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JLBG Says: We have seen that the Touaregs wore their best traditional clothes from head to feet.. Oops not exactly, as they most of the time wear walking shoes (see other tip) and sometimes wear sun glasses that are of great use in the desert. Besides that, everything in the clothing...
Close up on a high ranked Kel Ajjer
JLBG Says: Enlarge the picture to fully admire the clothes of this high ranked Kel Ajjer. He does not seem to be one of the dancers, as he has not the Takounbout (helmet). However, he is fully closed in the traditional way of the Touaregs, with a gandoura and a tagelmoust colored with...
JLBG Says: He should wear the traditional sandals called Tanba. It seems this is not an important part of the outfit as actually, this one, as well as the others, wears light walking shoes called in France "Pataugas", with a rubber sole and the top made of strong cloth. He holds his...
Close up on a male dancer and a female musician
JLBG Says: This picture shows a close up of a female musician. She has much less jewels than the previous and seems younger. The male dancer has an outfit that is worn only for celebrations. It has several stripes of dark blue, red and black that makes a cross on the chest. He wears a...
JLBG Says: All the musicians and singers are women. None of them is veiled. That is something specific of the Touareg culture that women do not hide their face. Traditionally, the musician and singers belong to the same family and live in the hamlet of Azeluaz.
JLBG Says: This picture is a close up of one of those Touareg woman musicians resting. The small drum is called "tindé". It is made of wood and a goat's skin. The woman holds several silver bracelets on her arms, heavy ear rings with several silver triangles and a huge golden pectoral...
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In 1974, the airport was a mere natural sand tarmac fenced with barbed wires and two "zeribas" (on the right), light shelter made of plait reed. There are now a few concrete buildings that are certainly much hotter than the cool old reed zeribas but this is progress, isn’t it !
As far as I know, even in 2005, only flights from Algiers (with possible stop over in Ghardaïa) connect with Djanet. However, I have to check this information.
Written Jun 29, 2005
Helpfulness
It is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to collect any stones and/or prehistoric artifacts. Luggages are thoroughly checked at Djanet airport. If you had any of these, you would have a very heavy fine and would be jailed.
In 2003, a group of German tourists were lost in the desert. When the army found them, they were found to have prehistoric artifacts in their luggage and were jailed.
Five German tourists that had collected stones and prehistoric artifacts have been arrested on November 20th 2004 in the Erg Admer, 90 km from Djanet. At the end of the trial, on November 29th, they were sentenced 3 month jail and a total of 35.2 million dinars fine (about 350,000 euros) and the seizure of their two vehicles.
Because of extensive theft of archeological artifacts, the trail from Djanet to Tamanrasset has been closed in April 2005.
Even if locals want to sell you some artifact, do not buy, you will get into big trouble !
Written Jun 29, 2005
Read more Roger-Frison-Roche books !
JLBG Says: Following from first tip. 1950 Le Grand Désert. Photos Georges Tairraz. Arthaud Grenoble. 1952 Bivouacs sous la lune : La Montagne aux Ecritures tome 2. Arthaud Grenoble. 1954 Le Rendez-vous d'Essendilène. Arthaud Grenoble (in Italian as "Apputamento a Essendilène" and in...
Read Roger Frison-Roche books !
JLBG Says: Roger Frison-Roche, born in Paris in 1906, died in 2000. He was a mountain guide and a famous writer. He split his life between Chamonix and the Sahara and wrote about 30 novels, half on Chamonix and half on the Sahara. Many were big successes and several have been made as...
Helpfulness
When you taste pickled capper, you would never believe that if the flower bud had been left to flourish instead of being dropped into vinegar, it would have given this superb flower.
Capper, Capparis spinosa is a spiny wine that grows in rocks cracks, in old walls in the whole Northern Africa. The flower, shown here, has a strong and amazing scent of vanilla and chocolate that can be felt several meters ahead.
Written Jun 29, 2005
JLBG Says: A guelta is a crack between two rocks with a waterproof bottom where water gathers each time there is a rain and stay for years, evaporating slowly. This is the water we are drinking when trekking in the Tassili N'ajjer (see my page, to come)
JLBG Says: A guelta is a crack between two rocks with a waterproof bottom where water gathers each time there is a rain and stay for years, evaporating slowly. This is the water we are drinking when trekking in the Tassili N'ajjer (see my page, to come)
JLBG Says: This picture shows clearly a Tassili very deeply carved by an oued. If you enlarge the picture, you will see that the surface of the plateau (Tassili) is also carved. This explains that Tassili N'Ajjer can be visited only by foot and on camel back.
JLBG Says: This picture shows in the foreground a very eroded Hamada. There remain only low stripes of carved rocks. In the background, a reg. A reg is a huge area covered with gravels. It accounts for about half the surface of the Sahara. When the stones are larger (several cm to a...
JLBG Says: This picture shows in the foreground a hamada that has been so deeply carved that there remain only a few spare rocks in the bed of a very wide oued.In the background, a high level hamada that forms a plateau, called a Tassili. Tassili n'Ajjer (Tassili of the Ajjer Touaregs)...
JLBG Says: This picture shows a Hamada that has been deeply carved by water erosion. In the middle of the picture, an oued. An oued is the bed of a river, most of the time dry, and that has been filled by sand. On the left, another oued. When it rains, flash floods can occur very fast...
JLBG Says: A Hamada is a huge rocky area, almost flat. It can be made either of limestone or of sandstone. This picture shows a hamada that has been very little carved by water erosion. Hamada account for about 20% of the total area of the Sahara.
JLBG Says: An Erg is a huge sandy area where dunes, built by the wind can reach a height of 400 m. Dunes are always moving : sand grains are pushed by the wind and roll one over the other. Some move slowly, other faster. On this picture star shaped dunes are shown. They grow where...
JLBG Says: The largest dry desert in the world in the Sahara desert (about 12 millions square kilometers). Flying over the Sahara towards Djanet allows viewing the various figures of the Sahara. The Erg is the most characteristic geological figure of the desert. It is how people think...
Djanet, entrance into Tassili N'Ajjer NationalPark
Djanet is a large oasis in the southeastern part of Algeria, 2,300 km from Algiers. It has now 15,000 inhabitants living in several hamlets such as El Mihan, Azeluaz or Zelouze. It is the entrance...
A city in the middle of the Sahara
It's very curios to find a city with an airport in the middle of the Sahara Desert, at the south of the Algerian country. Local people there looks at you as if they had never seen a tourist (and of...
Build your own Djanet page
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