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Sahara

Welcome to the Sahara, in all it’s glorious colour. These are all the photos from the original illustrated paperback edition of my Sahara journey – gathered online so that they look better than on the page. You can sort the photos by country, location or day.

I’m glad my Sahara journey is the first to get the upgraded online photo selection, as one of the great surprises of my travelling life was how beautiful the desert looked, and just how much vivid colour there was in the lives of the people we met.

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Day 1, O'Hara's Battery, Gibraltar, Gibraltar

Africa, seen from O'Hara's Battery and seagull toilet. The distant peak of Jebel Musa (2671 feet) breaks the clouds on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Along with the Rock; this was one of the two Pillars of Hercules, which the Greeks believed marked the end of the known world. We shall see.

Day 1, O'Hara's Battery, Gibraltar, Gibraltar

Day 1, Casemates Square, Gibraltar, Gibraltar

The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is the Rock's own army. Here they put on a ceremonial parade in Casemates Square.

Day 1, Casemates Square, Gibraltar, Gibraltar

Day 3, Zagora, Morocco

Timbuktu sign.

Day 3, Zagora, Morocco

Day 3, Tangier, Morocco

Catching up with the diary in the corner of a café in the casbah, Tangier. Wonderful mint tea, crumbling murals, and, as Spanish is the second language here, Barcelona FC posters on the wall.

Day 3, Tangier, Morocco

Day 3, St Andrew's Church, Tangier, Morocco

Backstage at St Andrew's Church, Tangier. Mustapha Chergui, sexton for the last thirty-eight years, introduces me to Fatima, his wife of forty years, and their son (framed).

Day 3, St Andrew's Church, Tangier, Morocco

Day 3, Tangier, Morocco

Jonathan and Birdie enjoy a quiet moment.

Day 3, Tangier, Morocco

Day 4, Plaza Uta El Hammam, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Trio of fine buildings in the Plaza Uta El Hammam, Chefchaouen: (left to right) casbah, medersa (Koranic school) and mosque.

Day 4, Plaza Uta El Hammam, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 4, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Lounging around in the funduq. Out-of-town traders mull over marketing strategy.

Day 4, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 4, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Man of the mountains in the square at Chefchaouen.

Day 4, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

The calm before the storm. On my way to the hamman clutching my new shorts.

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Hands up those who've had enough. My masseur and I get to grips at the hammam at Chefchaouen.

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Arched doorway.

Day 5, Chefchaouen, Morocco

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Street life in Fez. The low-tech medina is an intricate network of small businesses that has functioned, without any great change, for the last 1000 years. These hides are on their way to a tannery.

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Donkey bearing radishes. No motor vehicles are allowed in.

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

The nearest thing to a supermarket.

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Paintbox effect at the mediaeval tanneries in Fez. Skins are treated and dyed in stone vats, as they have been for hundreds of years, by individual human effort, most of it gruelling leg work. There were once 200 tanneries like this.

Day 6, Fez, Morocco

Day 7, Fez, Morocco

Abdelfettah in his workshop, carving designs in white plaster. 'Islamic art is an abstract,' he tells me. 'It's all about the use of the line.'

Day 7, Fez, Morocco

Day 7, Kairouyine Mosque, Fez, Morocco

Worshippers wash before prayer at the Kairouyine Mosque in Fez. Founded in 859, it is one of the largest and finest mosques in North Africa, accomodating 20,000 people. Alongside it is one of the oldest universities in the world (founded 850), and the incomparably rich Kairouyine Library.

Day 7, Kairouyine Mosque, Fez, Morocco

Day 8, Marrakesh, Morocco

Man strikes oil in the main square. Other attractions include acrobats, transvestites, snake charmers and dentists.

Day 8, Marrakesh, Morocco

Day 11, Marrakesh, Morocco

Haggling for a pair of backless slippers they call 'babouches'. The sign of quality is the number of stitches round each one. The yellow pair had 350 on each slipper. Not my colour, but I bought them all the same.

Day 11, Marrakesh, Morocco

Day 12, Aït Benhaddou, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

Aït Benhaddou. Impressive and elegant towers below, thanks to Hollywood and Unesco, but the neglected old fortification at the top of the hill is half reduced to ruin by rain and wind.

