{"id":7392,"date":"2017-06-16T21:45:01","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T21:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=7392"},"modified":"2017-07-11T18:23:25","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T18:23:25","slug":"algeria-leg-1-djanet-to-el-berdj","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=7392","title":{"rendered":"Algeria — Leg 1: Djanet to El Berdj"},"content":{"rendered":"
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REPORT: ALGERIA<\/h2>\n
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In preparation for a longer upcoming trans-Saharan journey we conducted a scouting trip in south-eastern Algeria during April 2017. We spent about two weeks traversing roughly 650 miles of desert, primarily off-road. Using the town of Djanet as a base point we looped southeast almost to the Libyan border, and then back north west to the Ihrir oasis. The journey was made in a locally-sourced Toyota Land Cruiser and focused on the UNESCO world heritage sites around Tassili N’ajjer. The primary goal of this mission was to assess terrain, security, driving conditions, logistical concerns and approximate timeframes for a future expedition. <\/p>\n

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\n< BACK: TO DJANET<\/a> | ALGERIA REPORT HOME<\/a> | AHEAD: TO WANTA BERKA ><\/a><\/p>\n


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LEG ONE: DJANET TO EL BERDJ<\/h5>\n



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Leaving Djanet the vastness of the desert becomes apparent, broken only by ragged rock formations that mark our progress along the highway. We pass the turnoff for Niger and take the direction for Libya. A gold, black and blue color palette becomes the dominant motif as the tar ribbon of the N3 extends to the horizon. The road is mostly straight and empty, apart from an occasional big truck. The tall black walls of the Tassili plateau become our guide, as we follow its contours south and east. The plateau is the focal point of the Tassili N’Ajjer<\/a> world heritage site which encompasses an area of 72,000 square kilometers, beginning north east of Djanet and stretching south to the Niger and Libyan border area. It includes the whole of the Tassili N\u2019Ajjer mountain range, as well as the sands and dune areas in the extreme southeast of the country. Within these boundaries there exist more than 15,000 rock paintings and engravings, including some that are 12,000 years old. We are headed to an area south of the plateau itself, known as the Tadrart — a unique desert landscape with surreal rock formations, massive sand dunes and narrow canyons.

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\nIn what looks like the middle of nowhere an hour or so into the journey, we turn off pavement and follow a faint desert track to deliver some food supplies to a nomad. The young herder has been camped out alone with his camels in the emptiness. Though we were bringing him aid, he shyly poured a bowl of camel milk from a goatskin bag to welcome us in a traditional gesture of desert hospitality. The offer of milk to visitors is part of an elaborate social code<\/a> that evolved over centuries as a function of life in a harsh and hostile environment. The obligation to provide hospitality<\/a> was tied up with honor and survival in the desert. According to an old proverb<\/a>, “In this world we are all strangers and travellers, guests of God.\u201d Everyone recognized that he might one day be in need.

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\nThe traditional nomadic lifestyle is hard, and it is not surprising that given the opportunity, most people have chosen the much easier settled life of the towns. They prefer paid employment to herding camels in a harsh and unforgiving environment. The level of sedentarization among the Tuareg in Algeria is greater than that of their cousins in Mali and Niger, in part because of the differences in government policies between the three nations since independence. Prior to Algeria\u2019s independence, the Tuareg lived in accordance with their ancient traditions, even after their territory was brought under French control. The French colonial policy<\/a> in the Sahara did not encourage the large-scale sedentarization, as the available water resources of the oases were not adequate to support a large sedentary population and the cost of providing water and housing to nomads would have been exhorbitant. The Tuareg were left to their own devices, as long as they did not interfere<\/a> with French administration.

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\nTraditional Tuareg society was hierarchical with distinct castes and social roles. Nobles were warriors who did not engage in physical labor or farming. They spent their time protecting the caravan trade, hunting animals and raiding other tribes. Vassals looked after the nobles’ animals and provided meat, milk, and butter as well as military service in time of war. Slaves and \u201charatin\u201d serfs were at the bottom of the social ladder, and could not own either land or water. They worked the nobles’ land and did the labor. In addition to these principal divisions, artisans and marabouts had their own group status.

\nLife began to change radically<\/a> in 1962, with Algerian independence. The Tuareg social structure was in direct contradiction with the ideals of revolutionary socialism promoted by the national government. Slavery and serfdom were abolished and agriculture was organized on a co-operative basis, with land being declared \u201cfree\u201d to those who worked it. Tuareg nobles lost power and wealth. At the same time, the new state was bringing in modern development–powerlines, schools and clinics–that benefited the whole community. A large majority of the people began to settle, and even those who kept up with a more traditional lifestyle tended to become “semi-nomadic.”

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\nWe continued heading southeast on the N3 until the pavement ended in a rough patch of road still under construction, which we followed for a while before finally turning south onto a desert piste. The terrain had changed to a huge stretch of barren sand. We aired down only slightly. The sand was pretty solid and granular, and we could move along at a fair pace. The black rock walls of the plateau were far behind us and ahead the desert was flat, with just a few low sand hills in the distance. There wasn\u2019t a tree or blade of grass anywhere.

