Night in Tassili

When the sun hides and the overwhelming heat gives way to the coldness of the night, the desert prepares itself to be covered by the magic of a dome dotted with constellations...

Atakor volcanic field

The massive Atakor volcanic field covers an area of about 2150 Km2 in the heart of the Ahaggar massif in southern Algeria. Basaltic scoria cones and lava flows of Pleistocene and Holocene age lie near spectacular older trachytic and phonolitic lava domes and volcanic necks that form some of the most dramatic scenery of the Sahara. The latest stage of activity began around 1.95 million years ago and continued almost to the present. Lava flows cover Holocene lake sediments dated at about 10000 years ago and alluvial terraces in which Neolithic artifacts have been found. Historical pottery has been found within lava flows in the Tahifet area, and oral traditions of the touareg people also suggest that eruptions were witnessed. Sporadic fumaroles and persistent small-scale seismicity have been noted during historical times.

Mount Assekrem in Atakor

Djado

The town of Djado is steeped in moonlight and mystery. Once it was a station on a slave-trading route between Niger and Libya. Surrounded by malarial swamps, adobe dwellings are now occupied by scorpions and snakes. The Djado Plateau lies in the Sahara, in north eastern Niger. It is known for its cave art (often of large mammals long since absent from the area), but is now largely uninhabited, with abandoned towns and forts visible.

Djado

Tadrart Akakus

Around 300 murals and several thousands of rock paintings created 8000 years ago have allowed to reconstruct the uninterrupted evolution of the diverse stylistic trends and the alternations of inspiring motifs along a prolonged period. The most impressive rock paintings are located in the sites of Matkendush, Galghien and Tilizzagham, that are spread along the Tadrart Akakus mountain range, in whose valleys were established several prehistoric settlements. The vast majority of these artworks have been preserved to the present in a magnificent condition.

Tadrart Akakus

Needles of Sissé (Aiguilles de Sissé)

West of the Tibesti massif, about 30 km east from the Niger-Chad border, are located the sandstone spires of Sissé. West of them, starts a field of mega-yardangs that goes along the border.

Tibesti

Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserve

The Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserve occupies a surface area of 77300 km2 in Niger, between the Erg of Ténéré and the Aïr mountains, whose highest elevation reachs 2000 meters above sea level. Within the unusually rich mountain vegetation are included olive trees and wild fig trees, and different species of cereals, such as a type of wild millet. Also the fauna is diverse: together with several types of gazelles coexist baboons, foxes, cheetas and ostriches.

Aïr Mountains
Erg of Ténéré

Tibesti rocks

Beautiful rocky landscapes in Tibesti massif, Chad.

Tassili plateau

An oued running water in the southern Tassili plateau. Tassili plateau is one of the most awesome geological places in the world, it posseses a wide range of rocky textures of volcanic origin.

A small formation of sand dunes lost in the middle of the rocky landscape in the Tassili plateau. Many tress grow along the oued which descends from the north.

Ennedi

Southern Ennedi from the air...

Bedouin pottery

Some examples of pottery made by egyptian bedouins: casseroles, pitchers, a vessel, a jar and an ewer.

Three photographs showing bedouin women carrying pitchers.

Poste Maurice Cortier (Bidon 5)

Tanezrouft, located west of the Ahaggar massif, is the one of the most arid regions in the Sahara. In that place, there are the remainings of an abandoned french gas station for airplanes that travelled to the south. This place is
called Poste Maurice Cortier, but also known as Bidon 5 because it was signaled with a number 5 upon a bidon, for this was the fifth beacon in the road between Reggane and Tessalit. It feels strange that this place is still marked as a village in the maps; in some simple maps found in books it even is signaled with the same circle as Tamanrasset, a town with several dozens of thousands of inhabitants.

Well, if you are lost in the desert in urgent need of water, and you see this "town" in your map, I think you shouldn't go there for getting water...

PD: In the year 1809 were found the corpses of 2000 caravaneers and 1800 camels in the Tanezrouft. To get lost in a desert that lacks landmarks is a real danger for the caravans.

Touareg takouba swords

Saharan swords and daggers crafted by touareg and teda peoples have a straight blade with two edges, in similarity with european blade weapons and unlike arabian blade weapons, which have a single-edged curved blade.

Three touareg swords known as takouba. The upper sword has a sheath lined with engraved leather, while the sword itself is austere. The center sword has also a leathered sheath, but the manufacture is rude in both sheath and sword. The bottom sword, presented with no sheath, is a finely elaborated piece, with decorative engravings and applications.