Day 12, Aït Benhaddou, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

Day 14, Tinfou, Morocco

Southern Morocco. Bedouin tribesmen secure their camels in the teeth of a gale. Many now depend for their livelihood on the demand for camel safaris from increasingly adventurous tourists.

Day 14, Tinfou, Morocco

Day 14, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Saharawi women outside a weaving school. Women virtually run the camps. They cook, build, administrate and run the children, whilst many of the men are in the army.

Day 14, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Day 14, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Smara Camp, Algeria. For the last twenty-five years it has been home to 40,000 Saharawi refugees, who left their western Saharan homeland rather than accept Moroccan domination.

Day 14, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Day 15, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Cosmopolitan future for the Saharawis. Metou, the partly Welsh-educated woman who showed me round the camp, sporting her traditional melepha and less traditional jeans and Doc Martens.

Day 15, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Day 15, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Abstract patterns are important, as Islam discourages figurative art. Here just a glimpse on a Melepha and tent covering behind.

Day 15, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Day 16, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Bachir, Krikiba and the children.

Day 16, Smara Refugee Camp, Tindouf, Algeria

Day 18, Tfariti, Western Sahara

In Western Sahara. Camel stew with the drivers.

Day 18, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Day 18, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Tyremarks on the surface of a typical reg, the flat gravel or coarse sand plains which are a driver's delight.

Day 18, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Day 19, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Nothing is wasted in the desert. Empty ammunition cans help solve the housing shortage.

Day 19, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Day 20, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Inspecting Polisario troops near the wall. Their problem is partly lack of equipment, partly motivation after an eleven-year ceasefire. The flag of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic flies at the right.

Day 20, Tfariti, Western Sahara

Day 21, Mejik, Western Sahara

The team that brought us safely through our first test in tough desert travel. Mohammed Salim is on my right, and next to him is the gentle Khalihena, who looked after me at my lowest ebb.

Day 21, Mejik, Western Sahara

Day 21, Zouérat, Mauritania

Street art in Zouérat. The bold, bright telephone sign not only looks good, but is also vital in a place where many cannot read.

Day 21, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 21, Zouérat, Mauritania

The portrait of Saddam that we're not allowed to film.

Day 21, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 22, Zouérat, Mauritania

The reason why ironmongery is Zouérat's growth industry. Drought has brought great demand for shelter as nomads come in from the desert.

Day 22, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 23, Guelb Mine, Zouérat, Mauritania

Worker at the iron ore mines, wrapped up against the howling wind. The world's longest train is loading in the background.

Day 23, Guelb Mine, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Rush hour at Arrêt TFM. Fight for seats on one of the Sahara's only trains. Those in Iron Ore class are already in position.

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Englishman makes mistake of saying 'After you'.

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Jumping the queue, Mauritanian style.

Day 23, Guelb, Zouérat, Mauritania

Day 24, Atâr Airport, Atâr, Mauritania

The First World flies in for the day. Âtar airport becomes media city as the Dakar Rally hits town.

Day 24, Atâr Airport, Atâr, Mauritania

Day 24, Atâr, Mauritania

Breaking the silence. The first of 115 motorbikes slides and slithers through the sand dunes south of Âtar.

Day 24, Atâr, Mauritania

Day 25, Tougadh, Mauritania

Tougadh village. Western wealth makes little impression on the locals. The adverts are all for the television coverage.

Day 25, Tougadh, Mauritania

Day 25, Tougadh, Mauritania

Tougadh village. Western wealth makes little impression on the locals. The adverts are all for the television coverage.

Day 25, Tougadh, Mauritania

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

With the owner of a one-room library in Chinguetti. In his case the family silver is the written word.

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Writing was a work of art for Islamic scholars. The calligraphy in Chinguetti's libraries is up to 1000 years old.

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

With a little help from my friends, I'm never short of advice in my struggle against the Grand Master of Chinguetti.

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Yes! The turds have it! England 1, Mauritania 0.

