Blog

Patterns in the Sand

Patterns in the sand of the Sahara Desert created by the wind.

Grains of Sand in the Sahara

Grains of Sand in the Sahara Desert in patterns created by the wind.

(To see the most detail in this image, click on it to enlarge it!)

The night sky and the Milky Way in the Sahara Desert

Our trip leader, Aziz, suggested we move our beds out of our tents and sleep under the stars on our nights in the Sahara Desert. I have to say this was the first time I ever really saw the beauty and enormity of the Milky Way in person. It was spectacular and was truly one of the best experiences of the trip for us.

I knew we would be seeing the Milky Way while we were going to be in the Sahara, so I came prepared by taking my lightweight, MeFoto “RoadTrip” Travel Tripod. It was easy to pack into my duffle suitcase and I also used an iPhone App – special cable combination from TriggerTrap to control the long exposure. The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 6D, EF24-105mm f/4L IS lens, 30 second exposure at f/4.0, ISO 12,800 captured on a Lexar 400x SDXC UHS-1 memory card.

We left the frenetic touring of cities and businesses and traveled, first by 4-wheel drive vehicles, then by camel and finally by 4-wheel again into the Sahara Desert to our peaceful tent camp destination. The camel ride was lots of fun, and they put these turbans on us as protection from the sun and sand. The tents were comfortable and the Sahara Desert was magnificent as we arrived and the sun was beginning to set. The shadows cast by the setting sun and the sand dunes were great.

The sun was setting shortly after we arrived at our tent camp in the Sahara desert

A 3-shot panoramic view of a Tannery in Fez

In Morocco, leather is the largest major export to partners like Spain, France and India with up to 100 million slippers or shoes exported annually. There are three tanneries in Fez that have been washing, treating, smoothing and coloring animal skins into soft leather for over a thousand years. As we approached this tannery in the Medina, the smell emanating from the tanning vats was somewhat overwhelming. Read on (or not) to understand why…

Working the hides in the vats to soften them

The skins are collected, sorted then soaked for two to three days in large specialty vats that contain a mixture of cow urine, quicklime, water, and salt until they are clean. Once clean, they are laid out to dry (see right side of panoramic image above). Once dried, the skins are then soaked in other vats that are a mixture of water and chicken feces which contains ammonia that softens them and makes them supple. The tanner then uses his bare feet to knead the skins for three hours until they have reached the desired softness.

The skins are then moved to the vats used for dyeing. The tanneries in the Old Medina continue to use natural vegetable dyes including poppy flower (red), indigo (blue), henna (orange), cedar wood (brown), mint (green), and saffron (yellow). Other materials used for dyeing include pomegranate powder, which is rubbed on the skins to turn them yellow, and olive oil, which will make them shiny. The skins are left in the dyeing vats for about one week. Each week the dyes are changed out for different colors.

Dyeing Hides in The Tannery in Fez

Once they fully absorb their color they are taken to be stretched on wooden frames until they dry. The total tanning process takes about 20 days from start to finish. The life of a tanner is not an easy one. Not only is it considered to be one of the hardest and dirtiest professions within the Fez, it is also incredibly labor intensive.

Sources for this information:
https://www.ouche.org/fall2010pnca/material/design-strategies/a-more-in-depth-look-at-the-tanneries-of-morocco-presentation/