The saharan biome

The Sahara desert presents a variety of different elements within its biome:

Ergs (the erg of  Tenere)

Gueltas (guelta Archei in Ennedi)

Valleys (a valley in Air mountains)

Rock formations (a basaltic rock tower in Ahaggar)

Plateaus and mesas (surroundings of Fada oasis, in Ennedi)

Oueds (an oued covered with vegetation in Tassili-n-Ajjer)

Canyons (a canyon in Tassili-n-Ajjer)

Volcanic calderas (Trou au Natron in Tibesti)

Sahara Women Portraits

The main ethnicity living in the Sahara desert are the berber people, sub-saharian black people and arabians. These races are frequently mixed, being an important reason for this the slavery commerce in the past times, which brought many sub-saharian black skinned people to the northern lands, to serve the white skinned berbers and arabs. In the touareg culture, which did use in the past of slaves for their commerce and for their own use, white skinned people ruled over the dark skinned ones. Slaves were sold to magrebi arabs, and enslaved by touareg themselves to do the agricultural tasks, labor that touareg culture despised in favor of commercial tasks. Also it is said that ancestral hostility between touareg and toubou people come from the touareg raids upon toubou women, to sell them to magreb harems.

Berber people is originary from the north western african coast; they were displaced to southern - and desertic - lands when the arabian people invaded northern Africa. Berbers occupy now the western part of the Sahara; they live in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lybia, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Touareg is one of many berber groups, the most known one. They live mainly in Niger, and also in south Algeria, southwest Lybia, and Mali.

In the eastern Sahara, berbers are replaced by arabian people; bedouins are the most known arab group in the Sahara. They are nomads like the rest of saharian inhabitants, and they expanded from their original lands in Arabia to Africa. In the Sahara they live in Egypt and Sinai, and some probably move in Lybia and Chad.

Toubou people is of unknown origin; Yemen and northern Sudan are hypothetical sources for this people. They live now mainly in northern Chad, and also in easthern Niger - western Niger is touareg territory -. Toubou are mainly a race of black people, but having caucasian traits; some of them are quite white skinned.

Bedouin

Bedouin

Bedouin

Berber from Ghadames (Lybia)

Touareg

Touareg from Niger

Touareg from Tamanrasset (Algeria)

Touareg

Touareg from Agadez (Niger)

Toubou

Toubou from Chirfa (Niger)

Toubou from Bardai (Chad)

Life In The Sahara 1953

A brief documentary showing how it was life in the Sahara desert in the fifties decade. Even there, times have changed a lot since then...

As a note, I can say that the United States overlay that is shown at the beginnig of the film as a comparison with the Sahara desert size, is too small. However, it is still true that the Sahara is closely so large as the United States territory.

The Ennedi Natural Arches

The Ennedi plateau in Chad has hundred of natural arches, having been documented only few of them. Here I will show some of them.

The Aloba Arch is one of the most awesome archs in the world. Can you see the person standing just in front of the arch? This arch has a span of approximately 250 feet and a height of nearly 400 feet.

This is the Anoa arch. The largest of its three openings is 55 feet high.

Dentelles Arches

The Djoula Oued Arch has a height of 107 feet and a span of 46 feet.

Elephant Arch has a height of 75 feet and a span of 59 feet. The smaller opening in the upper left zone is, certainly, the eye of the elephant.

Another Elephant Arch, with a height of 94 feet and a span of 15 feet.

The Eye Of Tokou has a height of 66 feet and a span of 45 feet.

Five Arch Rock, certainly, a rock with five openings.Depicted in the photo is the largest spawn, which measures 45 feet of height and 67 feet of span.

Little Aloba Arch, with a height of 128 feet and a span of 30 feet.

Mask rock, with a left opening measuring 57 feet of height and 36 feet of span, and the right opening measuring 50 feet of height and 27 feet of spawn.

This unnamed arch is little: 16 feet high and 7 feet span.

This unnamed arch has a height of 72 feet and a spawn of 35 feet.

Unnamed arch with a height of 35 feet and a span of 33 feet.

Another unnamed arch...

Unnamed arch with a height of 67 feet and a span of 39 feet.

This unnamed arch shows two openings on this photo; the one in the foreground with 54 feet high and the one in the background with 26 feet high.

This unnamed arch has a height of 24 feet and a spawn of 32 feet.

Unnamed arch with a height of 21 feet.

Another unnamed arch...

And nother unnamed arch...

And... guess what? another unnamed arch...

Here an unnamed double arch, having the larger opening a height of 42 feet.

And finally... another unnamed arch. The opening is not much thing, but the rock is really a good piece of rock...