Sometimes the cattle are represented as necks or horns, a pictorial shorthand that was evidently sufficient to convey meaning. - Sada Mire

The most dangerous thing in the desert is bad roads, and snakes are often found near monuments. I had a few unpleasant experiences with them. For example, in Dhambalin, I lay on my stomach to take pictures of the lower part of a panel with paintings. Suddenly I heard a hiss. There was a snake under a large rock next to my head. Terrified, I slowly started to move away on my stomach, and the equally scared snake disappeared between the rocks. Another time I almost peed on a rattlesnake well hidden in the sand. Since then, I have not gone out to the bush or the desert in the dark to urinate.

It was an incredible feeling just to stand in front of the paintings. Then I lay down to take photos and heard a snake breathing in my ear. My assistant told me he was thinking how he would cut off my arm, leg, or wherever to stop the poison if it attacked. I believe he would have done it. I didn’t tell my mother.

I first learned to construct nomadic huts with my grandmother in the summer holidays – spent, whether I liked or not, living in Dayniile, near Mogadishu.