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Soul of the Sahara - Desert Adventure of Chad's Tibeste Mountains & Ennedi Massif

This is really a trip for serious explorers that is planned as you go. It's just miles and miles of desert, a lot of which has never been explored before on this level, so very difficult to give a detailed itinerary. This is therefore not for everyone or for people who like to know exactly what they will be doing day by day, minute by minute as it’s impossible to do that for this trip.

 

Safari Highlights

  • Tibesti Mountains The massive deserts in the north of Chad are broken up by the breath-taking Tibesti mountain range. This volcanic massif is the most prominent feature of the Sahara desert, sprawling 480km across the border into Libya.
  • Emil Koussi Summited in 1938 by Wilfred Thesiger, Emi Koussi is a shield volcano that lies at the southeast end of the Tibesti Mountains. It marks the highest point, and its crater is an impressive 12 miles wide and 4,000 feet deep.
  • Rock Art Throughout the Tibesti Mountains is an extensive collection of ancient Rock Art. The paintings and engravings of wildlife and hunting scenes - some as old as 8,000 years, show a time of greener pastures.
  • Aorounga Impact Crater Formed by a comet or asteroid impact some several hundred million years ago, on the south eastern flank of the Tibesti Mountains.
  • Ennedi Sahara’s Garden of Eden! Unique geological features sculpted over time by water and wind into a spectacular plateau with canyons and valleys, and hundreds of natural arches, spires, pillars and columns, rising 1,450
  • meters, from the deserts of the Sahara that surround it on all sides.
  • Ennedi Massif A vast sandstone wall, covering some 30,000 km2 on the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert.
  • Anoa Western Ennedi, many spectacular rock formations and natural arches.
  • Ounianga Jewel of the Sahara. Islands in a sea of sand, 18 interconnected lakes in the Ounianga region to the west of the Tibesti Mountains in the heart of the Sahara Desert, are relics of a single, much larger lake occupying the basin some 10,000 years ago.
  • Archei Guelta With aquifers and high rainfall, natural water pools sustains abundant flora and fauna as well as human life. Guelta d’Archei is the largest where desert nomads water their camels and it is also home to one of last populations of Saharan crocodile.
  • Guelta Maya Ancient Desert Oasis! 40 meters wide, fed from aquifers believed to be over 4000 years old, with these fresh waters life here thrives. Set deep, with a rocky overhang at the top of the canyon that limits evaporation, Guelta Maya has never yet dried up.
  • Niola Doa Meaning ‘the place of the girls’, Niola Doa has a wealth of rock art, some believed to be 8,000 years old. The magnificent larger than life engravings
  • of women, together with thousands of painted images found in the mountainous Ennedi Plateau, make up one of the biggest collections of rock art in the Sahara.
  • Aloba Aloba Arch is the second highest natural archway in the world; 120 meters tall and 75m wide - surpassed only by Shipton’s Arch in China. The massive sandstone structure was initially hollowed out by ancient streams, and polished over centuries by sand storms.

Example Schedule

Start N’djamena

  • Day 1: Overnight at N'djamena Hilton
  • Day 2: Shared Caravan Flight to meet helicopter 1 at Faya
  • Day 2 - 7: (5 nights) Tibesti between 2 camps 
  • Day 7 - 12: (5 nights) Gughi camp 
  • Day 12: Shared Caravan Flight Fada via Faya to N’djamena
  • Day room for night departure or overnight and depart day 13

 

 

Pictures and sample Itineraries by courtesy of Tropic Air

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As a guide, the cost of our extraordinary and utterly bespoke journeys tends to start from $1200 per person per day excluding international flights.

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