Day 27, Chinguetti, Mauritania

Day 29, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Nouakchott beach, where the Sahara meets the Atlantic. A mile of fish market with a backdrop of wrecked freighters.

Day 29, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Day 29, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Never a shortage of helpers to bring the boats in. A boy (right) waits with his plastic tray to carry fish up to be weighed. The best of the catch never reaches local waters; it's trawled by foreign factory ships out beyond the horizon.

Day 29, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Day 30, Nouakchott, Mauritania

The southern Saharan look. A woman, more Negro than Arab, chews on an acacia stick, the Saharan equivalent of toothbrush and toothpaste combined.

Day 30, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Day 30, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Fabrics for sale in Nouakchott market. Bold colours and patterns are one of the great delights of the southern Sahara.

Day 30, Nouakchott, Mauritania

Day 31, St-Louis, Senegal

At the end of the island on which St-Louis, first French foothold in Africa, was founded, a museum and cultural centre rises beside the waters of the Sénégal. A school visit is in progress.

Day 31, St-Louis, Senegal

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Fishwives in St-Louis. The fires burn all day long at this massive smokery on the banks of the River Sénégal.

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Life in St-Louis. Outside a shop with a tall, dashing salesman and short plaster figures of the colon, the caricature of the French colonialist in Africa.

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Women return from the market, heads full.

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

At lunch with artist Jacob Yakouba and his soap-star wife, Marie-Madeleine. Beside her is either next week's script or a BBC contract. Either way, she doesn't look happy.

Day 33, St-Louis, Senegal

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

All needs catered for on the streets of Dakar.

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Pre-Tabaski sheep fattening grips Dakar.

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Wrestling is the second biggest sport in Senegal.

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

My failed attempt to leave without the cheerleader noticing. Ah well, something else to add to the CV.

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

At a local contest in Dakar, the boys show how it should be done.

Day 34, Dakar, Senegal

Day 36, Kayes, Mali

A sweet potato changes hands at Kayes station. The mud-stained coach bears the logo of Chemins de Fer de Mali.

Day 36, Kayes, Mali

Day 37, Mehani, Mali

At Mehani in Mali, the local train we've waited two hours for pulls in, and becomes an instant shopping mall.

Day 37, Mehani, Mali

Day 40, River Niger, Bamako, Mali

Bamako, Mali. First sight of the River Niger. The terrace of the Hotel Mande, on which I eat the best breakfast of the entire trip, pokes into view from behind the bougainvillea.

Day 40, River Niger, Bamako, Mali

Day 40, Bamako, Mali

Laundry on the Niger. Dominating the Bamako skyline in the background is the bridge over the Niger and the 'mud skyscraper', which turns out to be a bank headquarters.

Day 40, Bamako, Mali

Day 41, Bamako, Mali

Kora masterclass with Toumani Diabate.

Day 41, Bamako, Mali

Day 42, The Great Mosque of Djenné, Djenné, Mali

Architectural star of the Sahara. The Great Mosque at Djenné, the largest mud-brick building in the world. The projecting wooden posts are for the masons to stand on during the yearly re-mudding of the mosque.

Day 42, The Great Mosque of Djenné, Djenné, Mali

Day 42, Djenné, Mali

With Amadou (Pigmy to his friends) outside one of Djenné's unique mud mansions.

Day 42, Djenné, Mali

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

Thousands at prayer on Tabaski morning, in their best outfits. Dress code: be different to the person next to you.

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

The first sacrifices stain the streets of Djenné.

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

Tabaski snapshots. Young boys, given sheep's testicles after tabaski, use the scrotums as whoopee cushions. A gap in the market here surely.

Day 43, Djenné, Mali

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Going nowhere. One of the big Niger ferry boats becalmed at Mopti.

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Carpet salesmen at the Mopti dockside, picking their way through indescribable things left behind by the receding river.

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Mural of Dogon Country. A sneak preview of my next destination on a hotel wall.

Day 44, Mopti, Mali

Day 45, Tirelli, Mali

Baobab Avenue, Tirelli. The lower bark of the tree is stripped to provide fibre for rope, whilst the leaves are crushed to make a sauce to liven up the unvarying diet of millet.

