Arabian camels and nomadic people are the most recent in a long line of Saharan pioneers. The history of this great region is told in ancient rock art, glimpses of a vanished world. Just a few thousand years ago, this desert was still wet enough to support great herds of cattle and goats. Prey was abundant, and people used horse-drawn chariots, dogs, bows and arrows in the hunt for food. Giraffes, elephants, buffalo, lions and rhino roamed across the Sahara. There are rivers full of fish, even crocodiles.

Today at Ennidi Gorge, there are living reminders of that once green Sahara. In a few isolated oasises, there are still an abundance of aquatic life. Even more surprising is that these communities of fish still support a dwindling number of Nile crocodiles. They are the last survivors of a once healthy population which over thousands of years has been left high and dry by the changing climate. Today, just three crocodiles remain, too few to continue the line marooned by hundreds of miles of sand, right in the middle of the mightiest desert on earth.

Africa's deserts are more than just barren expanses, they are dynamic worlds, each with its own unique character. They are also places of great opportunity, where given enough time, a steady climate and a sprinkle of water, life can flourish, and it has done so in some of the most extraordinary ways imaginable.

chariot: a two-wheeled vehicle that was used in ancient times for racing and fighting and was pulled by a horse 古時(shí)雙輪戰(zhàn)車；四輪馬車，四輪轎車

aquatic : living or growing in, happening in, or connected with water 水生的, 水棲的

marooned：left in a place from which you cannot escape 使...處于孤獨(dú)無(wú)助之境

high and dry: 擱淺

dynamic:動(dòng)力的, 動(dòng)力學(xué)的, 動(dòng)態(tài)的