Chad, officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked nation in the north-east of Africa. Home to around 12 million inhabitants of different ethnicities, it is a place where cultures converge across three climate zones of the Sudan, Sahel and Sahara regions.
Buried deep in the heart of the Sahara Desert is the Ennedi Massif – a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its sandstone mountains and unique rock formations. Spanning 50,000km, the Ennedi Massif continues to provide much needed shelter for the inhabitants, the flora and the fauna of this region – and has done for millennia.
Here natural beauty and biodiversity come together to form some of the largest sandstone arches on the planet. And hidden among them are natural springs, known as gueltas that house the endangered West African Crocodile, while also serving as a life source for flocks of Barbary Sheep, herds of camels and generations of nomadic people since time immemorial – all while the Barbary falcons swirl overhead above the lofty sand spires.
The spectacularly unique landscape of the Ennedi Massif was formed by millions of years of erosion, and it is the permanent underground waters of this plateau that sustain such a rich ecosystem. With thousands of paintings engraved on the rocky surfaces of its caves and canyons, this region offers up one of the largest rock art collections in the Sahara to tell an ancient story.
Experts estimate some of the oldest rock art in this region dates back to the repopulation of the Sahara at the end of the last ice age – about 10,000 years ago! And because of the sheer volume of the paintings and engravings in this area, it has been possible to reconstruct, decipher and map out not only the daily lives, cultural and economic values of our Saharan ancestors, but also form a perspective on the main stages of the climate and environmental change that took place here.
The landscape of the Ennedi Massif is, in a word, breathtaking. The silhouettes of the cliffs, rock formations and tassilis plateaus set against a backdrop of glistening golden sand dunes in some parts, and forest covered valleys in others, offers a symphony of contrasting beauty.
With one sweep of the eyes, you are transported from dizzying heights to the depths of narrow gorges, and from immense desert plateaus to refreshing water basins, framed by delicate and imposing natural stone arches.
A sanctuary of calm and beauty, the Ennedi Massif is a magical kingdom that has stood the test of time. And standing proud as one of the last remaining biodiverse ecosystems in the world’s largest desert, the Ennedi Massif is a testament not only to the existence of our prehistory, but also a real snapshot in time of life during the ‘green Sahara’ era.
Let's go!
DAY 1: N’djamena
Meeting at airport for Ethiopian via Addis to N’Djamena. Immigration adventure, police registration. Today we’ll spend a night at the city hotel.
DAY 2-3: N’Djamena – Moussoro – Road to Kalait
Today we leave the city toward Moussoro where we continue our journey off-road heading towards a desert camp in the village of Kalait.
DAY 4: Kalait – Guelta Bachikele – Ennedi
Our first stop in the village of Kalait is the bustling market to pick up supplies, before heading into the majestic Ennedi mountains. Here we will spend our time exploring numerous sandstone rock formations, carved by the wind and erosion, to create weird and wonderful shapes. We will also visit several rock-art sites with works hanging overhead depicting cows, camels, and warriors. It’s very likely that we will also visit an ancient burial site, about which almost nothing is known, in the Tubu territory.
Here we will meet nomads – passing small groups of tents as we spot them on their way to pasture with their camels or drawing water from wells.
DAY 5: Ennedi – Guelta Archei
The landscape in this region is truly spectacular and we’ve picked a campsite in the prettiest area in the Ennedi mountains in the North East, known for its red sandstone massifs sculpted by nature into fascinating rock formations over the millennia. This is one of Chad’s most beautiful areas, with natural arches, deep gorges and isolated waterholes that make it a real joy to explore.
DAY 6: Guelta Archei – trekking Guelta – Kalait
Today’s highlight is undoubtedly the Guelta d’Archei, the only permanent waterhole in the region, situated amidst a dramatic and towering gorge. Here you will see possibly up to 600 camels quenching their thirst as their bellowing echoes bounce off the rock walls. Guelta is also home to one of the last populations of the Saharan crocodile, who live in small waterholes. Reduced to a population of around only 10, no young Saharan crocodiles have been seen for years. Leading to speculation that the population is either entirely male or female and headed for extinction soon. But with any luck we should be able to still spot them. As we head out of Ennedi, we stop at the market in Kalait again for more supplies, before heading south on a different route. We will travel through a more typically ‘African’ landscape, with settled villages and mud huts replacing the camel hair tents of the Tubu.
DAY 7: Kalait – Abeche
Today we pass through the towns of Arada and Biltine before reaching Abeche, the largest town we would have seen since N’Djamena. From here we head west, and because this area is more densely populated, we can expect to hit some traffic on our journey back. Abeche is the capital of the Ouaddai province – once the seat of an ancient sultanate that played an important part in Saharan trade, linking tropical Africa to the slave markets of Tripoli.
DAY 8: Abeche – Mongo - N’djamena
Today we transfer on paved roads to Mongo, soaking in panoramic views of the savvanah. As we pass through the beautiful and bustling region of Guera, known for its granite peaks aka “vultures mountain”, we will come across some of the richest markets in Chad, before stopping at the village of Ab Toyour. And finally, when we do arrive in N’Djamena, we will be transferred to our hotel for the night.
DAY 9: N’djamena - return
Its time to bid farewell to Chad and head back to airport for return flight home.
Level:
Easy, however it is a journey to the heart and soul of Africa, area with limited facilities.
Activities:
Trekking, sightseeing
Duration: 9 days
Accommodation & meals:
2 nights in the hotels in N'djamena - double sharing and camping. Meals included except meals during transfers.
Specifically excluded:
Visas, meals on transfers, entry fees if any, insurance.
Cost: 2150 EURO + flight approx. 4,945 AED. Cost valid until OCT 15th.
Requirement:
Comfortable shoes, camping equipment, head lamp, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, sleeping bag, disposable plates and cutlery, gifts for tribes.
Visa:
All passports except UAE require Consulate visa (Abu Hail), approx. 500 AED.
Expect:
Real, raw Africa! Limited facilities with shower only every other day, lifetime experience with indigenous African tribes, waking up to sound of villages, stunning landscapes, tons of smiles but also striking poverty - share your t-shirts! Come back home with high appreciation of your life.
See yah in Chad **
Trekkup Crew
Whatsapp 050484823
Find all trekkups at linktr.ee/trekkup
You may also like the following events from Trekkup Dubai:
- This month, 25th July, 09:00 pm, Lakescapes | Journey through Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan in Dubai
- This month, 26th July, 02:00 am, Queen of the Desert | Journey Across Namibia in Dubai
- This Thursday, 31st July, 02:30 pm, Jungle, Rocks and Elephants | Bucket List of Sri Lanka in Dubai
Also check out other
Trips & Adventurous Activities in Dubai,
Arts events in Dubai.