Day 45, Tirelli, Mali

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

With Amadou, my guide, and assorted family members in the headman's compound. Thatched-roofed granaries in the background.

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

The hottest meal of my life. Temperatures of 55ºC/131ºF roast my head, whilst my fingers are scalded by a red-hot mixture of millet and baobab sauce. The tasselled hats are typically Dogon; the straw and leather wide-brim, worn by the headman, is Fulani.

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

Watching the tingetange, stilt dancers, at a celebration of the dead. Four or five feet off the ground, with masks, cowrie shell bodices and horsetails, the dancers require exceptional skills and long training.

Day 46, Tirelli, Mali

Day 49, Quadagga, Mali

Children wave as we pass the small town of Quadagga, proud possessor of a gem of a mosque, which I first thought was a mirage of King's College Chapel at Cambridge.

Day 49, Quadagga, Mali

Day 52, Djingareiber Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali

The newly restored walls of the 680-year-old Djingareiber Mosque in Timbuktu - the oldest mosque in continuous in West Africa. It was built by El Saheli, the man credited with inventing this style of mud-brick architecture.

Day 52, Djingareiber Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali

Day 52, Timbuktu, Mali

Looking out of the upstairs window of the house which gave a brief protection to Alexander Gordon Laing, the Scottish explorer who rediscovered Timbuktu in 1826 and was killed on his way home, aged thirty-three.

Day 52, Timbuktu, Mali

Day 53, Timbuktu, Mali

Fresh bread from the street ovens is one of the pleasures of Timbuktu.

Day 53, Timbuktu, Mali

Day 53, Timbuktu, Mali

The road ends at Timbuktu, so I'm getting in some camel practice, and making my first acquaintance with the Toureg, the 'veiled men' of the desert who founded Timbuktu 800 years ago. My Lawrence of Arabia pose slightly spoiled by suspicious mess to the right of my camel.

Day 53, Timbuktu, Mali

Day 55, Ingal, Niger

For the young Wodaabe eye-rolling means sex appeal. The lips and eyes are accentuated with kohl, a powder from ground stibnite; the yellow base is from another local stone. Cowrie shells and ostrich feathers are essential ingredients in the art of seduction.

Day 55, Ingal, Niger

Day 55, Ingal, Niger

Many faces of the Gerewol.

Day 55, Ingal, Niger

Day 59, Tabelot, Niger

Camel driven irrigation system at the oasis of Tabelot.

Day 59, Tabelot, Niger

Day 59, Tabelot, Niger

At home with Omar (centre), his four wives and some of their fifteen children.

Day 59, Tabelot, Niger

Day 61, The Ténéré Desert, Agadez, Niger

A trans-Saharan camion carries workers and all their wordly goods, from Libya back south.

Day 61, The Ténéré Desert, Agadez, Niger

Day 63, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

A loosening of the turban to get some air to the brain.

Day 63, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 63, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Life with the camels. Lunchtime. In the foreground, they graze the acacia trees, their heavy-duty tongues stripping thorns as sharp as nails to get into the leaves.

Day 63, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 65, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Another Tamahaq language class with Izambar.

Day 65, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 65, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 65, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 66, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

A baby gazelle, deserted by its mother, was found near the camp one morning. Gazelles are able to survive in the desert as they never need water, drawing all the moisture they require from plants.

Day 66, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 67, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Divided loyalties. Izambar, in indigo robe at far right of picture, and Omar, next to him, watch as I try to tear myself away from the team. A sad and happy leave-taking, after almost a week together.

Day 67, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 68, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Which way is Algeria?

Day 68, The Ténéré Desert, Niger

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

Back of beyond. The Niger-Algerian border posts.

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

On the road to Tamanrasset we pass what's known as the 'Cemetery', a graveyard of hopes that driving across the Sahara was easy.

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

Whatever happened here? One probably turned without indicating.

Day 69, I-n-Guezzam, Algeria

Day 70, Tamanrasset, Algeria

Sahara sunset on the way north through Algeria.

