|
The route from Niamey to Agadez leads us through typical Savannah landscapes with many thorny bushes. On our way, we see spherical garrets for millet and witness the colourful scenes of the hustle and bustle in the small street markets.
In Agadez, the capital of the Air Mountains, we enjoy the view from the minaret of its famous loam mosque.
The next day the tour continues further into the Air Mountains. Besides the impressive rock paintings, the oases (Iferouane, Assode, Timia) of the Air area are also of great interest, above all because of their people, their way of living and their famous silver jewellery.
Finally we head in the direction of Ténéré. Here, at the „Arbre du Ténéré“, the once famous umbrella thorn, we find ourselves right in the middle of the desert of deserts!
Everybody is overwhelmed and fascinated by this particular aspect of the desert, that being the fauna and flora, which grasps them upon entering. All forms of nature here are reduced to what is necessary alone. Everything looks untouched – a world which seems to exist without human life. After preparing the camp, it is time to climb the surrounding dunes. You can enjoy the power of this borderless and wonderful place, free from all social obligations. Nothing bars the horizon, no sign, no hotel, no motorway – and this is the same every evening.
During the winter months we meet the last salt caravans, which appear on the horizon like a mirage. With almost childish joy, news is exchanged – an event which is welcomed by the caravan guides, who normally walk with their camels through the desert in silence.
The Kaour Oases doze in the heat and appear to us like a dream: Fachi, the imaginary border of the Tuareg and Tubu area, and Bilma, the biggest and most important oasis because of its huge salt-works, where salt has been mined since the 15th century.
We travel back in a westerly direction to the Air Mountains. In Temet the highest dunes in Southern Sahara are waiting to be climbed. A unique sight to be seen is the sunset over the “Blue Mountains”: The cobalt in the marble makes the mountains appear blue at dawn. The route to the black rocks of Adrar Chiriet offers fantastic scenes for the photographers amongst us, who certainly get their money’s worth from the trip. We continue our tour along the marble mountains and through the dunes of Zagado.
The visit to the camel market in Agadez, where we not only find camels, is our last chance to imprint the colours, scents and fascinating people of the Sahara onto our minds, before we have to travel back home.
 Please ask for our more detailed programme.
 back to Tours
|
|
