I’ve been to the desert. You have been to the desert. Each desert is the only one.

This particular desert was The Sahara, and this picture was taken at the Chott el-Jerid, Tunisia –  the natural salt crater, where the evaporating water is leaving pale pink salt crystals, and the entire area is sterile, dry, dead and barren. The water would probably cause severe pain if you dared to drink it. I have a piece of salt – a palm sized chunk of glimmering salty crystals – in my drawer at home. I don’t want the air and the humidity to dissolve it (and writing this, of course, I realize it’s always the same air and the same humidity inside the drawer…)

Alien, anyone? My photo.

Here’s a satellite view of the location –  below image from here – all rights reserved by CNES
(The link in full: http://www.astrium-geo.com/en/5751-image-detail?img=950#.U_eGoEuWIZg)
(C) Copyright: CNES 2005, Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image

(C) Copyright: CNES 2005, Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image
SPOT 5 Satellite Image – Chott el Djerid, Tunisia

PS. I’m going to update this post with a photo of the silky, powdery sand I keep in a bottle. And the piece of salt. The sand will stick in your ears, nose, to your skin and anywhere there’s a ridge, crease or pocket of a millimeter. For two days after you’ve left the desert – you will be washing out more sand, sand like crushed seashells, like vanilla, flour, but sharper to the touch. This is the gift of the desert – to remind you – you are breathing air, not sand.