Day 70, Tamanrasset, Algeria

Day 71, Hoggar Mountains, Atakor, Algeria

With Tom Sheppard, doyen of the desert.

Day 71, Hoggar Mountains, Atakor, Algeria

Day 72, Hoggar Mountains, Assekrem, Algeria

In the heart of the Hoggar Mountains. The peaks are cores of old volcanoes.

Day 72, Hoggar Mountains, Assekrem, Algeria

Day 72, Hoggar Mountains, Assekrem, Algeria

With brother Edward of Les Petits Frères de Jésus, successor of Charles de Foucauld at the remote refuge at Assekrem, over 9000 feet above the Sahara

Day 72, Hoggar Mountains, Assekrem, Algeria

Day 73, Hassi-Messaoud, Algeria

Algeria's Aladdin's Cave. Oil pipes and flares foul the desert near Hassi-Messaoud but, along with natural gas, the fields provide 90 per cent of the country's foreign earnings.

Day 73, Hassi-Messaoud, Algeria

Day 74, National Centre For Despatching Gas, Hassi-R'Mel, Algeria

Salah Benyoub at the CNDG at Hassi-R'Mel. Natural gas that will cook lunches from Milan to Mannheim to Madrid is prepared here and despatched along the sub-Mediterranean pipelines.

Day 74, National Centre For Despatching Gas, Hassi-R'Mel, Algeria

Day 74, National Centre For Despatching Gas, Hassi-R'Mel, Algeria

The scale of Hassi-R'Mel shows the hidden potential of the Sahara. Soon the first ever trans-Saharan pipeline will bring natural gas here from northern Nigeria.

Day 74, National Centre For Despatching Gas, Hassi-R'Mel, Algeria

Day 77, Aménas, Algeria

The Libyan frontier near In Aménas is marked by a single tree. This spare, uncluttered, beautiful spot was one of my favourite places in the Sahara.

Day 77, Aménas, Algeria

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

With Ray Ellis in the cemetery - all ranks and nationalities have exactly the same size gravestones.

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

With the Australian memorial rising behind them, Lady Randell comforts relatives of Australian and Maori war dead.

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

The Rats of Tobruk, sixty years on. They took their name from the propoganda broadcasts of 'Lord Haw-Haw' in the Second World War. 'Come out of your holes you rats!' He taunted. And they did. (Left to right): Francis Cload, Douglas Waller, Leslie Meek, Frank Plant, Peter Vaux, Frank Harrison, Harry Day, James Pearce, Stephen Dawson, Ray Ellis.

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

At Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery. Mohamed Haneish and his wife keep the place immaculate, working wonders with limited resources. Water is scarce and, because they're close to the sea, it's brackish and salty. Mohamed, whose father taught him the job, calls the dead 'my boys'.

Day 80, Acroma-Knightsbridge Cemetery, Tobruk, Libya

Day 80, Tobruk Harbour, Tobruk, Libya

Preparing for the last ceremony of the day: the floating of a wreath on the waters of the harbour that the Rats defended for so long.

Day 80, Tobruk Harbour, Tobruk, Libya

Day 81, Apollonia, Cyrene, Libya

Remains of a 2000-year-old mosaic flooring, showing palm trees and wild animals.

Day 81, Apollonia, Cyrene, Libya

Day 81, Apollonia, Cyrene, Libya

Abdul Gerawi, our chief Libyan guide (in the well cut Western-style clothes worn by most professional Libyans), watches filming in the magical Roman theatre at Apollonia, rediscovered only forty years ago.

Day 81, Apollonia, Cyrene, Libya

Day 82, Benghazi, Libya

Sweeping gaze. Plenty of brushes, but where are all the people?

Day 82, Benghazi, Libya

Day 83, Benghazi, Libya

Benghazi schoolchildren stop to watch the filming.

Day 83, Benghazi, Libya

Day 83, Benghazi, Libya

Inside the Great Manmade River Project. This is the size of the pipes, of which 1000 miles are already laid, as part of Colonel Gaddafi's ambitious plan to water his country by tapping underground water reservoirs deep in the desert.

