Deserts. Many when they think of deserts just think of the heat, maybe camels, mirages of water, and the seemingly never ending hills of sand. But there are people and animals that thrive in those areas.
Survival of the fittest…
According to the WWF website, the plants and animals that live here are able to live in these barren areas on scarce amount of water. For example, the beloved household plant, the cactus soaks up water from the rare rainfalls and is able to store it for months. Animals gain enough water from the food they eat and actually conserve the energy for when they really need it.
Tuareg
(Source of picture: Tuareg)
There are villages of people who live in in desert regions and in the Sahara Desert, the Tuareg people are a mainly Muslim population comprising of 2 million individuals.
Blue Men
They have another name and this is “the blue men”. This is because of the veils they wear to protect themselves from the burning desert sun and sand. They speak the language Tamashek, and this language is also spoke in Algeria and Mali.
Interesting fact for you, the name Tuareg means Free Folk in English. They live off the land and their livestock, making their own clothes and jewellery.
Desert Hedgehogs
There are quite a number of various animals that live in the desert such as the Gerbils, Anubis baboons and Gazelles, but I had never heard of hedgehogs living in the desert before.
Get ready for how cute this thing is…
This hedgehog is the smallest of its kind and can be found all across parts of Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Israel and Iraq. They can live for around 10 years and have a top speed of 11 miles per hour.
Just like their cousins here in the UK, they are nocturnal and normally travel on their own.
These little hoggies are ferocious beasts! Their diet includes insects, small invertebrates, frogs, eggs of ground-nesting birds, snakes and scorpions. SCORPIONS!!!!
There ya have it! Now I am currently on holiday in South Wales UK so this was just a little something I typed up before I left as I had found it rather interesting, but I hope you all have a wonderful week. Do you have anything nice planned for your weekend?
Talitha's Travels 
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