109 - DROMEDARY CARAVANS NEAR FACHI, TÉNÉRÉ DESERT, NIGER (18°14' N, 11°40' E).
For decades the Tuareg have traded salt by driving camel caravans over the 785 km between the city of Agadez and the Bilma salt pits. The camels, ridden in single file, travel in convoys at a rate of 40 km per day, despite temperatures reaching 46°C in the shade and loads of nearly 100 kg per animal. Fachi, the only major town on the Azalaï (salt caravan) route, is an indispensable stop. Caravans, at one time made up of as many as 20,000 camels, are generally limited today to 100 animals and are gradually being replaced by trucks. The drop in caravans and camel-breeding, the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s that took a heavy toll on livestock, and the conflicts of the 1990s have heralded the slow settlement of the Tuareg peoples. The Air and Ténéré reserves—an outstanding collection of landscapes, plant life (more than 350 species), and animals (at least 40 different mammal species)—where most of the Tuareg live, are being seriously affected by poaching and overexploitation.