The story that we explain below is the trip that a group of desert lovers from Madrid, Andalusia, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia, made last October 2006, on an unprecedented and exceptional journey in one of the most immense and desolate virgin paradises in the world, the Algerian Sahara.
The basic objective of the 2006 Trans-Saharan expedition of Territori 4×4 was to make easy and above all absolutely safe, an apparently complicated and hard route, getting to know mythical places such as Tamanrasset, the Great Western Erg, the Tanezrouft or the Tassili del Hoggar. This is the chronicle of the trip.
DEPARTURE FROM ALICANTE
The trip begins in the Port of Alicante, where all the participants, with their vehicles, including Jesus’ motorcycle, meet and begin to get to know each other in what will be an exciting 16-day adventure. Before leaving, a good dinner that is known to be the last until we don’t know when.
It is Ramadan and the boat leaves late, finally around 12 o’clock at night it lets go of the moorings and begins its journey to the port of the city of Oran. Founded in the 10th century by merchants from Alandalus, it was occupied by the Spanish in 1509. From 1708 to 1732 and from 1791 to 1831, it was under Ottoman rule before the French occupation on which it depended until Algeria’s independence.
At 10 in the morning after a few hours waiting to disembark, the engines of our vehicles start to step on Algerian soil, we pass the initially tough customs controls and we meet again with our team of guides, a total of 5 people, including the mechanic. The first thing we do is fill our tanks with fuel, taking advantage of the low price that Algerians enjoy in this raw material. Through wide avenues full of fairly orderly traffic, we leave the port city of Oran.
FROM ORAN TO THE GREAT WESTERN ERG
In the Orania region, the roads are very busy not only by motorized vehicles but also by people and animals that walk on the asphalt shoulders, which makes the risk greater and the caution in our driving is maximum. After a few kilometers, we decided to stop for a while and eat since the hunger had been exacerbated by the nerves of these first hours on Algerian soil, out of respect for Ramadan we moved away from the road we were driving on and, away from the gaze of anyone, we ate.
On the first day we do more than 400 kms. Before setting up camp, we fill all the “jerricanes” and tanks with fuel, there will be no more gas stations in 600 kms. We camped at night on some small dunes near the small town of Asla, located in the mountainous region of the Atlas.
We start our route through a beautiful mountainous region, called “Monts des Ksour”, in the western part of the Sahara, near the border with Morocco, the name of this area has its origin in the presence of a forty Ksour or fortresses.
We bought bread, water and some fruit in Chellala Dahrania, a small town, with a ksar of 1180, which on March 14, 1964 suffered a terrible earthquake that destroyed it and produced its current state of abandonment. Chellala Dahrania is located in a strategic position as it allows transverse passage from the high plains of the Atlas to the foot of the Sahara desert. This privileged location makes this the pass chosen by our expedition to descend SW towards the Great Western Erg, the next challenge that we must overcome.
We leave the asphalt and finally take land, after 250 kms of hamadas and quite off the road we see the first dunes, dunes that as always happens, seem (and are) immense both in size and beauty, we all wonder what will be the pass to access the Great Western Erg, we change course and drive parallel to the mountain range, Looking out of the corner of our eye at the spectacular sandy landscape that we have on our left and that we will have to cross somewhere, after a few kilometers searching, we face the pass, but the sand, although very desired by all, was not contemplated to be so demanding with us, first meetings and the demonstration at that time, which happened throughout the trip, that we were a team, a very good team of colleagues where we all collaborated to solve any issue.
Experience and fatigue told us that the best thing would be to camp in those dunes, with David’s Iberian Ham, Angel and Maria Jesus’ “Idiazabal”, Antonio’s “Rioja” and Mustafá’s tasty mint tea, we had a wonderful dinner and forgot all the sorrows of the hard work done a few hours before.
After breakfast and with renewed strength, the dunes that the previous afternoon played some tricks on us, were in the morning, docile and good to us, we all crossed them without problems. This first cord of dunes was followed by a hamada (immense plain of sand and small stones) about 150 kms long and a shrinking width due to the two mountain ranges of dunes that we had on both sides of the march, we arrived at a small monument erected by the French. From that point we come back into contact with the dunes that we will not leave for about 170 kms. Only a few water wells, hidden in the middle of them, will be our only points of scenic variety during the three days it takes us to make the complete crossing of the Great Western Erg.
