To put it simply, Chad is one of the most exciting countries in all of Africa, an utterly wild and untamed land brimming with opportunities for adventure. The most remote and least visited country in the Sahara, Chad is home to dramatic landscapes and people that rarely see western visitors – an intoxicating combination. Leaving the tarmac road almost as soon as we head out of the capital and driving on rough tracks past occasional villages, wells and nomad encampments, we head to the Ennedi Mountains, a region of bizarre rock formations, prehistoric rock paintings and Tubu nomads, a proud and resilient people that have carved out an existence for themselves in this unforgiving corner of the continent. We visit the awe-inspiring Guelta d’Archei – home to one of the last populations of Saharan crocodiles, which we hope to see, along with nomads bringing huge herds of camels to drink at the only permanent waterhole for miles around. We visit isolated communities making a living out of the trade in salt, and hope to encounter traditional camel caravans travelling between the few settlements here. Reaching our northernmost point at the Ounianga Lakes, fringed with palms and completely at odds with the desert around them, we return south to N’Djamena where the tour ends. The scenery throughout is diverse - the sandstone shapes of the Ennedi, neverending dunes of the Mourdi Depression, dried up wadis – and there are good opportunities to spot wildlife as well. Nights are spent camping under the stars in some of the most striking scenery you can imagine. This is not an easy trip, and definitely not recommended for first time visitors to Africa, but for those seeking real adventure it is hard to beat.
Day by Day
Detailed Itinerary
Summary
Explorer Tours - This is pioneering travel where Africa is an open book
Ground-breaking small group travel and extraordinary experiences. Push the boundaries of conventional travel and reach some of Africa´s most remote places on these dynamic itineraries. You may have to give up your creature comforts to go off the beaten track, experience challenging terrain and explore rugged locations in an Africa that few have ventured to.
Day 1: N'Djamena
Welcome to Chad. On arrival at the airport, you will be met and transferred to a hotel in N'Djamena, the capital and Chads largest city. A low-rise sp...
| On this day |
Welcome to Chad. On arrival at the airport, you will be met and transferred to a hotel in N'Djamena, the capital and Chads largest city. A low-rise sprawl of sandy streets and mud buildings which lie on the lowers banks of the Chari River, opposite the Cameroonian town of Kousseri on the western bank. The national museum or lively central market is worth a visit as well as the ancient potters village of Gaoui, 10 km North west of the city. The city of N'Djamena is a relatively recent creation, having been founded in 1900 by the French and originally named Fort Lamy after an officer who had recently been killed ‘pacifying’ the region. It’s quite a spread out city, with wide boulevards which are unfortunately now mainly devoid of the trees that they once sported, these having been chopped down to remove cover for rebel forces during the city’s turbulent past. |
| Accommodation
| Le Meridien |
| Rooming |
Standard en-suite room |
| Included Activities |
Airport arrival transfer |
Day 2: Moussoro
From N’Djamena, Chad’s capital city, we follow a track running into the alluvial plains of Lake Chad as far as Massaguet, where we begin to follow...
| On this day |
From N’Djamena, Chad’s capital city, we follow a track running into the alluvial plains of Lake Chad as far as Massaguet, where we begin to follow the track towards Moussoro, in the Kanem region. The landscape, between the savannah and the sahel, is criss-crossed by numerous temporary water-courses and flood plains and is characterized by varied and luxuriant vegetation, represented by several kinds of acacias and by small forests of doum palms. Ethnic groups found here are the Kanembou, Peul, Kanouri, Kereda and Daza. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 3: Salal
In the morning we continue travelling through the Saharan landscape. The track follows and then skirts the depression of the Bahr el Ghazal, the gazel...
| On this day |
In the morning we continue travelling through the Saharan landscape. The track follows and then skirts the depression of the Bahr el Ghazal, the gazelles' river, an ancient river from the Paleochad period. We set up camp in the small villages of Salal for the night. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 4: Kalait
In the morning we continue eastward; the ground and the landscape become completely sahelian, but are characterised by a very wild landscape rich in a...
| On this day |
In the morning we continue eastward; the ground and the landscape become completely sahelian, but are characterised by a very wild landscape rich in animals (gazelles, bustards, hyenas and jackals). The environment is almost devoid of settlements, except for a few huts of Arab nomads. The track, that follows the natural course of the Oued Achim, ends in Oum Chalouba village, where we spent the night. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 5: Archei Region
We continue northward, along the main north/south track which joins Abeché, in Ouaddai region, to Fada village, in the Ennedi. We are now in a desert...
