Chad - Soul of the Sahara

Itinerary

Day 1 – N’Djamena
Arrive in N’Djamena and transfer to the hotel. Overnight Le Meridien or similar.

Days 2-4 - N’Djamena – Salal - Kalait
From N’Djamena, Chad’s capital city, we follow a track running into the alluvial plains of Lake Chad as far as Massaguet, where we begin to follow the track towards Moussoro, in the Kanem region. The landscape, between the savannah and the sahel, is criss-crossed by numerous temporary water-courses and flood plains and is characterized by varied and luxuriant vegetation, represented by several kinds of acacias and by small forests of doum palms. Ethnic groups found here are the Kanembou, Peul, Kanouri, Kereda and Daza.

The track follows and then skirts the depression of the Bahr el Ghazal, the gazelles' river, an ancient river from the Paleochad period. After the small villages of Salal and Koubba Oulanga, we continue eastward; the ground and the landscape become completely sahelian, but are characterised by a very wild landscape rich in animals (gazelles, bustards, hyenas and jackals). The environment is almost devoid of settlements, except for a few huts of Arab nomads. The track, that follows the natural course of the Oued Achim, ends in Oum Chalouba village. Overnight camping. (BLD)

Days 5-7 – Archei Region
We continue northward, along the main north/south track which joins Abeché, in Ouaddai region, to Fada village, in the Ennedi. We are now in a desert region, at the southern borders of the Ennedi, inhabited by Gaeda and Tama populations and by Zagawa, a shepherd group composed of 100,000 people moving throughout this region following the grazing lands towards Sudan and the east.

Continuing northward, on the way to Fada, the imposing Ennedi massif starts to become visible. One hundred kilometres after Kalaït, by an isolated peak named Ouaguif, we leave the track and enter into the massif, following the wide Archei oued, bordered by a beautiful succession of rock formations, eroded into weird and wonderful shapes by the sand. Amongst the most beautiful are those of Terkei and Toukou, which we will see in detail.

The oued winds for about thirty kilometres, before ending ends in a wide rocky and verdant amphitheatre which marks the start of the true gorges leading to the guelta, a permanent water source where it is easy to meet the nomadic Tubu population with their herds of camels.

The Archeï gorges, situated in a landscape of unforgettable beauty, are home to many ancient rock paintings, and to the last living specimen of saharan crocodiles (crocodilus niloticus). Overnight camping. (BLD)

Days 8-9 – Fada – Mourdi - Derbili
We reach the track joining Monou to Fada, and follow it northward as far as Fada, prefecture of the Ennedi and a characteristic saharan village with houses made of banco, clustered around the old French colonial fort and the small but busy market. The main ethnic groups of this region are the Gaeda, Bideyat and Zagawa.

Once we’ve completed the bureaucratic formalities, which can sometimes take a long time, we start the crossing of the massif, and we will drive along a slow sandy and stony track that will lead us to the Mourdi, a wide region of dunes and isolated groups of mountains. We continue in a north/north-east direction, overcoming some difficult dunes, following the ancient caravan route that connected the salt-pits of the Ounianga region (Demi, Teguedei and Ounianga) to the southern Chadian villages and the northern Libyan oases. Overnight camping. (BLD)

Days 10-11- Demi – Teguedei – Ounianga Lakes
We continue northward until we reach the Eyo Demi, a reddish sandy formation; at its foot rises a village, comprised of a few palms and houses made of sand. This settlement, situated amidst a wild and inhospitable landscape, lives off the trade in “red salt”, obtained by very rudimentary methods and then taken to the southern oases by the caravans, and, then exchanged for millet and sorghum. All along this track it is easy to meet one of these caravans.

From Demi we turn to the west, to the Ounianga Serir, passing through Teguedei, a palm-grove inhabited seasonally for the date harvest, as the small silos made of sand and stones, show. In Teguedei we see the first lake of the Ounianga region, situated in a sandy basin surrounded by palms and multicoloured sandstone formations.

Skirting the Nabar falaise we reach the first lakes of the Ounianga Serir oasis. The landscape is incredible: lakes surrounded by palm-groves that spring up from the sand, rocky formations of multicoloured sandstone from white to red and golden dunes that descend to the water. This is some of the most spectacular scenery in the whole Sahara desert. The water is fresh and comes out from the sand but, because of the salty soil, the lakes are very salty and different colours, from blue to green, respectively more and less salty. We make excursions on foot along the sandy banks and the palm-groves with the opportunity of a bath in the lakes. Overnight camping. (BLD)

Day 12 - Kora
After leaving Ounianga Kebir we lead southward passing through an area of dunes where the going can sometimes be difficult. We travel through regions which saw fighting during the conflict with Chad, and it is possible to see old abandoned tanks and other military hardware scattered around the desert. We hope to camp tonight on the edge of the Ennedi, our final night in this majestic region. Overnight camping. (BLD)

Days 13-16 – Kalait – Arada – Abeche – N’Djamena
Leaving the Ennedi behind, we head first to Kalait where we spend time stocking up on a few essentials for the return journey. From Kalait we follow a different route, leaving the homelands of the Tubu and entering in a more populated area, encountering Arab nomads and settled villagers. On Day 13 we should reach Abeche, Chad’s fourth largest city and the only place of any real size that we encounter since leaving N’Djamena. We have now left the Sahara behind and are in a Sahelian landscape, with acacia trees and large herds of cattle. Heading through Oum Hadjer, Mongo and Bokoro, we drive back to N’Djamena. Day-use rooms available for a shower. In the evening transfer to the airport. Overnight camping. (Days 13-15 – BLD, Day 16 – BL)

Please note that this is the 2013 itinerary - for those booked on the 2012 trip please refer to the original itinerary that you have been sent.