Plants & flowers from England to India number four

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Now we are travelling westwards across north Africa. It is the summertime and the days are hot. The landscapes are pale shades of yellows and beige and ochre. Trees merge as dusty greens. There are eucalyptus beside the roads giving much needed shade to camels and man. The land is desert, hard to work, but it is done and we buy tiny grapes by the roadside.

10. Libya. Tobruk. For those of the older persuasion Tobruk is a well known name. The Allied and Axis forces surged back and forth across the land here in World War Two. Neat, tidy and moving cemeteries mark where those who didn’t make it home remain. The fig trees in this photo were planted way back then – in order to conceal the large cave below. This cave was a field hospital known as Fig Tree Hospital and manned by the Australians. It is said that survivors returned to Australia with seeds so they could grow their own life giving figs, and the trees are known to this day as the “mother of all figs.” July 2010.

11. Egypt. Cairo is a smudge in the distance. Here is planted the beginnings of a mango orchard. Mangoes are very popular fruits in Egypt and they grow many varieties. I think the locals are right, Egyptian mangoes are the sweetest. August 2010.

• 20 Aug, 2010
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