Essendilene By Camel
Below you will find a sample itinerary of just one of Expert Algeria’s Sahara tours. For comprehensive details and photos of the Algerian Sahara, please click here.Most of Expert Algeria’s tours and circuits are made-to-measure and are accompanied by qualified guides. Tours last from three days to three weeks and can be designed for between two and thirty participants. Please contact us for further details of all our Algeria tours and itineraries.
This ten-day circuit covers the highlights of Algiers with its UNESCO casbah before flying down into the deepest Sahara, where our circuit will begin and end in Djanet. Our Essendilene itinerary has been devised to embrace the Tassili’s captivating range of Saharan landscapes, from the desert’s lofty dunes and sculptured rocks to its life-giving gueltas (water-holes and small lakes) lined with pink rose-bays.
We will navigate the Tassili – “plateau of the rivers” in Arabic – by foot, 4×4 and, principally, by camel.
Highlights of the itinerary (which can be extended by one or two days) include Tikoubaouine, situated at the foot of the Tassili n’Ajer, a grandiose landscape of shattered rocks, a 50 ft. high natural arch and remote gueltas lined with sheer-sided cliffs; Essendilene, a deserted valley and beautiful gorge (approximately 60 miles to the north of Djanet) famed for its crystal-clear waters and verdant plant life; and Tililine, a high plateau of sand, isolated acacias and haunting rock arches rising from the desert floor.
This circuit spends a total of seven nights camping under the Saharan stars, although this can be increased and the programme altered to suit an individual group’s needs.
Day 1
Arrive Algiers by air followed by tour of central Algiers by coach and on foot (Place des Martyrs, colonial
buildings, Grande Poste, esplanade). Transfer to Algiers airport for late evening flight to Djanet. Arrive Djanet and transfer by 4×4 to Tadrart, west of Djanet, to meet camels and
Tuareg
camel drivers. Camel caravan sets off into desert for first night under the stars.
Day 2
Towards the sky and thick sand dunes as we head towards the steep canyon and guelta of Tililine, where we camp for the night.
Day 3
Head towards Tikoubaouine, site of numerous rock arches and obelisks, then on by foot to the gueltas of Touia and on to the deep gorges and wadi of Hell, sleeping in the desert at Ioualalaten.
Days 4 & 5
Towards Essendilene (verdant canyon with dense vegetation, crystal waters, towering cliffs, dry waterfalls) with its guelta for overnights in desert.
Day 6
Huge expanses of sand at Admer, pre-historic remains (dishes, pots, arrow-heads), then back across oued Hell and overnight in the desert at Tiouitatirine with its twisted rock formations.
Day 7
Continue to the guelta at Agzel at the foot of the
Tassili
then across a variety of landscapes to In Aramas for our last night sleeping out in the desert.
Day 8
Towards Oued Tekkat N’Ténéré (towers of sandstone) and then on to Dag Iharadj and return to Djanet for palm oasis, museum, 16th century ksar, workshops, local market. Farewell dinner followed by transfer to airport for return flight to Algiers. Day 9
Arrive Algiers and transfer to hotel for breakfast (and overnight). Afternoon: tour of Algiers to include casbah (with lunch at private house), Bardo Museum and Notre Dame d’Afrique.
Day 10
Transfer to Algiers airport for return flight.