Crossing this immense sea of Algerian sand and dunes is an extraordinary and very fun experience, since the dunes are not very high and allow passages without risks or excessive difficulties, which does not mean that during the entire course the driver’s concentration is absolute, since the slightest distraction causes the car to be paralyzed and must be dug out of the sand.
After five days we arrive at a natural palm grove that warns us of the proximity of civilization, we head by road to Timimoun, an original town with Sudanese-style architecture and with most of its houses made with red clay, typical of the place. Located next to a large artificial palm grove with more than half a million date palms, a must-see, next to a white chott and the upcoming golden dunes of the Great Erg, Timimoun delights the traveler who visits it not only for its biodiversity of colors, but also for its cultural traditions and especially for its simple and friendly people.
On the main avenue we arrive at the market, to stock up on products that have been consumed during the trip, with curiosity we observe that it is only frequented by men, both those who sell and those who buy, the authenticity and hospitality of its people make us feel at home.
FROM TIMIMOUN TO TANEZROUFT
Timimoun and its surroundings undoubtedly deserve a longer visit, but our journey must continue and after touring the refreshing palm grove, enveloped by the green color of the palm trees, the red of the walls and the typical “foggaras”, an irrigation system unique to this region that uses, thanks to an ancestral technique, tiny canals the scarce water to irrigate, we take the road towards Adrar, where we must spend the night.
After about 50 kms we leave the asphalt to cross the Plateau du Tademait, an immense plain of hard sand that allows us to take speeds of more than 100 kms per hour.
In the afternoon we arrive in Adrar where we can, in addition to showering, repair the small incidents that we have had so far in the vehicles and where the main cook of our team of guides makes us an exceptional dinner that we will remember for many days.
Without complexes or fears, we go alone to refuel at one of the city’s gas stations, we take the opportunity to buy water which is undoubtedly the most precious and consumed material by all of us. Following the GPS “track” we return to Mohamed’s Hostel and we get ready to taste an opulent dinner that delights all the participants, when fatigue begins to take its toll we go to the rooms to sleep, except for the “Inmas” and some daring gentlemen who prefer to do it on the terrace under an immense sea of stars, taking advantage of the absence of the Moon, advantages of being in Ramadan.
The next morning, we took advantage of the fact that the HDJ 80 has run out of battery and with only one strap, to visit Adrar, capital of one of the largest (443,782 km2) and desert provinces (or wilayas) of Algeria, bordering Mauritania and Mali.
Adrar (Berber word meaning mountain) is an eminently agricultural and commercial city, capital of the Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt since the beginning of the eighteenth century. This vast region experienced a spectacular boom from that moment on thanks to the trade that was generated between the Greater Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. As good tourists, we visited the huge Plaza Mayor or Plaza de los Mártires where a plane could well land, there protected by four red clay gates are the main buildings of the city.
After repairing the Toyota, we replaced the Plateau initially planned for asphalt for 150 kms, in order to recover time, we passed Regganne (near which the French exploded their first atomic bomb on February 13, 1960) and left the road that connects this town with Aoulef to enter the most mythical of the Algerian deserts. the Tanezrouft.
Tanezrouft, is a Berber word that means the place that no one lives, and it is really a perfect description of what we are going to live for almost 1400 kms. Solitude, in the most incredible immensity one can imagine. This region that separates the Saharan oases from the plains of Mali, is devoid of natural water points, the caravans avoided it as much as possible, in 1809 a caravan of 1800 camels and 1500 men disappeared, finding their mummified remains almost a century later, giving birth to a myth that in 1913 the French captain Cortier managed to defeat as the first European on the back of a camel. In 1923 Lieutenant Estienne and his brother managed to drive a Renault through it. In 1926, when the French made the Trans-Saharan track, they placed a water supply post, called Drum V, 564 kms from Reggane, since it was the fifth place of camping and relaxation that the Estienne brothers took in their desert trans-Saharan adventure three years earlier.
The impressive and gigantic blanket of sand is transformed at will into a yellowish carpet dotted with mounds of black stone, demonstrating that beauty is not at odds with immensity. During the journey the clutch of the GR is consumed and we must tow the vehicle to Reggane, the group splits, some continue forward with the car of the guides and another group of three cars returns to the asphalt towing the damaged car.
