Desert
according to Leo

Leo's trips to Timbuktu
    There are many desertic regions in Morocco- all along the Southern borders with Mauritania and Algeria. Leo did not describe all these 'deserts' in detail, and he actually swept over much of these regions, speaking only of the nomadic tribes living there, and of the relative dangers of each for travelers on the road to Timbuktu (for more on this go to Desert-history). In particular he speaks of one desert that:

"merchants going from Telensin to Timbuktu must cross. They walk across its widest diameter, and the difficulty of the journey causes many of them to die of thirst. Within this nothingness, there is a small region called Gogdem, where one cannot find water for 9 days. Travelers have to make due with the amount they carry on camels, and should not count on the occasional puddle due to rain." (449)

    Leo traveled twice to Timbuktu- once as a young man, accompanying his uncle on an ambassadorial mission, and once as a more weathered traveler, and perhaps merchant. During his first trip, as he and his uncle were about to enter the desertic plains South of today's Zagora (just where Dad and I trekked), Leo was sent on an unusual mission. He writes:

"When the Sultan of Fes sent my uncle as ambassador to the king of Timbuktu, I went along. We had reached the region of the Draa, when the local ruler head about my uncle's presence in his region. My uncle was a renown speaker and poet, and the ruler sent us a messenger to beg us to come and visit him, a few hundred miles from our route. My uncle declined the invitation, alleging that it was impossible for the Sultan's ambassador to change his route for the sake of a local ruler. However, he would send his nephew to give his regards. So I went, armed with a few delicate gifts-spears, silks, a beautifully bound book about Saints of Africa and a poem written by my uncle for this ruler. I was accompanied by two horsemen, and we rode for 4 days- during which I wrote my own poem for this noble man. (...) I gave the ruler the gifts, which seemed to greatly please him. His secretary read my uncle's poem out loud, while I explained each of its verses. When the reading was over, he ordered dinner to be served, and bade me to sit by his side. At the end of the meal, I rose and said: "Sire, my uncle sent Your Excellency a small gift, one which a poor doctor like himself can afford to send, hoping that you would remember him. As his nephew and student I have little to offer other than these words. And I began to read my poem, while the nobleman listened and watched me, a 16 year old!" (138)

   Cristel's Trip 2 and 3 (February and April) will reveal more about Leo's journeys to Timbuktu.