Sahara: Sharing Three Little Glasses Of Tea With The Tuareg

One of my great pleasures while sharing the Tuareg’s harsh Sahara and Sahel lives was to watch them ceremoniously prepare their steaming hot and foamy syrupy green tea and then drink it with them. Three little glasses of it. The first one, somewhat bitter. The second one, after renewing the water, just right. The third one, lighter and sweeter. It surprisingly calmed thirst better than cold water. And so said the Tuareg.  The last time I sat among my nomadic friends was the last time I enjoyed tea. I could not repeat its preparation. And without their warm humanity and extraordinary environments it would have been a disappointment anyway.

For most tribes, heavily sweetened tea was the only luxury they knew, and not always available, or even affordable. Besides some occasional dates from the palm trees of very distant oases, when business took them there, it was the only sweet thing the Tuareg knew. When staying with them, I always offered plenty of tea and of big sugar loaves.

In 1965, when for a couple of weeks I rode a camel with a Tuareg man from camp to camp around the central Sahara’s Ahaggar Mountains, that companion always added to our tea mint leaves he had picked along the way. When our day ended without spotting any mint he pulled from his robe a small can of Vicks VapoRub, a decongestant meant for external use, and dished some of it in our tea because of its menthol content. No, it did not make us sick.

In this 1970 photo taken in Niger’s Sahel, under a tent out of a blinding sun, Radwane is pouring tea for three, including his nephew Abookabook and me. Radwane was one of the sons of Mohammed, then the leader of  the powerful and wealthy noble Iullimiden tribe,

In 1972-1973, when I brought my wife and kids to meet the Tuareg (http://victorenglebertphotography.blogspot.com/search?q=+trans-african ),

this time by jeep, Mohammed wanted to buy our brand new vehicle. He could have afforded several. His family owned thousands camels, zebus, sheep, and goats. The family lorded over an army of vassal Tuareg tribes and servants to herd and water the animals for them. It also controlled great numbers of artisans who produced all the articles they needed for a comfortable nomadic life. This included spears, swords, and knives, camel saddles, wooden mortars, leather cushions and bags, and silver jewelry.                          

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