Solar Power Camel

Paul Salopek, a Pulizer Prize-winning journalist, is walking in the path of humanity’s ancient ancestors. For his Out of Eden project, he’s traveling the likely route that the earliest homo sapiens took out of Africa and through Arabia about 106,000 years ago. The 21,000-mile journey will take him about 7 years. And, yes, he’s going on foot.
Here’s a winter scene from Djibouti on the journey. It’s about 90°F. Mr. Salopek snapped this photo of Madoita, a camel sporting a cloak of solar cells. Mr. Salopek is using it to charge his satellite phone. It’s a handy, modern convenience, but they have to make frequent stops to wipe the dust off the solar camel.