Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds MKIII
Lens: Canon EF 16-35 mm. f/4.0L IS

It´s strange how we over time adapt or adjust to a certain level of reference. By this I´m referring to the fact that I remember today as being a very easy and rather non-eventful day in the desert. And that´s actually not true.

The weather showed us her very best, blue skies, sunshine and warmth. And the Western Sahara presented us with some amazing scenery, dunes bigger that I have ever seen, and a great view over the desert from an elevated plateau. The dunes had dried out a bit more today, and when we had to climb a very steep and long inclement we finally had to air down a bit more. Steve were struggling a bit in his huge 100-series with its big overhang and hence poor approach- and departure angles, and gut stuck between a hard face filled with small stones and some soft sand. We had to winch him out.

After a pleasant drive north along the dune belt, which we had to follow quite closely because the desert west of the dunes were quite wet, with sanding surface water in many places. We made camp for the night down-wind from a dune, somewhere south from the conveyer-belt feeding the Jorf Lasfar port with phosphate rock.

Phosphate rock mining and processing is one of Morocco's leading industries. All the Moroccan phosphate is produced by the state-owned Office Chérifien des Phosphates, founded in 1920, whic is responsible for managing and controlling all aspects of the phosphate mining. The combined capacity of the main facilities—at Youssoufia, Benguerir, Bou Craa, Sidi Chenan, and Khouribga—was 27 million tons per year.
The Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), is the world's largest exporter of phosphates and derivatives. OCP already controls around 45 percent of the market for lime phosphate, and more than 30 percent of global phosphate exports – and they're looking to expand. As part of this expansion strategy, the company has implemented a significant investment program that includes a EUR 90 million contract with Danish owned FLSmidth to supply equipment for a phosphate terminal at Jorf Lasfar port.