For over five decades, the Sahara Desert remained a hot, scorching, barren landscape pockmarked here and there with flimsy scrub bushes and cacti. Whipping Sahara winds often stirred up dust ...

But the only secluded shady spots in the desert are often right next to a cholla cactus, so contact is inevitable! But even worse was the array of dislodged pads on or in the ground already ...