Traveling with pastoralists is humbling. It is not so much a question of needs as of expectations. What will the world bring? None of us can know. How we accept this fact determines what we carry. As William Langewiesche has written, the desert teaches by taking away.
Cameleer Mohamed Aidahis’s kit: a jile (Afar knife), iron-tipped ax, spare shire (Afar sarong), windbreaker, two cakes of soap, “Scissors” brand matches, ball of tobacco, spare turban/wrap, water bottle. Photograph by Paul Salopek
Cameleer Kader Yarri’s kit: spare shire, water bottle, snuff in plastic women’s cosmetics jar, spare turban/wrap. Photograph by Paul Salopek
