Azalaï
Pronounced “as-ah-lie”, this is
the extraction, transport, and sale of salt from the mines
in the extreme north of Mali. The word itself means joined
or fitted together. It encompasses a set of arrangements
and actions, all perfectly orchestrated and organized that
makes up the trip to to Taoudenit, and the return with the
salt and finally its sale. This is no stroll in the dunes,
nor is it a random trip to here and there in hopes of trade
or greener pastures. This is an activity with a goal;
supplies, distances, directions must all be strictly
controlled ensure its success and prevent deaths along the
way. Hence the name of fitted or joined, every piece in its
place.
This activity has been practised by the Berabish Tuareg for
millennia. Today in the early morning or late afternoon you
can often see caravans of camels loaded with slabs of salt
arrive near the Jardin de la Paix (north of the Flame de la
Paix monument). Though the size of the caravans and the
value of the salt has drastically diminished since the days
of grandeur, the people cling tenaciously to the tradition.
The mining of Taoudenit had only been going of since 1587,
when it was discovered during the rout of the miners from
Tagaza, the original mine, by Moroccan solders intent on
capturing the valuable salt mine. Having discovered this
huge deposit of salt three days south the miners of the
Songaï empire, who had control of the area at that time,
abandoned Tagaza to the Moroccans in favour of the closer
and ultimately more extensive mine of Taoudenit. Of course
the following year the Moroccans continued their conquest
on down to Timbuktu and overthrew the Songaï, to control
Timbuktu and the mines for the next several centuries. (For
more on the Moroccan invasion see the section on the
Moroccan wells in the desert.)
The Caravans start off from north of Timbuktu, or more
commonly a camp outside Timbuktu where several people my
combine their camels to form a single caravan for the
duration of the trip and split off again on return. They
then head north, travelling up to ten hours and 50 km a
day. The two or four men with each caravan of 20 to 100
camels walk, one leading the string of camels another
trailing along the side or near the rear of the line. They
mount only when tired and rest for the few hours they ride,
having perfected the art of sleeping while comfortably
seated on a saddle-less moving camel. This is an important
skill because once started, the caravan does not stop
moving until the day’s trek is finished. A man must mount
and dismount the moving camel, or at best the standing
camel-- an impossible manoeuvre with a saddle.
The trip to Taoudenit, the current mine, takes fifteen
days. No meals are prepared until camp is pitched at the
end of the day's march. The men sustain themselves with a
filling spiced drink made primarily of millet flour and
heavily sweetened. Tea may also be prepared while walking;
the stove and other material attached to a camel … At the
end of the day the camels are unloaded and loosely hobbled
so they can go find grazing. In the morning the men must
track them down and reload, before starting out. Caravans
may stop an extra day or two near Arawane, 230 km north of
Timbuktu and a week into the trek. Here they collect fodder
for the camels to see them through the next two weeks in
the “real desert” where there is no vegetation to be found.
Bundles of fodder are dropped off at staging points on the
way north to be used on the return trip.
After reaching Taoudenit another day or two will be spent
arranging for the salt. The salt is extracted by hand in
shallow open pits. Great slabs or “bars” average 1.5 m long
and 0.5 m wide and 3 to 4 cm thick, and can weigh up to 60
Kg. Camel hide cord is wrapped around each end of a bar.
the loose ends are wrapped around an second bar with enough
space in the middle to go over the camels back. Two
rectangles of wadded straw or grass wrapped in burlap are
attached in a special pad and set over the camel's hump.
Two sets of salt bars are then added and hang down the
sides. The pad protects the camel from chafing and
distributes the weight. The ropes around the salt not only
attach it to the camel but protect the bars from knocking
together. More baggage may be strapped down to the top if
need be, such as water skins, and the long trek back
begins.
As with the northward trip the men must unload the camels
every night and reload in the morning. The men must load
all four bars of salt onto each camel at the beginning of
the day and unload at the end of the days march. This means
they must rise extremely early. With only two men in a 20
camel caravan each man would be lifting the equivalent of
2400 kg (almost two and a half tons!) twice a day. In the
week after leaving as with the week before arriving the
caravans must force long marches to be sure to reach the
widely spaced wells before their water supply runs out.
With 150 km between wells they must go 50km a day to reach
the next well in three days.
Upon the triumphant return of the caravan the salt is
unloaded at the home of one of the members of the caravan
or a salt merchant on the outskirts of town, as the camels
do not enter the city. Later it will be sold in the market,
taken to the port where it will be loaded on pinnaces and
shipped south, or loaded onto the backs of donkeys (two ½
bars to each side of the donkey) and taken on to Dogon
country to be exchanged for millet.
For every camel two bars of salt go to the person who
extracted it and two go to the transporter. A bar of salt
is sold in Timbuktu for around 5000 f CFA. So after 1600km
on foot lifting five tons everyday for two weeks a man gets
100.000 f CFA, about $200! One man explains, “We do it for
the spirit of the thing more than the money. We do it
because we don’t have anything else.”