| On this day |
We continue northward, along the main north/south track which joins Abeché, in Ouaddai region, to Fada village, in the Ennedi. We are now in a desert region, at the southern borders of the Ennedi, inhabited by Gaeda and Tama populations and by Zagawa, a shepherd group composed of 100,000 people moving throughout this region following the grazing lands towards Sudan and the east. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 6: Archei Region
Continuing northward, on the way to Fada, the imposing Ennedi massif starts to become visible. One hundred kilometres after Kalaït, by an isolated pe...
| On this day |
Continuing northward, on the way to Fada, the imposing Ennedi massif starts to become visible. One hundred kilometres after Kalaït, by an isolated peak named Ouaguif, we leave the track and enter into the massif, following the wide Archei oued, bordered by a beautiful succession of rock formations, eroded into weird and wonderful shapes by the sand. Amongst the most beautiful are those of Terkei and Toukou, which we will see in detail. The oued winds for about thirty kilometres, before ending ends in a wide rocky and verdant amphitheatre which marks the start of the true gorges leading to the guelta, a permanent water source where it is easy to meet the nomadic Tubu population with their herds of camels. he Tubu live in Chad, southern Libya and Niger, in some of the most inhospitable parts of the Sahara desert, and on this trip we will meet many Tubu villagers and nomads. With dark skin but almost European features, their origins are rather a mystery to researchers, with the current best guess being that they descend from a mixture of Berbers and Bantu Africans. The Tubu are made up of two main groups, the Teda of the Tibesti and the Daza further south, and within that are comprised of numerous clans. There are around 200,000 Tubu today. Up until relatively recently they had had little contact with outsiders and even now are rather wary of strangers – this particularly manifests itself in an aversion to photography and we ask that you follow your tour leader's guidelines on this to avoid any problems. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 7: Archei Region
Today we pass the Archeï gorges, situated in a landscape of unforgettable beauty, are home to many ancient rock paintings, and to the some of the las...
| On this day |
Today we pass the Archeï gorges, situated in a landscape of unforgettable beauty, are home to many ancient rock paintings, and to the some of the last living specimens of saharan crocodiles (crocodilus niloticus). The Ennedi are made up of red sandstone mountains, and have been eroded into weird and wonderful shapes over millennia by the winds, with a wide variety of rock formations. The second largest natural arch in the world is to be found here, but the landscape is also made up of cliffs, gorges, mountains, columns and much more, often with vast sand dunes backed up against them. There is much wildlife present here, although you have to be lucky to see it – leopard and cheetah still stalk some parts, and monkeys, antelopes and various bird species can be found. Local folklore has it that the Ennedi is home to a large cat, known as the Ennedi tiger, although no proof has ever been found. The Guelta d’Archei is home to one of the last groups of Saharan crocodiles –there is another population in Mauritania – which are far smaller than other species. At present there are around eight living in the guelta but no young have been seen for some time, prompting speculation that the population is either entirely male or female. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 8: Fada
We reach the track joining Monou to Fada, and follow it northward as far as Fada, prefecture of the Ennedi and a characteristic saharan village with h...
| On this day |
We reach the track joining Monou to Fada, and follow it northward as far as Fada, prefecture of the Ennedi and a characteristic saharan village with houses made of banco, clustered around the old French colonial fort and the small but busy market. The main ethnic groups of this region are the Gaeda, Bideyat and Zagawa. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 9: Mourdi - Derbili
Once we’ve completed the bureaucratic formalities, which can sometimes take a long time, we start the crossing of the massif, and we will drive alon...
| On this day |
Once we’ve completed the bureaucratic formalities, which can sometimes take a long time, we start the crossing of the massif, and we will drive along a slow sandy and stony track that will lead us to the Mourdi, a wide region of dunes and isolated groups of mountains. We continue in a north/north-east direction, overcoming some difficult dunes, following the ancient caravan route that connected the salt-pits of the Ounianga region (Demi, Teguedei and Ounianga) to the southern Chadian villages and the northern Libyan oases |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 10: Demi - Teguedei
We continue northward until we reach the Eyo Demi, a reddish sandy formation; at its foot rises a village, comprised of a few palms and houses made of...
| On this day |
We continue northward until we reach the Eyo Demi, a reddish sandy formation; at its foot rises a village, comprised of a few palms and houses made of sand. This settlement, situated amidst a wild and inhospitable landscape, lives off the trade in “red salt”, obtained by very rudimentary methods and then taken to the southern oases by the caravans, and, then exchanged for millet and sorghum. All along this track it is easy to meet one of these caravans. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 11: Ounianga Lakes
From Demi we turn to the west, to the Ounianga Serir, passing through Teguedei, a palm-grove inhabited seasonally for the date harvest, as the small s...
