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| A Portuguese Touareg: Jorge disguised in a chèche, the blue scarves favored in the Sahara. |
Last month's trip to Taghit, a striking Saharan oasis in western Algeria, was a highlight of my experience here so far.
(If you haven't yet, read my write-up of the weekend: "Two Days in the Dunes: The Oasis of Taghit".)
I passed a good portion of the trip snapping shots on
my Rolleicord, assuring my travel companions that one day they would indeed get to see the resulting photos. After several weeks of waiting impatiently—and nobody more impatiently than me—that day has arrived. This weekend I was finally able to escape to a city with full-service photo labs to develop these and many other photos.
Enjoy this selection of shots from Taghit and its captivating surroundings:
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| The old town (or ksar) of Taghit, viewed from our hotel roof |
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| Members of our group enjoy the view over Taghit. |
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| Nina on the hillside overlooking town |
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| Partial group shot |
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| High above the groves of Taghit's palmeraie |
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| Members of the security detail that dutifully followed us throughout the weekend's activities |
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| Filipe reads inscriptions inside the abandoned mosque of the Taghit ksar. |
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| Tour guide in a cloud of cigarette smoke |
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| Anaïs in Taghit |
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| Prehistoric rock art, still in great shape after 9,000 years of exposure to the elements. |
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| Natural windswept ripples cover the dunes all around Taghit. |
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| Taghit's sand dunes are imposingly large and exhausting to climb. |
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| Algeria typically transfers young men outside of their home region for military service, so our security detail found the desert just as exotic and exciting to explore as we did. |
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| The sea of sand. Its most striking feature? Almost complete and utter silence. |
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| Konstantinos celebrates after reaching the summit of a particularly monstrous dune. |
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| Our group picnicking, snapped from an overhanging tree branch |
Want to see more? The full album is available here:
As I mentioned, I was able to develop quite a few photos recently; expect more in the coming days! As always, feedback is welcome.
