Camels – Ships of the Desert: Around 750 CE, everything changed in northern Africa when Islamic traders began to use camels to transports goods across the Sahara Desert.  The use of camels made it possible to get from Kush to West Africa overland, to literally get from here to there. 

Camels were the perfect answer. Camels can carry heavy loads. They can keep their footing in sliding sand. They can go a long time without water. If treated well, camels are patient. On flat ground, they can run very fast. They run so fast that if you stopped at an oasis, you might find a camel race in progress. Every trader knew his camels were the best! 

Camels soon were nicknamed the “Ships of the Desert”. 

Caravans: The day the first caravan of camels headed west into the Sahara Desert was the day that marked the opening of the Trans-Sahara Trade Route. Caravans of camels were loaded with trade goods. They carried many wonderful products including spices from India and iron tools and weapons from Kush. 

Towns: In no time, anywhere there was an oasis in the desert along any of the Trans-Sahara Trade Routes, cities and towns sprang up. New occupations were born in West Africa, including camel dealers and caravan traders. 

Alternate Route Around Africa Discovered: In the late 1400's, Muslim traders dominated the Trans-Sahara Trade Routes. But Portugal dominated the seas.  

Prince Henry of Portugal was fascinated by Africa, the huge continent to the immediate south of Portugal. It was such a vast place. He had been there during the wars with Morocco in 1415.  He had a hunch that maybe, just maybe, his wonderful sailors could find a way around Africa by sea. It had never been done. It might not even be possible. There might not be a river through or a sea around Africa. The way Prince Henry looked at, though, was – what good was it to be a prince if you could not follow your hunches? 

Around 1434, under the able guidance of Prince Henry the Navigator, several well organized explorations left Portugal, and sailed down the west coast of Africa in search of a short cut to India, where they knew they would find gold, gems, spices, and silk. 

It was a good hunch. Prince Henry was right. There was a way round Africa. Around 1488, Captain Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama, probably the most famous of the many famous Portuguese explorers, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and continued on to India.

When Portugal showed the world that it was easier to sail around the coast of Africa than travel though the desert, the cities and towns that had sprung up along the Trans-Sahara Trade Route began to decline in influence. Trade did not stop, but it did slow down considerably.  It was far less dangerous and far less costly to travel by ship than by camel.