the shallow groundwater that we are able to survive. 

The camel is known for its ability to withstand this arid climate. It is mainly used for transport, but also, for the nutritional and medicinal quality of the fat contained in its hump. Camels produce 15 litres of milk rich in protein and vitamin C. Its meat is much appreciated and it is widely consumed. Perched six foot above the ground on a camel's back allowed me to observe the desert scene from a whole new perspective, as a glossy mirage blends into the cobalt sky. 

Camels were first domesticated around 950 BC. They become docile creatures and they are perfect for a slower nomadic life.

We stopped during the night. Alongside a glass of green tea with fresh mint, the desert takes on a whole new guise as night falls.We used to dine on the dunes. Our dinner was accompanied by a refreshing chill in the air as millions of twinkling stars came into view. There is no light pollution in the Sahara Desert. I could see the Milky Way appearing closer and more vivid than stargazers would have ever imagined before. 

In my oasis, we slept on the rooftop because the temperature was very hot. It was 48° celsius during the summer and we did not have electricity. During the night on the rooftop, the stars illuminated the entire sky. I discovered the Milky Way, the Polar Star, the Planets Saturn and Jupiter, the constellations of the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper. I could see stars constellations and planets with my naked eye. 

I used to look up to the sky at night in amazement at the universe out there. There was something incredible about the stars and beyond and the mystery of space that me as a child of the oasis was drawn to. 

My oasis was my secret summer place; my secret garden which was remote and not affected by much light pollution. Every night, I could stare in amazement at just how full of stars the sky was! The extremely hot and and dry environment here in the Tidikelt mean that there is rarely cloud covering the night sky and its remote location away from much all civilisation means there is no light pollution distracting from the views. 

The night sky was like a giant puzzle. My cousins and I used to love stargazing when there was no moonlight. Not all points of light we saw at night were stars. Satellites and meteors (or shooting stars) move fast, so they were easy to tell from stars. Planets looked a lot like bright stars, so telling stars from planets could be tricky! My grandmother used to tell us that planets don't twinkle like stars. 

It was beautiful to sleep under a million stars! Our eyes easily adjusted to the sky and quickly we could make out the Milky Way that was dancing across the sky. I lost count of the shooting stars!