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\nThe desert is expanding<\/a>, in part due to climate change, but also as a function of human intervention. The newer semi-nomadic rhythm takes more of a toll on the environment than the older nomadism did. Before people would move across long distances in search of grass \u2014 in dry years they might have to travel over a thousand kilometers to find pasture. They moved continually, following the rain and giving the grasses time to recover. Today, most move back and forth from homes in town, which can result in overgrazing of nearby pastures. Trees are cut for firewood. Grasses are eaten down to the root. There is nothing left to hold the sandy soil together and the wind does the rest.

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\nAs we drive further south, the terrain begins to change again. Yellow sand is replaced by black gravelly rock known as “reg<\/a>“. Sometimes called “desert pavement” because it can at times almost seem like a road, reg is typically found on top of alluvial fans. Here it is an almost solid surface of closely-packed rock fragments darkened by “desert varnish” and is easy driving. Much of the Sahara is made up of alternating bands of “reg” and “erg” (as the soft sand seas are known), interrupted by upcroppings or rock escarpments, like the Tassili plateau. It is said that the desert never remains totally flat for long, and true enough, we can see low cliffs or hills in the distance.

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\nThere are only two entry points leading into the Tadrart, and we have chosen to take the lesser used one. Turning to the east from the oued we have been following, we are looking for a narrow passageway between the cliffs. The folds of rock seem to open up as we approach, revealing a greener place hidden behind the sheer faces of eroding sandstone walls. An army checkpoint is strategically placed in the shade at the narrowest spot. It is a small unfortified outpost and the soldiers on duty seem fairly relaxed as they check our authorization papers. There are not any major security issues in this area, but the military positions are a deterrent for smugglers. The Djanet to Ghat route was once a favorite for illegal immigrants<\/a> from sub-Saharan Africa headed to Libya and Europe beyond, though that traffic has slowed.

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\nA few camels grazed near the soldiers’ position. The grass looked lush here in comparison with the desolate landscape we had just driven through. The narrow part of the canyon we were entering is known as El Berdj. Tall black rock walls surrounded us, and the soft golden sand was dotted with bits of green vegetation. The terrain seemed confusing with lots of turnoffs into dead-ends deeper between the rocks and not so many clear tracks to follow. But the desert’s beauty was magnificent as the sun began to set.

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> CONTINUE: THE JOURNEY TO WANTA BERKA<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n< BACK: TO DJANET<\/a> | ALGERIA REPORT HOME<\/a> | AHEAD: TO WANTA BERKA ><\/a>

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WHERE WE ARE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Algeria-Africa-smaller2\"<\/p>\n

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, in North Africa is the largest country in Africa and the tenth-largest country in the world. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi) it is one-quarter of the size of the entire United States and four times the size of France. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the country’s far north on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the west by Morocco, to the southwest by the Western Saharan territory, Mauritania, and Mali, to the southeast by Niger, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. With a population of roughly 38,813,722, Algeria ranks 33rd in population worldwide. The majority of that population, which is a well-integrated mixture of Arab and indigenous Berbers, live in the northern, coastal region. The official language is Arabic though many people also speak French and\/or one of the nation’s Berber dialects.<\/p>\n

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ABOUT THE DAY\u2019S ROUTE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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DJANET TO EL BERDJ \u2013 120 miles \u2013 \u2028(click map to view larger image)<\/em>
\nThe drive starts from Djanet, via the N3 southeast for roughly 80 miles, mostly on pavement, which gets a bit rough, then becomes a graded dirt road the rest of the way. The navigation to this point is easy as it is following the only highway for a straight shot (just need to be sure to bear left following the sign for Libya, rather than turning south for Niger at that crossroad). After turning off the N3 into the desert there is another 40 miles to go and here the navigation becomes much more critical, following tracks, that are sometimes not so clear. The terrain alternates between solid sand, more gravely sand, and “reg,” a rough rocky surface, and some soft sand once within the walls of the Tadrart. The route follows a system of oueds southward, before turning east into the gap in the cliffs to enter the maze of canyons.
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TERRAIN DETAIL: EL BERDJ<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(click map to view larger image)<\/em>
\nThe area of the Tadrart known as El Berdj starts at a narrow canyon cut into the surrounding sandstone rock, and branches out into a maze-like area of off-shoots as it winds eastward. The floor of the canyon is mostly softer sand, but solid enough for easy driving without airing down further. There is some vegetation along the centerline of the oueds, and rock-spill from erosion of the canyon walls, near the edges. In some spots there is a unique combination of black and yellow sand, and also occasional soft sand hills or single dunes where wind has blown the sand up against the wall in narrower parts of the canyon.
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MAP RESOURCES<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AlgeriaMaps_pile_IMG_7105_650w\"
\nFor general planning, a good overview map of Algeria that includes the southeast is this ITBM Algeria 1:2,000,000<\/a> scale road map. For detailed navigational planning we used the old Russian 1:500,000 topos that circulate online supplemented by US 1:250,000 tactical pilotage maps from the Perry-Casta\u00f1eda Library Map Collection<\/a> of the University of Texas at Austin. Note that these maps are \u201chistorical\u201d and marked \u201cnot to be used for navigational purposes\u201d but they make an excellent planning tool, as the basic topography does not change. For more on available maps for this part of Algeria and the Sahara generally, see the Sahara-Overland.com map page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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