Day 83, Benghazi, Libya

Day 83, Sirte, Libya

Inside the Great Manmade River Project. This is the size of the pipes, of which 1000 miles are already laid, as part of Colonel Gaddafi's ambitious plan to water his country by tapping underground water reservoirs deep in the desert.

Day 83, Sirte, Libya

Day 85, Leptis Magna, Khoms, Libya

More old ruins at Leptis Magna. Well, I had been filming for three months.

Day 85, Leptis Magna, Khoms, Libya

Day 87, Djerba, Tunisia

Like rows of open oyster shells, sunbathers flank the pool of one of the big hotels on the lotus-eating Isle of Djerba. In Tunisia, tourist revenue makes up for the lack of oil earnings with which neighbours Libya and Algeria have been blessed. Or cursed.

Day 87, Djerba, Tunisia

Day 87, Djerba, Tunisia

On the road in Djerba, Tunisia. Standing left to right: Basil Pao, John Paul Davidson, Peter Meakin, Claire Houdret. Sitting: Pritchard, Meakin, Mohammed (Driver), Man With Grin.

Day 87, Djerba, Tunisia

Day 88, Houmt Souk, Djerba, Tunisia

Greek amphorae stacked on the harbour side at Houmt Souk. They're not for sale; they're for catching octopuses.

Day 88, Houmt Souk, Djerba, Tunisia

Day 88, Houmt Souk, Djerba, Tunisia

There Must Be Easier Ways To Make A Living, Number 24: wrestling freshly caught octopus.

Day 88, Houmt Souk, Djerba, Tunisia

Day 89, El Haddej, Tunisia

Return to the crucifixion scene. Walking round a troglodyte home in El Haddej. Both Life of Brian and Star Wars were filmed in this unique, moon-like landscape.

Day 89, El Haddej, Tunisia

Day 89, El Haddej, Tunisia

Taking tea with Bilgessou and his wife and daughter. Refusing to move from the cave he's lived in all his life, he makes money by providing accommodation for curious travellers.

Day 89, El Haddej, Tunisia

Day 90, El Jem, Tunisia

The Roman amphitheatre at El Jem was the third biggest they ever built; I walk the underground chambers where both the gladiators and the lions were kept before a fight. They still have a deeply unsettling atmosphere.

Day 90, El Jem, Tunisia

Day 90, Ribat, Monastir, Tunisia

Nostalgic return to the Ribat at Monastir, a ninth-century Arab fortress, in which the tolerant Tunisians let us film Life of Brian, twenty-four years ago.

Day 90, Ribat, Monastir, Tunisia

Day 90, Ribat, Monastir, Tunisia

Ribat at Monastir. Aficionados will recognise the tower from which Brian leapt only to be rescued by a flying saucer.

Day 90, Ribat, Monastir, Tunisia

Day 94, Algiers, Algeria

Every home a balcony, decreed Napoleon III, and the apartment blocks of Algiers, with louvered shutters and neo-classical details, are a reminder that for more than 100 years, until independence in 1962, Algiers was as much a part of France as the Lyon or Marseille it resembles.

Day 94, Algiers, Algeria

Day 94, Algiers, Algeria

Light and darkness on the roof of the Villa Suzini. Behind me, sunlight across the city explains why the French called it Alger La Blanche, the White City. Below me, in the cellars of this pretty Moorish villa, Algerians who resisted French rule were beaten, tortured and often killed during the independance struggle in the 1950s.

Day 94, Algiers, Algeria

Day 94, Belcourt, Algiers, Algeria

A wall in Belcourt is covered with football slogans. The English contribution, though misspelt, is not forgotten.

Day 94, Belcourt, Algiers, Algeria

Day 95, Casbah, Algiers, Algeria

In the casbah, Algiers. This is the oldest part of town and dates from long before the French arrived. It's also the heart of anti-government feeling. The houses are squeezed tight along narrow alleyways, making it easy to defend and very difficult to attack.

Day 95, Casbah, Algiers, Algeria

Day 97, Ceuta, Spain

The Portuguese-built bastions of what is now a piece of Spanish territory in Africa, the city of Ceuta.

Day 97, Ceuta, Spain

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