Algerian Sahara Desert

After sunset in the Sahara Desert, the evening breeze makes short work of footprints, tent peg holes and tyre tracks in the dunes. Any trace of your visit in the Algerian Sahara disappears back into the sands, leaving behind only what was there in the first place: ancient rock art, traditional Tuareg culture, and beguiling desert scenery.

Algeria is the largest country in Africa, and more than 90 percent of it is covered by desert, forming part of the vast Sahara. Holidays typically begin in the capital, Algiers, on the Mediterranean coast and go south to visit the mud-walled oasis towns on the edge of the Sahara, like Biskra, known as ‘the Door of the Desert’ and famed for its dates. Or Ghardaia in the M’Zab Valley, where you can visit the local market and buy pottery, textiles and jewellery that directly support Mozabite craftspeople.

Some of our holidays venture deep into the Algerian Sahara, flying 1,700km south to the city of Djanet, and then roaming the nearby Tassili n’Ajjer National Park. “Amazing, inspiring and majestic…” – our traveller Katharine Rodde loved the experience of camping out beneath the stars, learning about Tuareg ways of life, and the sense of remoteness, of being completely off-grid, that she found here.

“Accessing the Sahara from Algeria is easier than some other countries, but what really recommends it is that in the Algerian Sahara you get some of the most impressive landscapes,” says Jim O’Brien, founder of our partner Native Escapes, who run our trips to the Sahara. “Our trip is all about the scenery, it’s absolutely spectacular.”

He’s not exaggerating – Tassili n’Ajjer is studded with tall pillars of sandstone and hundreds of rock arches formed by centuries of erosion. Approaching these geological formations over the dunes you feel like you’re an interplanetary explorer. But you’re certainly not the first to be awed by these sights – the park has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its hugely significant collection of prehistoric cave art. It’s also a Biosphere Reserve – the Saharan cypresses in Tassili are some of the longest-living organisms on Earth. There are few marked trails in this region, but where they do exist, you’ll stick to them, to avoid causing any damage to desert flora or other sensitive habitat.

The climate getting hotter, more arid the further south you go, you’ll travel in 4WDs past crumbling ksars (fortified villages), dried-out wadis, and rare waterholes where you can even stop for a swim. A typical day might see you hiking along a gorge to seek out the ruins of an old palace, admiring the ancient paintings on the wall of a cave, and then catching sunset on an ocean of dunes. Keen photographers will be in their element.

“We may meet Tuareg people on the road,” says Jim. “They might be with their livestock, or they might invite us to their camp. They’re very hospitable, but of course these encounters can’t be pre-arranged, they’re spontaneous and because of that completely authentic.”

The Tuareg are a Berber ethnic group who live across the Sahara. Today only a few Tuareg people are completely nomadic, with many now moving into farming, but their culture and traditions remain strong. One interesting example is that it is Tuareg men, not women, who wear the veil from adolescence onwards. It’s said the face covering wards off evil spirits but it also serves to protect against the harsh desert climate.

Our partners have been working in this region for some time and as such they are accepted and welcomed in communities that can otherwise be wary of outsiders. To ensure that any movements towards more ‘modern’ lifestyles are on the Tuaregs’ own initiative rather than being prompted by tourism, there is no financial payment for these cultural visits. Instead thank-you gifts are given in the form of products such as pantry goods, which are then distributed by village elders.

Our two-week small group tours in the desert use local drivers, cooks and guides. That means that as much money as possible stays in the communities you visit, while you can also enjoy rich, honest and often in-depth perspectives on Algerian history and culture from those accompanying you.

This being the desert, expect extremes of temperature, and you will want to avoid the summer (June to August) when daytime temperatures are scorching. “It can get really cold in December and January, the depths of winter, and it gets really hot in summer, so September to November, and February to April, are the best months to travel,” says Jim.

You’ll be in quite remote areas, camping every night in the desert. You will need to forgo some comforts, and accept a few restrictions on personal hygiene. But the incredible sunrises and sunsets over the dunes, in places that very few other people go, will soon make you forget you haven’t had a hot shower in a week.