mongo, chad: where the heat eats your film and the neighbors are camels (and cameroon)

i've been in mongo for three days and i'm already convinced the sun here has a personal vendetta against my camera equipment. the heat is something else - i checked my portable weather meter and it reads 25.6°c (78°f) but the humidity's a punishing 16%, so it feels like 24.6°c with a dry, hot breath that saps moisture from everything. the pressure sits at 1005 hpa and ground level's 971 - numbers that mean nothing to me except that my altitude adjustments are off and my camera's autofocus keeps hunting. i've shot in deserts before but this sahelian air is so arid that static electricity makes my lenses attract dust like a magnet. i've started wrapping my gear in ziploc bags at night, but the fine sand still seeps in through seams. i haven't slept properly since i left paris; the timezone's messed up and the night sounds - those eerie animal calls that sound like a broken saxophone - keep me up. i keep thinking i hear a lion but it's probably just a goat or some weird bird.

the town of mongo itself is a collection of mud-brick buildings that seem to melt into the earth. there's a market that springs up every morning, selling everything from dried fish to mismatched sandals. i was told by a truck driver named mustapha that the market's best at dawn before the heat 'starts cooking your brain'. i've been trying to capture the light here: at sunrise the dunes turn a soft pink, then by mid-morning they're bleached white, and at sunset they glow orange like they're on fire. the dry air means no humidity haze, so the distance is crisp - you can see for miles, and the sky is this insane cobalt blue that looks fake in photos. i'm shooting with a nikon d850 and a 24-70 f/2.8, plus a 70-200 for distant shots. i'm paranoid about sand getting into the mirror, so i change lenses only inside my tent, and even then i hold my breath.

the weather's been steady: 25.6°c every day, but the lack of humidity makes it feel less hot than you'd think, yet the sun is brutal. i keep lathering on vaseline for my skin, and my lips are cracking despite drinking gallons of water. i heard a rumor that the well in town runs dry every other tuesday, so the locals store water in big plastic drums. if you're planning a trip, bring more water than you think you need - i've seen tourists collapse from dehydration because they underestimated this place.

if you get bored, the border with cameroon is a dusty motorbike ride away, about five hours over tracks that might be roads, might be dried riverbeds. i've heard the town of garoua across the border has a night market that'll make your head spin with smells and colors - but be warned: the police there like to 'collect' stray photographers for 'tea' (which costs about $20 and you might lose a memory card). also, the town of lai is a few hours south, famous for its hippo sanctuary. someone warned me that the hippos are 'aggressive as tax collectors' and you shouldn't get too close to the water's edge. i'm skipping that for now.

someone told me that the only reliable internet in mongo is at the telecom office, but they close at 4pm when the generator runs out of fuel. so i write my blog posts on a notepad and hope to upload when i get to n'djamena. the local restaurant 'le宝' (the sign's half-faded) serves a goat stew that'll make you question your life choices - i'm still not sure if it's good or just shocking. the owner, a woman named fatimé, doesn't smile much but the stew has a kick that grows on you.

here's roughly where i'm camped out, in the middle of nowhere but with a view:

the landscape is surreal, like a painting made of bleached bones and endless sky. i took these snaps from my dusty hammock while waiting for the light to soften:

if you're planning a trip, it's worth checking what tripadvisor says about lake chad (which is shrinking fast but still a sight) and zakouma national park. there's also a lively chad travel forum on lonely planet where you can ask about border crossings and which guides won't rob you. and for a coffee fix, there's a blog called 'bean there' that reviews street coffee in n'djamena - it's mostly instant but they found one place that does a proper espresso. i also use world weather online for forecasts, but out here it's often wrong by dozens of degrees. the locals just look at the sky and say 'inshallah' - whatever that means. maybe that's the best advice: don't overthink it, bring water, and let the desert do its thing. i'm going to try and get a few hours of sleep before the sun rises and the heat starts again. if i don't update for a while, assume my camera melted and i'm living with the goats.

You might also be interested in:

• https://votoris.com/post/midnight-wheels-in-kobe
• https://votoris.com/post/taguig-city-paycheck-reality-is-the-hustle-worth-the-hustle
• https://votoris.com/post/ranchi-waterfalls-hills-and-a-whole-lot-of-dust
• https://votoris.com/post/isfahan-a-whirlwind-of-rain-and-ancient-stones
• https://votoris.com/post/the-local-food-scene-in-salt-lake-city-what-the-residents-actually-eat