Although most people think of the Sahara as a vast, sandy open expanse, it offers many surprises to those intrepid enough to visit. The Sahara has its own winter season: the parched lands and cisterns of local residents are nourished when it rains, and it even occasionally snows. The event of the season for many is Tunisia's annual desert festival, which attracts leading camel racers from Algeria, Libya, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Witness people who live in fully modernized cave dwellings, in remote oases, and in tents as desert nomads.