AFRICAN ENCOUNTER

Overland Safari Blog

January – May 1973

Part Twelve - From Niger through Algeria

Introduction

The last instalment of this Blog left us sleepng under the Stars in the Republic of Niger in the Sahara Desert, fairly well away from what we would think of as civilisation, but strangely, not that far, witness the Satellites that could be clearly seen passing in their orbits, were they watching us?. There are not many photographs of Algeria for the simple reason that we did not spend long in the country and were on the move most of the time - to  find out more, read on!  

Signs of a more prosperous population as we approached the town of Tamanrasset

Algeria and its neighbouring countries 

Our route took us north from In Guezzam on the Border with Niger, to Tamanrasset then East to the mountains, and back. Then - with great haste North to In Salah and then West to Reganne and north to Adrar then Bechar and across the border into Figuig in Morocco

April 23-25 1973

We had crossed into Algeria on 22 April and had camped by the Border. There had been some sort of immigration control there, but not of the strict variety we had met between other countries. I clearly recall that we went to the Official with our Passports ready for examination but were told that we should report to control in Tamanrasset.  

This we did, and I also recall that the Border crossing was a rather busy place, certainly for the middle of the Desert. There were huge lorries travelling in each direction on the Trans-Sahara Highway, and I recall having a converstation with a hitch-hiker from one of them who was on his way South. He had left the lorry to stretch his legs etc.but as we spoke he was shocked to see his lorry starting to head south with his possessions on board - panic - the stuff that nightmares are made of! Fortunately the Lorry stopped after a few yards and the Driver got out to attend to his needs of nature, while the hitch-hiker sped into his place in the lorry. 

Whilst talking of the Needs of Nature i am reminded of the one of the causes of them, COCA-COLA. This was not something I had drunk much of before this trip, but right throughout Africa it had been easily available, even in the most remote areas. I imagine it provided some liquid refreshment and no doubt, some sugar input, as well as chemicals - and it was noticeable how it became very habit forming.   

There was also the story, maybe apocryphal,about a Truck making a Loo stop, in the Desert where there was no vegetation.  The "custom" was that Men went on one side and the Women on the other.On the occasion about which I heard , the driver, obviously a bit of a wag, decided to move off as everyone was in mid-flow, and they were left facing one another squatting or what ever!  

To return to the journey - I knew little, or nothing about Algeria other than what I had heard once on the Radio when Beau Geste was dramatised in a very particular form, which reflected the mores of the time, and what I had also heard on the Radio on news broadcasts covering the fight for liberation from French colonisation - a familiar story thoughout Africa, and one which had its repercussions back home in France where the cry of "Algerie Francaise" was chanted in the streets of Paris and elsewhere.

My Dagboekie then records that we passed through In Guezzam and camped in a "Dried-up River Bed before Tamanrasset"  - how long it had been dried-up I know not, but it may well have been centuries since it saw any serious water. Wikipedia give some relevant information on this subject : The Tamanrasset River is an enormous palaeoriver believed to have flowed through West Africa as recently as 5000 years ago during the African humid period. The Tamanrasset River basin is thought to have been comparable with the present-day Ganges-Brahmaputra river basin in Asia.(It seems that Global Warming is not a new feature and today's population is seeing, or contibuting to events which have happened before. , 

Here is some more current information about Tamanrasset, thanks to Wikipedia, some of it interesting and some of it tragic. 

It is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg, and is located an altitude of 1,320 metres (4,330 ft). As of the 2008 census, it has a population of 92,635, up from 72,741 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 2.5%.

Tamanrasset was originally established as a military outpost to guard the trans-Saharan trade routes. Surrounded by the barren Sahara, very high temperatures of over 47 °C (117 °F) have been recorded here. Tamanrasset is located at an oasis where, despite the difficult climate, citrus fruits, apricots, dates, almonds, cereals, corn, and figs are grown. The Tuareg people were once the town's main inhabitants. Tamanrasset is a tourist attraction during the cooler months. Visitors are also drawn to the Museum of the Hoggar, which offers many exhibits depicting Tuareg life and culture.

The city is served by Tamanrasset Airport and the Trans-Sahara Highway - i.e. the "road" that we had been following. 

