Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara

When Malik is old enough to join his father’s camel caravan, he travels across the Sahara carrying salt along the route to Timbuktu. On his first difficult desert crossing, the caravan trades its precious salt for needed goods. Malik learns that salt has uses beyond preserving and flavoring food: it matters in trade, ritual, civilizations, and human bodies. The journey also asks him to take on responsibility and discover confidence in his future role with the caravan.