| On this day |
From Demi we turn to the west, to the Ounianga Serir, passing through Teguedei, a palm-grove inhabited seasonally for the date harvest, as the small silos made of sand and stones, show. In Teguedei we see the first lake of the Ounianga region, situated in a sandy basin surrounded by palms and multicoloured sandstone formations. Skirting the Nabar falaise we reach the first lakes of the Ounianga Serir oasis. The landscape is incredible: lakes surrounded by palm-groves that spring up from the sand, rocky formations of multicoloured sandstone from white to red and golden dunes that descend to the water. This is some of the most spectacular scenery in the whole Sahara desert. The water is fresh and comes out from the sand but, because of the salty soil, the lakes are very salty and different colours, from blue to green, respectively more and less salty. We make excursions on foot along the sandy banks and the palm-groves with the opportunity of a bath in the lakes |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 12: Kora
After leaving Ounianga Kebir we lead southward passing through an area of dunes where the going can sometimes be difficult. We travel through regions...
| On this day |
After leaving Ounianga Kebir we lead southward passing through an area of dunes where the going can sometimes be difficult. We travel through regions which saw fighting during the conflict with Chad, and it is possible to see old abandoned tanks and other military hardware scattered around the desert. We hope to camp tonight on the edge of the Ennedi, our final night in this majestic region |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 13: Kalait - Arada - Abeche
Leaving the Ennedi behind, we head first to Kalait where we spend time stocking up on a few essentials for the return journey. From Kalait we follow a...
| On this day |
Leaving the Ennedi behind, we head first to Kalait where we spend time stocking up on a few essentials for the return journey. From Kalait we follow a different route, leaving the homelands of the Tubu and entering in a more populated area, encountering Arab nomads and settled villagers. We should reach Abeche, Chad’s fourth largest city and the only place of any real size that we encounter since leaving N’Djamena. We have now left the Sahara behind and are in a Sahelian landscape, with acacia trees and large herds of cattle. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 14: N'Djamena
Heading through Oum Hadjer, Mongo and Bokoro, we drive back to N’Djamena....
| On this day |
Heading through Oum Hadjer, Mongo and Bokoro, we drive back to N’Djamena. |
| Rooming |
Twin-share camping |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 15: N'Djamena
Day-use rooms available for a shower. In the evening transfer to the airport....
| On this day |
Day-use rooms available for a shower. In the evening transfer to the airport. |
| Meals |
Breakfast, Lunch |
| Included Activities |
Airpport departure transfer in the evening |
Please note: While every effort will be made to adhere to this itinerary, it may be necessary to make amendments depending upon the local conditions when we travel.
Rates & Prices
Dates & Availability
| Duration |
15 days |
Code |
ENCH |
Select a departure:
Price Breakdown
| Departure Date | Price | Local Payment | Total Cost |
| 20 Oct 2012 | R 35,225 | R 0 | R 35,225 |
| Single Supplement |
| R 2,275 |
Tour Inclusions
Arrival & Departure airport transfers, Transportation, Accommodation per itinerary or similar, Services of an English speaking driver/guide, Meals as per itinerary B-Breakfast, L-Lunch and D-Dinner, National park & game reserve entrance fees as per itinerary, Excursions & activities as per itinerary, Safari tents and sleeping mattresses
Trip Details
What's Included
Arrival & Departure airport transfers, Transportation, Accommodation per itinerary or similar, Services of an English speaking driver/guide, Meals as per itinerary B-Breakfast, L-Lunch and D-Dinner, National park & game reserve entrance fees as per itinerary, Excursions & activities as per itinerary, Safari tents and sleeping mattresses
What's Excluded
Visas and related costs, Personal Border Taxes, Drinks, tips, laundry, telephone calls and other items of a personal nature, International flights and arrival and departure taxes, Meals not listed on the itinerary, Travel and personal accident insurance, Optional excursions and activities, Sleeping bags & cushion or pillow, Personal toll fees and border taxes
Transport
Land arrangements in Chad uses Landcruisers and / or Range Rovers, which are ideally suited to the challenging conditions. Accompanied by a professional mechanic
Guiding
Services of English speaking guide / tour leader
Accommodation
Desert Camping (12 nts) and Hotels (2 nts)
Meals
14 Breakfasts, 14 Lunches and 13 Dinners
Transfers
Arrival and Departure transfers are included in this tour; therefore travellers need to supply us with their flight details as soon as possible. If you require a pre and post tour accommodation this can be organised through our offices
