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www.explore.com The Sahara is the most striking and also most forbidding feature of the country. Relatively uninhabited, the area is drawing increasing numbers of winter tourists.
Accommodation, though generally good value, is often scarce in oasis regions, and during the season it is advisable to book in advance. Air Algérie operates frequent flights from Algiers to Ghardaia, Djanet and Tamanrasset, as well as to several smaller towns, oases and oil settlements, but services can be delayed in high summer owing to adverse weather conditions.
Roads are much improved, although summer sand storms and winter rains can make all but the major routes hazardous.
The best way to enter the south is to cross the El Kautara Gorges to the south of Constantine. The sudden glimpse of the Sahara through the El Kautara Gorges is breathtaking. These gorges are said to separate the winter areas from the land of everlasting summer and are called Fouur Es Sahra (’the Sahara’s mouth’) by the inhabitants. Further down, most Algerian oases generally defy the European cliché of a small patch of palms forever threatened by encroaching dunes: they are often fairly large towns with highly organized, walled-in gardens with date palms, and mosques, shops and monuments.
Favorite starting places for exploring the Sahara are Laghouat, a town with a geometric plan, or the M’Zab Valley, which has seven typical holy towns and is inhabited by a Muslim fundamentalist sect called the Mozabites. Mozabite towns are distinguished by a characteristic minaret with four spires.
The most famous among them is Ghardaia, coiled within a group of bare, ochre rocks. The streets, made of clay or paving stones, curl up through the blue and beige buildings towards the white obelisk of the minaret. Not far from Ghardaia, situated on a hill, is the holy town of Beni-Isguen, the four gates of which are constantly guarded. The special feature of this town is its permanent auction market. In the east of the M’Zab region is Ouargla, referred to as ’the golden key to the desert’.
This town is well worth visiting for its malekite (an Islamic sect) minaret overlooking an expansive landscape. At the foot of the minaret lies the market square, the porticos of the souks and the terraced house roofs of the inhabitants. Further on is an oasis surrounded by palm trees and beyond that lie the beaches of the Sebkha.
Deeper into the south lies the town of El Goléa, referred to as ‘the pearl of the desert’ or ‘the enchanted oasis’ because of its luxuriant vegetation and abundant water. The town is dominated by an old ksar (fort) whose ruins are well preserved. Further south are the Hoggar Mountains, an impressive, jagged range reaching as far as Libya and surrounded by desert on all sides.
It consists of a plateau made of volcanic rock. Eroded cliffs and granite needles form fascinating shapes in pink, blue or black basalt. At the top of the Assekreu nestles the famous refuge of Charles de Foucault at 2800m (9259ft). Mount Tahat, which belongs to the Atakor Massif, can be seen in the distance, reaching 3000m (9921ft) at its highest point.
The picturesque capital, Tamanrasset, situated at the heart of the Hoggar Mountains, is full of life and character and is an important stopping place for commercial traffic traveling to and from West Africa. Being a large town with many hotels and restaurants, tourists often stay in ‘Tam’ (as it is sometimes called) and use it as a base for touring the Hoggar Mountains (the Assekreu and Charles de Foucault’s hermitage) or hiking in the open desert to the south and west in the company of camel drivers who carry their luggage.
It is also a popular winter holiday resort and a center for oil exploration and exploitation. It is visited regularly by the camel caravans of les hommes bleus, blue-robed Touaregs, who are the ancient nomadic inhabitants of this wide region. They make their way around the inscrutable desert through an ancient knowledge of landmarks passed on from father to son.
These nomads have a fair complexion, a blue veil over the lower half of their faces and are often very tall.
The tiny oasis of Djanet, another watering hole for commercial traffic and trans-Saharan expeditions, can be found in the Tassili N’Ajjer, or ’Plateau of Chasms’. This is a vast volcanic plateau crossed by massive gorges gouged out by rivers which have long since dried out or gone underground.
The Tassili conceals a whole group of entirely unique rupestrian paintings (rock paintings), which go back at least as far as the neolithic age. The paintings, depicting daily life, hunting scenes and herds of animals, have a striking beauty and reveal ways of life several thousand years old.
They spread out over a 130,000 sq km surface (50,000 sq miles) and form an extraordinary open-air museum which has been miraculously conserved, owing to the pure quality of the air. Tours of the Tassili Plateau and the rupestrian paintings, as well as long-distance car treks in the Ténéré are available, lasting from one day to two weeks.
These visits are organized by private agencies run by the Tuareg and most of them offer a high-quality service. Tourists are collected at the airport (either Djanet or Tamanrasset) and the agency provides them with transportation (usually in 4-wheel-drive vehicles), mattresses and food, although travelers must bring their own sleeping bags.
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