African Food and Art

This blog explores the wisdom of African proverbs, the depth of folklore, the beauty of art, the stories of history, and the flavors of timeless African food recipes.

The Sahara Desert is Alive with Volcanoes

Mount Koussi, also called Emi Koussi, located in northern Chad is the highest peak of Africa’s largest driest desert, the Sahara. 


Emi Koussi volcano at 2.1 miles above sea level is the highest peak of Africa’s largest driest desert, the Sahara.
African Desert volcano Emi Koussi 

The Sahara desert is not just miles and miles of sand 


In the Sahara desert, there are lots of sand dunes, with some of them as high as 500 feet high, that’s a little more than one and a half football fields and is taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Sahara is the largest desert on the African continent and is Earth's largest hot desert. 

There are also volcanoes in the world’s largest hot desert, Emi Koussi. The Emi Koussi volcano at 2.1 miles above sea level is the highest peak of Africa’s largest driest desert, the Sahara. 
 
African Desert volcano, Emi Koussi is located in northern Chad, at the southeastern end of the Tibesti Mountain Range in the Sahara desert. Chad is largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries with 1.284 million sq km or about 4.9 million sq miles of total land area. 

 The Tibesti are a mountain range in the central Sahara desert, mainly located in northern Chad and a small portion in southern Libya. 


Africa's Emi Koussi volcano formation
The Tibesti are a mountain range in the central Sahara desert, mainly located in northern Chad and a small portion in southern Libya.
Tibesti Mountains

Emi Koussi volcano was formed from lava flows that were not very thick; the lava flowed more like thin gravy than very thick gravy. Emi Koussi is a typical class of volcano composed of layers of hardened lava, tephra or fragmental material, and volcanic ash.
According to NASA, the summit of Emi Koussi includes three calderas formed by powerful eruptions. A caldera is a large, usually circular depression at the summit of a volcano formed when magma is withdrawn or erupted from a shallow underground magma reservoir. 

Two older and overlapping calderas form a large depression surrounded by a distinctive rim. The youngest and smallest caldera, Era Kohor, formed because of eruptive activity within the past 2 million years. 

Young volcanic features of the Emi Koussi, including lava flows and scoria cones are also thought to be less than 2 million years old. There are no historical records of eruptions at Emi Koussi, but there is an active thermal area on the southern side of the volcano.

Climbing and exploring Emi Koussi

The Tibesti Mountains are one of the most significant and perhaps least studied intra continental volcanic regions of the world. Political instability and the harsh Saharan climate have limited field access to the area. 

 The best time to climb the Emi Koussi is November to March.  It does not present any particular difficulty as the climbing, the main obstacles being access, logistics and insecurity. Emi Koussi was first ascended in 1938 by Wilfred Thesiger.

Week’s Best African Culture Posts

What is the difference between ugali and fufu

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How to make the popular African recipes Ugali and Fufu and what is the difference.  Ugali is a starch dish in Kenya and Tanzania made of fine cornmeal cooked in boiling water into a soft dough. Fufu is a thick, dough-like West African food made by boiling then pounding a starchy vegetable such as yam, plantain, or cassava or a mixture of starchy vegetables. The main difference between fufu and ugali is fufu is boiled first then pounded while ugali is simply boiled. Ugali recipe. Easy Ugali Recipe Prep time 5 minutes Cook time 30 minutes Total time 30 minutes Ingredients 4 cups finely ground cornmeal 8 cups water Directions Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Slowly pour cornmeal into boiling water stirring continuously. Add more cornmeal if necessary until it is thick as soft bread dough. Serve immediately with vegetables, stew, or any dish you would use a spoon with to soak up the sauce, ugali is purposely bland tasting on its own. What is the difference between ugali ...
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Camel Caravans Created the Internet

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Thanks to camel caravans facilitating trade and cultural exchange across Northern Africa, they laid the foundation for global connectivity, which eventually evolved into the internet driven world we know today.  Raising camels When business partners in Northern Africa started using camels, it changed how goods were traded. Before the domestication of camels, it was hard to cross much less carry things across the hot, dry desert. Camels could travel long distances without needing much water, so they made it easier to move valuable items like gold, salt, and cloth from one end of the African deserts to the other. Camel caravans helped people get things they could not find in their own neighborhoods and allowed them to trade to more people. Camels were kind of like how the internet and technology connect us today. Why were camels chosen for caravans across Africa?  Camels were less prone to diseases common in tropical regions, increasing their longevity and utility. Horses and do...
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Boxing Day South African Cookies

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Boxing Day South African Cookies Recipe and History of Boxing Day Listen to the Boxing Day South African Cookie Recipe and the History of Boxing Day. Boxing Day is observed as a public holiday in many Southern African countries. Boxing Day historically held deep significance as a rare day of recognition and appreciation for hard work.   While Christmas Day was often spent serving the households of wealthier families, Boxing Day provided an opportunity to receive small tokens of gratitude, known as Christmas boxes.  In households that observed Boxing Day traditions, servants were often granted a lighter workload or even a day off to visit family or enjoy the holiday. Today, Boxing Day is associated with relaxation and shopping.   Thumbprint Cookies with South African Sweet Chutney Ingredients 1 cup unsalted room-temperature butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large chicken egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup South African sweet c...
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Disaster That Shook Mayotte to Its Core

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Category 4 hurricane, 136 MPH Cyclone Chido destroyed the French Island of Mayotte. The island of Mayotte is a tiny, 144 square mile  French territory in the Indian Ocean reeling from a direct hit from Cyclone Chido, the strongest storm to hit the island in 90 years. Entire neighborhoods have disappeared, along with entire families. Mayotte is rhe poorest overseas territory of France, many accusations point to the debate that it is a forgotten holding place for undocumented refugees. Half the residence live in makeshift houses out of discarded pieces of wood cardboard, and anything else residents can get their hands on. With winds exceeding 136 mph, equivalent to a category four hurricane, on Sunday December 15, 2024, Cyclone Chido caused major destruction causing upwards of 1,000 deaths leaving 80% of the population homeless.  Nearly 84% of residents were already living under the poverty level before Cyclone Chido hit the small island. The infrastructure was very weak on the ...
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