R is for The Richat Structure.

The Travelling Blackberry

The what??

Before heading to Mauritania (a country it’s fair to say I knew very little about) a quick rummage around the World Wide Winifred told me a few interesting facts that I needed to know and also threw up a couple of things of interest that I didn’t need to know, but I’m glad I did.

One of these was the above named feature, also known as the Eye of Africa.

Only really visible from high altitude, when it was first seen by the early astronauts, it was thought to have been the result of a meteor impact, but studies have found no proof. The clever geologist types now believe it to be a natural feature, that once held water and has eroded over time.

I’d seen a few satellite pics of it, but when I realised I was going to spend a bit of time in Ouadane, I…

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