Sahara Salt Caravan

In 1965 I shared the harsh life of a Tuareg salt caravan of 200 camels across the sand dunes of the Tenere, one of the Sahara’s most dangerous regions. For nearly a month I walked, rode, and often ran up tall sand dunes to give my camera wider views. That experience taught me that thirst is harder to bear than hunger, and that physical exhaustion, added to dehydration, is even worse than thirst. I told that story, and others, in my book, Wind, Sand and Silence: Travels with Africa’s Last Nomads.

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Algerian Sahara: Tuareg Man Watering Camels

In Algeria’s Ahaggar, a lofty Saharan mountain, a Tuareg nomad digs a hole in a wadi, or dry river bed, to reach water for his camels and himself.

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Sahara: Baby Tuareg Handling Baby Camel

Holding his father’s leather whip, a little Tuareg boy meets a baby camel.

The same little boy now chases young camels to pasture, away from their mothers, which they just nursed. His precociousness roused cries of enthusiasm from his family, who observed him from their tents.

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Sahel: Tuareg Boy Riding Home From School

Young Tuareg nomad riding back to camp from school in Niger’s Sahel region near Tchin Tabaraden.

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Yanomami: A Diet Of Termites

In Brazil’s Amazon rain forest a Yanomami woman is pulling down a termite nest from a tree.

Next, that woman and a relative split the nest with a machete, impale one half of it with its open side down, and gather the falling termites on large leaves. Sitting in hammocks, each woman’s little girl takes care of their baby siblings.

Nearby, another relative is beating the second impaled half nest with leaves to help termites to dislodge and fall on the large leaves below. The women will wrap the termites in leaves and cook them on the embers of a fire.

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Indonesia: Borneo Games

In this 1968 photo taken in the center of Borneo’s rain forest, Dyak women are playing a popular game. On their way to pound rice, one early afternoon after lunch, they are moving their pestles in and out on the ground to try to catch the ankles of a woman jumping in and out of them.

Men and boys have their own game of skills. Their goal is to use their large wooden tops to bang those of their opponents. Holding their own tops, some of the players are waiting on the side to enter the game.

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Indonesia: Cooking Rice The Dyak Way

This new 1968 Photo taken at night in Indonesia’s central Borneo shows Dyaks cooking rice in sections of bamboo.

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Indonesia: Dyak Dance For A Stranger

In my 1968 crossing of Borneo I was received in Dyak longhouses with music, dances, and songs. Male and female dancers were virtuosos in their hieratic expressions.

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Indonesia: Men Of Timor

A 1968 portrait of men of Kupang, capital of the Indonesian part of Timor Island. I shot it while on assignment for Venture magazine to illustrate Christopher Lucas’ article, Indonesia is a Happening, which he later turned into a book.

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Ecuador: Colorado Male Elegance

On the western slopes of Ecuador’s Andes Mountains near Santo Domingo, a Colorado man reddens his hair with achiote, soft grains he extracted from the green pods in the foreground. Achiote easily turns into a paste when rubbed between hands.

In Brazil, where achiote is known as urucu, Yanomami Indians press it into oblong balls to paint their bodies as if with markers.

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