In
this 1970 picture taken in the Sahara’s AÏr Mountains of Niger, a
Tuareg woman sitting in the shade of a thorn tree is processing a goat skin
with vegetal tar to help it waterproof it. Her family will use it to hold its
water and, every few days, to refill it and other goatskin bags at a distant
well. Two water-filled goatskins hang from the tree behind her.
The
processed skin will remain somewhat porous, allowing some water loss. At the same
time, evaporation through the skin’s pores will maintain the water cool even in
scorching heat.
Though
water is essential to the survival of the Tuareg, they camp far from wells.
They camp where they find enough vegetation to feed their herds. So many herds
are watered at wells that they don’t leave as much as a blade of grass standing
over large surrounding areas. Staying
away from wells also protect the Tuareg’s privacy.
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