Much to our regret, Julio and Vicente say goodbye to us and decide to accompany their Nissan to repair it in Adrar, which they achieved in less than two days. The two cars that accompanied them to the asphalt restart the road in search of their companions who have been advancing for hours.
Image courtesy of Antonio Alcalá (MArbella)
The group ahead, always on the outside slopes, is lucky to discover a real lake of rainwater hidden behind some dunes, the swim and the fun that this causes you cannot even imagine, since the heat was quite suffocating. The ruts left by the “bathers” confuse the two cars on their return that at night and following the ruts try to catch up with them, the HDJ 80 crowns the dune and finds the surprise of the “great lake of water”, with some difficulties and thanks to the help of a Warn it is rescued from the involuntary bath. After several hours doing an adrenaline night trip, the two groups meet again and have a more than well-deserved dinner, based on David’s famous ham and Antonio’s Rioja wine. We are about 8 kms as the crow flies from the mythical point of the Can V.
FROM TANEZROUFT TO TAMANRASSET
We have been 650 kms from Tanezrouft and we must go west towards Tamanrasset, we face a pass of small dunes and sand, after a hundred kms we take several oueds that are approaching our destination, all the “tracks” of this region are extremely dangerous due to the absence of water and can only be accessed with expert Tuareg guides who know the exact steps that allow us not to waste time or waste fuel and water unnecessarily.
After 300 kms of relentless march, the first mountains of black stone, of volcanic origin, eroded by time, cold and heat, appear before us, delighting the photographers of the expedition, we find a true and spectacular paradise of contrasts and colors.
Finally, after more than 1300 kms of Trans-Saharan we arrive at the small and very dispersed town of Abalessa, we go directly to the gas station, since as it is easy to guess, our tanks are “quite” depleted of fuel. As usually happens in these cases, they do not have diesel, although the owner of the site himself tells us that he knows a place that at three times the price they can sell us, we accept and buy 3 jerricans that will be enough to get to Tamanraset and be able to refuel at one of his two gas stations.
After four vibrant, impressive and wonderful days we arrived at the asphalt, with its traffic signs and a few vehicles traveling on it. The airport of Tamanrasset with a post where it reminds us how far we are from any other town, tells us that the mythical city, capital of the Tuaregs is very close, in my car comes one of the guides, Mubarack, during the trip he has been telling me amazing stories of his adventures through the Sahara, he is a perfect connoisseur of all that great desert and for him there are no borders, nor countries, only the desert. Immersed in the conversation, we arrive at Tamanrasset and as always, we are going to feed our dry fuel tanks, the only one who has left over is Jesús with his motorcycle, the rest of us fill all the containers we have to avoid problems in the next stages.
TAMANRASSET: MYTHICAL CITY
Tamanrasset, Tamenghest in Berber, although most call it Tam, is the capital of the wilaya of the same name, that province has an area of more than 619,000 km2 and only 193,000 inhabitants, of which 76,000 live in the capital itself. It is an agglomeration of nomads, Tuaregs, soldiers, refugees,… the town, the most beautiful gateway to the desert, developed from the location in 1927 of Fort Laperrine of the French Foreign Legion, with houses made of stone, wide and lively streets with many people, shows that Tamanrasset is alive and likes to live, located at 1773 m above sea level, it is on its own merits the capital of the Ahaggar or Hoggar, where pre-human remains up to 1,000,000 years old have been found. In the prehistoric period it was a vastly populated region, with abundant rivers, of which we can now only see the desert channels. It has always been a crossroads and nomads, people who came from Mali and sub-Saharan Africa to the North, here arrived in 1904 Father Charles de Foucauld, a French ex-soldier born on September 15, 1858, ordained a priest in 1901 and who from 1904 began to know, love and live with the Tuaregs, settling in 1905 in Tamanrasset. He always lived in the service of the most disadvantaged as a friend, hermit and missionary. He learned the language of the Tuaregs to translate the Gospels and publish a French-Tuareg dictionary.
During a skirmish between desert nomads in uprising against the French, on December 1, 1916, he was killed by one of the Senusite Tuareg vigilantes, who kept him imprisoned. On November 13, 2005, the beatification of Charles de Foucauld took place in the Vatican in the presence of thousands of pilgrims and many Tuaregs. Currently there is a museum in the city and the hermitage of the Assekrem where he prayed and loved his Tuareg friends.