Tamanrasset originated as the centre of a network of camel caravan trading routes from Kano, Lake Chad. Gao, Agades, and Zinder. When Algeria was under French rule the town was established as a military post, originally named Fort Laperrine, after General François-Henry Laperrine who died in the desert nearby.

On 13 February 1960, during the Algerian War, Gerboise Bleue - the first French nucleart rest – detonated in the middle of the Algerian Sahara, located about 800 km to the north-west of Tamanrasset.

On 1 May 1962, near Ecker, 150 km north of Tamanrasset, there was an accidental ventin of a French undergroun nuclear test. Due to improper sealing of the shaft, a spectacular flame burst through the concrete cap and radioactive gases and dust were vented into the atmosphere. The plume climbed up to 2600 m high and radiation was detected hundreds of kilometres away. About a hundred French soldiers and officials, including two ministers, were irradiated. The number of contaminated Algerians is unknown, also

A large underwater volcanic eruption 15 January 2022, in the Pacific island nation of Tonga created a planetary shockwave that circled the Earth at least three times over several days. The antipode of the pressure wave was in Tamanrasset. The initial wave reached the city approximately 18 hours after the explosion.

This is all intresting information but we were not destined to see much of the town / city  of Tamanrasset, here was the point at which we elected to turn off right (East)  and view the Hoggar Mountains and search for the Hermitage which we had heard existed in the mountains (since the Immigration office was closed). This was not our finest hour as we drove for many miles on a decent road away from our planned route and with no prospect of seeing any form of life. The mountains themselves did have an aspect of beauty to them and simply to see a mountain range in the desert was awe inspiring. 

The Hoggar Massif - A Volcanic Plug

It is probably worth recording that the Sahara appeared incapable of supporting flora or fauna we were to find that this was an incorrect assumption. There were trees, or the remains of them and presumaby seeds which had blown there and lay awaiting the first rains to burst in to life. There was also wildlife - I recall seeing, much to my amazement something in the distance, among the dnes which looked like a small, and very fast antelope. It seems that animals that live in deserts have evolved to a state where they minimal amounts of water which they can get from the odd plants which exist in the Desert.  

Ultimately we turned around and headed back to Tamanrasset, without finding the Hermitage, where we knew that we had to find the local “police” station to report our presence and have our passports validated.

It was here that we found that we were not exactly welcome in Algeria, we were told  to the effect that we should not be in the country and that we had to get out asap!. There was a comsiderable degree of urgency about the order, and one that we could not afford to ignore, at peril of spending time in an uncomfortable Algerian prison. So we drove night and day for the next 24 hours, using two of our number as extra drivers, whilst the rest of us tried to sleep sitting up in the back of the truck, on what mercifully was a reasonable road for the Desert. 

One of the effectsof this order was that there was little time for photography, also the film that I had brought were rapidly running out.

Fortunately our efforts to speed our journey, and after an all-night all-day session we arrived   and we arrived at the town of In Salah, where we gratefully camped.for the night

The following day we continued, throuhg Agoulef. It was here that the Trailer''s Tow-bar broke - how it was mended I know not, but it was, and so we continued to through Reggane and then camped again before we reached the town of Adrar

28 April

At Adrar we tried the local shops, where some goodies were on sale the like of which we had only been able to dream of until now. To make our purchases we needed local currency and it was here that we had a great windfall. Where we changed ouir money, was clearly not up to date with exchange rates, or conversion, with the result that what occurred was in effect a massive devaluaton of the Algerian Dinar - which we only realised later when we came to exchange experiences back at the Truck. 

From Adrar we headed north to Kerzaz and camped "on the right" beyond the Town. 

29 April

We rose farly learly and continued our journey through Guerziam, Beni Abbas and Bechar; all of which looked very interesting places, but sadly we did not really have time to indulge in tourism given that we were not meant to be in the country at all 

On reaching Beni Abba we left the main road, which went north towards the Meditteranean and the City of Algiers itself,.and heaaded West towards Figuig. Having reached the Border and exited Algeria we camped for the night in "no-mans land" before attempting to go into Morocco. 

At this stage of the journey the pull of "Home" (at least for some of us) had started to be felt and there were dreams of flights home to Europe once we had reached southern Spain, but that was still a long way off, with much to be encountered on the way. 

Next Instalment: Some more sandy roads, as well as Rivers, Lakes and ancient cities, Water Sellers and, hopefully a few more pictures.