“Waiting for Sunset” has won the TDS Open Competition for February, gaining an 89% score in the voting.
This image was taken at Merzouga on the edge of the Erg Chebbi Dunes. When we reached the dunes, some of our group were going camel riding, but we decided to walk up on to the dunes to enjoy the sunset. Setting off up onto the dunes we were soon joined by a young chap called “Ismail”, who seemed very keen to keep us company as an unofficial guide. Julian had mentioned that it might happen and we did not really mind as we were able to chat to him about his life in Merzouga, as the sun set. He apologized for his English as it was his 5th language after Berber, Arabic, French and Spanish. To us his English was just fine. It turned out he spent a lot of time in the peak season going out with the adventure groups who camp out on the dunes for a few days at a time, but in the off season there was little work to be had.
His family now lived in Merzouga, but until a few years ago they had lived a nomadic life moving across the desert with their goats. We had guessed he would be looking for a tip, and once the sun had gone down, to our relief, he produced some fossils for us to purchase. Jane picked a medium sized Ammonite for 50 dinar, which was the value of the tip we were going to give him anyway.
