L’Arbre du Ténéré - Les Touareg en métal
“One must see the Tree to believe its existence. What is its secret? How can it still be living in spite of the multitudes of camels which trample at its sides. How at each azalai does not a lost camel eat its leaves and thorns? Why don’t the numerous Touareg leading the salt caravans cut its branches to make fires to brew their tea? The only answer it that the tree is taboo and considered as such by the caravaniers. There is a kind of superstition, a tribal order which is always respected. Each year the azalai gather round the Tree before facing the crossing of the Ténéré. The Acacia has become a living lighthouse; it is the first or the last landmark for the azalai leaving Agadez for Bilma, or returning.”
- Michel Lesourd, of the Service central des affaires sahariennes, 1939
In 1973 the tree was hit by a drunk driver. The dead wood was taken to the Musée National du Niger and replaced with a metal sculpture and well.
Both the metal Tree of Ténéré and the Touareg way of life are now tourist attractions, and VW has combined all these elements to make the Touareg machine, complete with digital souvenirs.
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October 5th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I have bookmarked this informativ site. Thanks Kfz Versicherung