An amazing vista – the mountains as a hard and uninviting backdrop to the soft and mellow dunes of Stera.
The tree (Tamarix nilotica) seems out of place here in the middle of a desert, but it is at home and gets to water through very deep and long roots. It can extract the moisture it requires from salt or brackish water, and will excrete the excess salt through pores or glands which is very visible in the morning hours. I passed some of these plants in the early hours believing it was fresh water from fog or moisture trapped from the air. How wrong I was! It was super salty, and I was surprised by the amount that was seeping out of these plants. A magnificent species.
Last updated on 27 January 2022