Image courtesy of Antonio Alcalá (MArbella)
But… Let’s go back to the trip, after refueling, we shower and eat at the Hostel and in the afternoon we go shopping in the city, the key to the Tassili or the Southern Cross, are the only typical tourist items of the region that we can find. After drinking some mint teas, in one of the cafes on a busy and very frequented avenue, we went to our hostelry to have an excellent Mechui (Lamb cooked slowly under the coals, stuffed with vegetables and potatoes) that Mustafa and his cooks have prepared for us.
ASSEKREM: TUAREGS AND HERMITS
The next day, not very early, we started the ascent to Assekrem, with its 2705 m above sea level, located in the center of the Hoggar massif, where it shares with Tahat (2918 m) Tezoulagh (2,800 m), Ilamane (2725 m), the highest mountain record in Algeria. The route, of 80 kms, begins on a terribly undulating track that becomes more complicated as it approaches the Assekrem, 34 km from Tamanrasset, we arrive at a telecommunications antenna with impressive views of the Hoggar massif. 30 kms later, a detour points to the Oued Afilal, where there is an incredible “guelta” or small freshwater lake, where we eat and buy “souvenirs” that an old and endearing Tuareg sells at cheaper prices than in the city. After regaining strength, we resume the trip and, the track becomes more and more difficult and stony, 10 kms later, Jesús’ motorcycle runs into a stone, falling rider and BMW to the ground. We are all running and the fort of Jesus only suffers bruises accompanied by some bruises, the bike is repaired by removing plastics and seasoning the handlebars and the brake foot.
We continue climbing with more and more difficulties, since the “track” is one of those that bring them to you, with a reducer in some sections, only the landscape and the spectacular mountains dismembered into slices of stone make us have the desire and strength to continue ascending, we imagine Father Foucauld the first time he climbed here… Finally we arrive at the simple refuge, where we will have dinner and spend the night.
The hermitage where the French father lived is 200 m higher and is only accessible on foot, Jesús after his accident and Inma with pain in the ventral area, stay in the refuge. After 15 minutes of ascent, we arrive at the hermitage and house where some priests of the Order of Foucauld live, we are welcomed by Father Ventura, a Catalan who has lived in that wonderful and solitary place for three years, offers us tea and pastries and explains to us with candor and enthusiasm the history of the founder of the Order. He also tells us, and we tell you, a beautiful conversation with Tuaregs, shortly after arriving here.
The hospitality of the Tuaregs with visitors is well known, when Father Ventura arrived at the hermitage of Assekrem, a group of Tuaregs who took about 3 hours to arrive and as many to return to their tents, welcomed him, Father dazed by such an effort asked them if it was worth such a walk for that meeting, the Tuareg replied: “Friend, father, we have water to drink, milk (cheese) to eat and the best, our friendship, what sacrifice you are talking about, we have everything here.” Father Ventura, in that magical environment of indescribable beauty that he was, heard and was moved, as we were when he explained it to us.
After the visit to the Hermitage and the Plateau del Assekrem, we descended to the refuge, where our companion Inma had worsened, in severe pain and bending at the waist, the other line, the doctor of the expedition, injected her with painkillers, which seemed not to diminish one iota the great uneasiness of the patient. There is talk of a possible colic, which at 10 p.m. in the place where we are, only allows us a solution, to sedate her to alleviate the pain as much as possible and leave as early as possible the next day to the Tamanrasset Hospital.
With great care, avoiding aggravating the patient’s situation as much as possible, we descend the ascended, arriving 4 hours later at the Hospital Center, we are immediately attended to and the emergency doctor who visits her, after an X-ray and a simple analysis, issues a diagnosis and treatment, which turns out to be effective and a few hours later, Inma leaves the Hospital on her own foot and without pain, according to the doctor she had drunk a lot of tea with mint and that produced gas that was the cause of the pain, true or not, the really important thing is that Inma was fully recovered and ready to continue the adventure.
HOGGAR’S TASSILI: BEAUTY AT THE LIMIT
The Tassili is a mountainous area of the Central Sahara formed by plateaus of granitic and basaltic rock, of volcanic origin, on sandy soil as a result of the decomposition and erosion of the mountains and plateaus found here.
