Tamanrasset to Djanet

For three days, 9-11 April, we travelled from Tamanrasset to Djanet through the Algerian Sahara. After registering our route with the Gendarmerie, we set off on Route National 1 to the North, then turned East towards Ideles. The track became variations of sand, gravel and stone, and the scenery became more interesting, with plains of tuff rubble, eroded volcanic peaks and sandstone mesas. Temperatures were very pleasant, in the low thirties, and everyone spent some time taking in the view from the roof of the Dutch Land Rover, except Haakon who was enjoying his bike. 

After checking in again with the police at Hirafok we drove on a few miles to camp in a well-wooded Oued, or dry river bed. With plenty of firewood, we were able to grill the chicken bought in Tam.

We passed to the North of Jebel Telerhteba, stopping at the first large dune we encountered to take some photos. Our second camp was on a gentle slope of sand under one of the large basalt hills in the area. Djafar went off in search of water, and as we climbed the hill we could see him far away, a tiny speck in the desert, heading for some greenery. The hill has outcrops of basalt columns like the Giant’s Causeway in Antrim. 

The next day we stopped to check a rattle under the car, and instead found a different problem – lots of diesel. The fuel lift pump had given up and was spraying fuel out of a small hole. We tried driving a few hours, but it got so bad that the Dutch could see a trail of diesel behind us in the sand, so we stopped to change the pump, as we had a spare.

It was a pleasure to drive on the regs as we got closer to the Erg d’Admer, since we could do a good speed without fear of hitting something nasty. Nevertheless, because of the repairs, it was later than planned when we reached the tar for Djanet. We did the last couple of hours in darkness on the potholed road. We made Djanet at 9pm and the town was brightly lit but already shut down. The campsite was taken over by the military, but we found a nice place in the town centre with a car park and adequate rooms. In Djanet we heard news of bomb attacks in Algiers. They were suicide attacks, which is unusual for Algeria, but apart from that the local opinion was that it was - sadly - not unusual, intractable, and far away. 

We ended up spending three nights in Djanet. It is the Alice Springs of Algeria - an outback outpost, full of hard looking desert characters, Berber and Arab, Toureg and Tourist. The standard vehicle is an ancient Land Cruiser with a rack of jerrys, sand ladders, shovel and grill on the roof and always a guerba – a water bag made of an entire goat skin – slung on the body. It was good to have a break, eat pizzas garnished with tinned tuna and mayonnaise, and laze around in the café under an arcade. This, like all the cafés in Arab world, is a mens' world, and sadly also alcohol free. But it does very good coffee and croissants.

Photos from Claire and Leon below.