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/ 21 February 2007

Saharan salt caravans ply ancient route

Caught between an encroaching sea of sand and a towering rocky plateau, Tichit has been a staging post for more than nine centuries for camel caravans snaking across the Sahara. Isolated in the most inhospitable part of south-eastern Mauritania, the crumbling buildings of the once-prosperous town are relentlessly buffeted by winds.