After Inma’s healing, morale rises again, we eat an exquisite “cous-cus” from Mohamed’s hand and we decide to go to the next point of our tour, the Tsassili del Hoggar National Park, Jesus with some discomfort decides to continue this part of the trip with the comfort of a Land Cruiser, leaving the motorcycle safely at Mohamed’s house. We leave at 2 in the afternoon and after doing about 150 kms through oueds and fast hamadas, we camp at the Tassili Gates, in an area of small pink dunes, on a wide plateau, dotted with scattered mounds of black stone where numerous acacias testify to the splendid past, rich in fauna and human beings who inhabited this region 10,000 years ago.
In the morning and after breakfast, we cross the entrance gate of one of the most beautiful places on the planet, two black mountains about 300 m high are the natural border that separates a beautiful landscape from another extraordinarily incredible and unique, we are entering the Tassili of the Hoggar.
Image courtesy of Antonio Alcalá (MArbella)
A narrow strip of sand that reaches the foot of the mountains is the path along which we leave the ruts of our vehicles, absorbed by the shapes and especially by the contrast of colors, gold of the sand, black of the mountains and blue of the sky clear of clouds. After 50 kms of walking, we discover an arch in the shape of an elephant, we get out of the car and climb the slope of a dune and we are ecstatic before a surreal world of stones and extraordinary shapes, the head of an eagle, a perfect elephant, arches and in the background a miniature mountain range reminiscent of the mountain of Montserrat, we spend a long time taking photos and above all enjoying the exceptional beauty of the site, only surpassed when we are able to get there with our cars, tour those extraordinary rock formations avoiding the soft sand and driving our SUVs is an unbeatable experience, to the extent that good old David, in a trance, decides to approach what seems to us to be Montserrat, the rest of us continue to enjoy the moment without haste, slowly, as if we wanted to stop time and engrave those moments in our memory forever, but… suddenly on the radio a call from David who seems to be in trouble, we instantly break sleep and go to his aid, when we reach him, his Runner is in a very difficult position, trapped between two large dunes without the possibility of getting out by his own means and with a large stone mushroom that threatens to “scratch” his body if he moves, after a deep analysis, the strategists Ángel and Antonio, with the Land Cruiser’s Warn placed in the best possible position, plan a rescue plan, which fortunately has a 100% success rate and David’s 4×4 comes out unscathed from his particular adventure.
Not far from there we discover an area that the locals call, Youf Ahakit, where you can see prehistoric engravings of animals that once lived in these latitudes, such as giraffes, crocodiles or elephants and that now due to desertification have disappeared.
We continue passing through unique places, with spectacular stone formations, to a gigantic cave that gives us shelter at lunchtime. Despite the heat, in the afternoon we continue to discover more interesting places with engravings of animals and landscapes that would each deserve to be photographed for their uniqueness and beauty.
We leave the Tassili for a few moments and find ourselves in front of a new experience, a fairly hard sand surface that seems to have no end either in the distance or in its breadth, it is the Ténéré del Tagrera, a plain free of obstacles that allows you to go at more than 120 km/h for about 70 kms/h. In a terrain where you can see nothing but the plain, wherever you look, this section of off-piste was really a sublime experience that charged us all with concentration and energy, freeing us from adrenaline at unsurpassed levels. We leave the Ténéré and camp in another magical place, Jon and David decide to explore the area and return amazed, once the Sun has decided to go to rest after a day where it has really made an effort to warm us all. Our guides make us a special desert bread, a kind of Algerian-style “crumbs” that pleases all the participants, who had previously had a hearty dinner, that’s gluttony and the rest of the nonsense…
We all wake up before dawn, no one wants to miss the sunrise, which of course not only does not disappoint but amazes those present, the night has been exceptionally good and the temperature is optimal, we are all ecstatic by what we see. After dismantling the camp we go to a guelta called El Ghessour, surrounded by an incredible landscape of caves and mountains, we climb a trial to an area away from the main track and arrive at what Mustafa defines as the inner Castle, a refreshing place surrounded by phallic shapes that look like towers of an imaginary castle. The place is so beautiful that we decided to stay and eat there, although it is still a couple of hours before we are hungry.
