London to Johannesburg

An enormous dust cloud sweeps off the West African coast, partially supplied by the Bodélé Depression.

A blinding dust storm in the Bodélé Depression.

The parched skeleton of a large fish that once lived in Lake Mega-Chad.

A severe dust storm in the Bodélé limits visibility to tens of metres.

Areas surrounding the Bodélé suffer from a constant haze in the sky thanks to the dust storms.

Scientists taking measurements in a dust storm in the Bodélé Depression.

Dust from the central Sahara blowing across the Atlantic from West Africa.

Dust storm from Bodélé spreads over Lake Chad.

Scientists taking measurements in a dust storm in the Bodélé Depression.

A barchan dune in the Bodélé Depression.

Encroaching sand dunes pushing up against the side of local houses in the Bodélé Depression.

Barchan sand dunes in the Bodélé Depression.

White diatomite sand dunes in the Bodélé Depression.

Dust storms blowing across from the Bodélé depression are visible from space in this satellite image.

The Bodélé Depression with barchan sand dunes in the distance.

A view upwind of the Bodélé Depression, which brings out the features of the landscape more clearly without the obscuring sand.

Houses in the Bodélé blend into the surroundings, although settlements are often marked by the green splashes of vegetation nearby.

White diatomite sand dunes and the featureless horizon of the Bodélé Depression.

Tyre tracks lead into the barren Bodélé Depression.

Water is scarce in the Bodélé, and finding it relies heavily on local knowledge of watering holes and springs.

Animals and herders viewed from the air over a well create an incredible pattern against the bleak landscape.

Diatoms, a key ingredient in the dust blown from the Bodélé, under a microscope.

Local Toubou children sit on a precious well in the Bodélé Depression.

Local Toubou woman and child.

A desolate tree in the barren Bodélé Depression.

Diatoms, a key ingredient in the dust blown from the Bodélé, under a microscope.

Water is scarce in the Bodélé, and finding it relies heavily on local knowledge of watering holes and springs.

The "settlement" of Chicha in the Bodélé Depression.

A broken Soviet "Katyusha" rocket launcher, abandoned in the desolate and remote Bodélé Depression.

A scientist studying the Bodélé shields his eyes from the dust with a mask whilst taking a measurement.

Two local Toubou children in the Bodélé Depression.

A broken Soviet "Katyusha" rocket launcher, abandoned in the desolate and remote Bodélé depression.

Diatoms, a key ingredient in the dust blown from the Bodélé, under a microscope.