We sailed north along the coast of Baja, Mexico from the city of La Paz. The Sea of Cortez has marvelously clear water and is dotted with dozens of hauntingly beautiful islands.
â Sahel. What does Sahel mean? Sahel [sa-hel] as a boys' name is a Hindi name, and Sahel means leader. Sahel is a variant form of Sahil (Hindi).
The Sahel region along the southern border of the Sahara desert was once the home of vast trading empires. Although drought and famine were unavoidable components of life in this harsh region, the people were relatively prosperous and developed agricultural and livestock practices that allowed local populations to endure and recover from the extremes of nature (Office of Technology Assessment 1986).