After the meal that we extend for as long as possible, we continue our visit through the National Park following the bed of some dry oueds, on the way we find a couple of nomadic camps that are resting next to a lonely water well.
Finally we arrive at In Akachaker, a fantastic place of impossible description, huge stones eroded with whimsical shapes in the middle of dunes of light sand, in a landscape that in some distant way recalls Turkish Cappadocia.
Here, we must leave the Tassili del Hoggar, a unique place in the world that has captivated us all and that we will never forget, one of those few natural and wild spaces that deserve to be visited before mass tourism distorts it, we have been fortunate to be able to see that paradise in its almost pure state, without tourists, enjoying space and time as we are almost no longer used to doing.
We return to Tamanrasset where we have dinner and sleep, after a comforting and desired shower, before, we fill all our tanks with fuel and wait for the next day, in which we will start our way back to Oran along the trans-Saharan road.
TAMANRASSET – IN SALAH – GHARDAIA – ORAN
The trip comes to an end, we have 2000 kms left to reach Oran, with the tanks full and after saying goodbye to Mohamed and all his excellent team of professionals, except Mustafa who will guide us to the Port of Oran and who have helped us so much in this Algerian journey, we head north and the asphalt, which is getting worse and worse, in one of those tremendous sinkholes, David’s car twists the steering rod, which we manage to repair after a couple of hours of well-planned work, at 170 kms we pass the first military checkpoint, which is followed by another one in Arak at 213 kms where we refuel again, we eat in the bed of a river near some large dunes.
After 197 kms we passed another military checkpoint and 100 kms later we arrived at In Salah, where we slept following instructions from the police who were in control of the town.
We pitch our tents in the small and simple campsite of the town, we are hungry and some of us, we try to eat in a local restaurant (how naïve) and the others run out of ham and the assortment of Iberian hams that were still left.
The next day is Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan, the 1st day of Shawwal. It is one of the main Islamic festivals in which to celebrate the end of the fast, large meals are prepared and people go to the mosque with the best and white dresses.
We continue along the trans-Saharan highway towards El Meniaa, just when we have just passed the first checkpoint, Jesus’ motorcycle says enough and does not want to continue walking, we have to place it in the “pick up” and after a good hold we continue our way north. We drive 400 kms and pass 3 more checkpoints, we arrive at El Meniaa, where we refuel and eat.
After 270 kms and a couple of more checkpoints, we enter the beautiful and fundamentalist city of Ghardaia, from a viewpoint we contemplate the largest and main city of the five towns that we can find in the valley of M’Zab, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. This valley takes its name from the Mozabites, a very puritanical Islamic sect that broke away from mainstream Islam in the 11th century. The prevailing conservatism has meant that traditions here are preserved much more than in the rest, giving rise to its own and very marked personality. Here, for example, women are completely covered with white fabrics, they do not even wear the burqa and the luckiest can have a hole in the veil that covers their face and see through only one eye. The five towns that make up this narrow valley are Ghardaia, Melika, Beni Isguen, Bou Noura and El Ateuf, and all together make this area one of the most interesting in the country to which it is necessary to dedicate a few days to explore it well, we are satisfied with touring the palm grove and staying in a magnificent traditional Mozabi house, with a swimming pool and a terrace of palm trees and covered by vine vines, the rooms immaculately painted white and very clean, which together with a good dinner, make us keep a good memory of Ghardaia and do not disdain the possibility of returning again.
The next day, dawns for us earlier than any other day, before 6 in the morning we are already on the way to overcome the last 700 kms that we have left to Oran, during the journey, always by road in good condition, we leave the desert behind and cross some mountains of very Mediterranean aspect, with many vineyards, passing through the cities of Laghouat and Tiaret, before reaching the Port of Oran.
With the Mediterranean Sea as a witness, we hug and say goodbye to our good guide and friend, Mustafa. Without their invaluable help we passed the customs controls, we boarded the Algerian ferry and from the depths of each one, we sensed a sincere see you soon, to some friendly, simple and hospitable people who live in an immensely large country and of singular permanent contrast, without much infrastructure for tourism but, in a few years if they set their minds to it, it will be a very coveted destination for all lovers of the desert and nature of great dimensions in size, beauty, traditions and culture.
