Salt was once worth its weight in gold, and treks to mine salt slabs from the heart of the Sahara desert are still made as they were throughout centuries―on a caravan of camels. American writer Benanav was compelled to join the Caravan of White Gold and traveled with nomads, eating meals of sand-covered goat entrails, drinking rancid water, getting lost for a day or two at a time, and enduring blistering heat and freezing nights in the open air.
Along the way, he wrote fascinating stories about the perilous life of a camel, the family values of a real nomad, the treating of injured miners in a desert, and the cultural differences of labor and money. This is a well-reviewed travel narrative unlike any other, and it is accompanied by stunning full-color photographs. It will appeal to readers of Stiff, Salt, and fans of Jonathan Raban and Bill Bryson.