Tassili n'Ajjer National Park Travel Guide

 JLBG Says:  Though tea has only been introduced among the Tuaregs at the beginning of the 20th century, it is now a main part of the Tuareg's tradition and a well known ceremony. Ali, our cook, heat his kettles. The ones for tea are the green ones (always made in China). The kettle is... 

 JLBG Says:  There are plenty of plants in the Sahara. They are often thorny and always adapted to drought but can have delicate flowers. Because of overgrazing, they are not always easy to identify.This is the case with Antinea's lavander (Lavandula Antinea), named after the legendary... 

 JLBG Says:  As much as we are walking, as much the landscape changes. Here, we are walking on a narrow lane winding among scattered stones that obviously have been detached by erosion from the rocky mountains that stand on our left.However, the landscape is not completely mineral. In... 

 JLBG Says:  Croix d'Agadès (Agadez cross) is standing in front of the Tuareg's camel saddle but it is also a jewel, most often as a silver pendant. It actually has nothing to do with a cross but has been named that way by Europeans. It can have different shapes but the overall design is... 

 JLBG Says:  Pierre, our French guide had his own camel, a beautiful, tall animal and of course his own saddle. For a Tuareg, the saddle is very important. The most beautiful saddles are made by Tuaregs from Niger. They can be very expensive, depending of their décor. Typical prices can... 

 JLBG Says:  At night, camels are let free but fettered. Like that, they can graze around but will not go too far. Actually, not too far can mean several kilometers and very early in the morning (still at night), each cameleer had collected his animals. They were now staying quiet,... 

 JLBG Says:  The first photo shows our first bivouac, at Oued Tadjouit Ouit, in the plain, at elevation 1,200m, before climbing on the plateau. It was taken after sun dawn. You can see that only the mountains are still lit. Each of us chose where he wanted to drop his 2.5 cm thick... 

 JLBG Says:  In the desert, there are always oleanders growing around every "guelta" (water holes) or along every "oued" (dry river bed). It is highly toxic and local camels do not feed on it. Camels coming from the south do not know that as there are no oleanders growing south to the... 

 JLBG Says:  At the first bivouac, we had our first desert dinner. First of all, a "gongon" passes from one hand (and mouth!) to another. You can see two of them, one on the right, the other on the left of the first photo. It is a green 1 liter pot made of enameled iron, Chinese made.... 

 JLBG Says:  In 1974, Djanet airport was a single sand runway enclosed by wires to prevent any cattle to walk into. There was no building but only three zeribas made of reeds. I know that there is now a small airport but as far as I know, the runway has remained the same. Thanks to those... 

 JLBG Says:  To take good photos during a camel trek is a real challenge.The easiest is at the bivouac or at the noon meal + siesta period but this is accounts only for a small part of each day.Do not forget that when the group is walking, it will NEVER wait after the photographer (BTW,... 

 JLBG Says:  This trek in the Tassili was organized by a small travel agency "Hommes et Montagnes du Sahara" created in 1969 by Jean-Louis BERNEZAT and Odette BERNEZAT and run by half a dozen mountain guides from France that had chosen to live half of the year in the Sahara (Hoggar and... 

 JLBG Says:  When I was a kid, I had a book that told the precious and unlikely story of a French boy that had been "stolen" by gypsies (the old myth of kids being stolen by gypsies!), found by his "oncle d'Amérique" (the old myth of the uncle that has emigrated and made big money in... 

 JLBG Says:   The book of Mario Fantin "Tuareg, Tassili, Sahara", printed in 1971 in Bologna, is one among many other books about the Tassili but it might be one of the first with high quality photos and pictures. It is a wealth of information on the Tassili. I recommend reading it if...