EXPEDITION by ROAD from TUNIS to LOME,

Traveling through Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Benin, and Togo

Libya was always hot on my list of places I wanted to see. The mystery of Libya, Col. Qathafi, what was he really like? As always with me rather than take the word of the media and what one hears from others, I decided to go and check it out myself. As my plane was landing in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, I was a bit nervous, anticipating what will it be like, will it be scary, as most people seem to make it sound. My travel experiences have taught me that most people I meet are just as curious and friendly to me as I am to them. My guys were there to pick me up at the airport and then we made our way into Tripoli. All was very modern, the roads, Hotels, ECT. Tripoli is situated on the shores of the Mederterainian Sea. The beaches and weather are both real fine. I found most of the stores and shops to be of a European standard. As is the case in most Arab Cities the coffee shops are the social center and meeting place for friends, this was the situation throughout Tripoli. The other thing one could witness throughout the city was several pictures of Col. Qathafi.There were more pictures, posters, banners, ECT than usual, as they were getting ready to celebrate his 37th year as the leader of Libya.

I spent a couple of days seeing the sites in and around Tripoli, but being true to my nature I was there to see the Libyan portion of the Sahara Desert. So that evening my friend and guide Adham and I boarded or flight from Tripoli heading south. Upon our arrival it was 11:O0pm and the temperature was 38 Celsius. It was very warm!  The next morning Adham and I were met by our desert driver and cook, the four of us made our way out to the desert. It was not long before we were in the middle of nowhere, felt just as remote as many other places in the Sahara I had visited. It was truly beautiful as our first night we saw very large Dunes and one of the most gorgeous full moons I had ever seen. 

I had the privilege and pleasure of spending the next five days exploring these remote beautiful areas of the Libyan Sahara.

My original plan was to explore Libya for ten days and then meet up with my fellow Sahara traveler Alberto and some others that were traveling with him. The plan was to meet at a very tiny out of the way border post at the Libyan Niger border. They were coming from Tunis. A few days prior to our meeting the border we were to meet at was suddenly closed. Alberto and the others could not enter Libya due to this fact, so they had to travel through Algeria to Niger. This made it almost impossible for us to meet. So I caught a flight back to Tripoli and then made a connection to Niamey the capital city of Niger. Now I was a very long distance from the new meeting place, which was to be the desert border outpost called Assamaka. In order for me to get to Assamaka, I boarded a bus from Niamey to Agadez, some 14 hours later I arrived in Agadez. The next day I was met by two locals with a Toyota pickup, we departed Agadez and two days later we arrived in Assamaka. With only about a five-hour wait my fellow travelers arrived from the Algerian side of the border. Quite an adventure just to meet up with the others. We spent the night in the desert outside of Assamaka, and had a well deserved rest before starting the next portion of our expedition, which would be 15 days traveling through remote regions of the Niger Sahara.

I was now back into one of my favorite places on earth, The Sahara Desert. This was my first time traveling in Niger. I found it to be quite different from all of the other areas of the Sahara I had previously explored. The terrain and scenery was more varied, from sand to rocks, and the largest Dunes I had personally seen. I am still completely fascinated at how many different shades of tan and brown colors one can possibly see must be twenty different shades of these colors. 

As we made our way to the northwest, we would travel through areas not often visited by outsiders. The other aspect that made our trip unique was that we were traveling in late August and early September. The average temperature at this time of the year is about 42-47 degrees during daytime and at night a balmy 35 degrees. This is extremely hot and that is why we saw NO other travelers, so we literally had the desert to ourselves!  

After about three days of no human contact and no signs of civilization, we came to the small village of Djado. This is really in the middle of nowhere. There was the newer part of the village where the people were currently living. We met the local chief as he extended a very warm welcome to us. After walking around the village and meeting the people, we drove about ten kilometers from the village to witness the ruins of the old village. It was about one thousand years old and what a site!

From Djado our journey would turn in a southerly direction. On this route we passed through the tiny village of Seguedine. There were a few small local shops and a very small military outpost. Please keep in mind that it had now been about two weeks in total since anyone of us had experienced a cold drink. One of my fellow travelers noticed two fridges on the side of the street, so we all got excited at the prospect of a cold drink. They did have cokes and an orange drink, but they were not cold, the guy told us that it had been six months since they had any gas to run the fridge.

After two days of traveling very flat sand conditions we arrived at the village of Dirkou. As I mentioned, for two days we saw nothing, not even a tree. All of the sudden in the distance we could make out what looked like trees and sure there was. The village of Dirkou is an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was a town of about five thousand people; it was the largest town we had seen on this portion of our journey. There was some electricity from a hugh solar station on the edge of town. We stayed at the mayor of the town’s house that evening as our trip leader Alberto had met the mayor on previous travels to the area. They had cold drinks and cold beers, so it was quite a party that night!  The next day before departing Dirkou, we made our way to the local shops and market. We were the only westerners in town and I think maybe the only ones for about the last six months.

As we continued south we had several days traveling through large Dunes. It was simply some the most beautiful desert I had ever seen, an endless sea of sand. In this area we could travel at a speed of about 60 Kilometers per hour in our vehicles. Gazing out the window, all I could see looking left or right were these amazing Dunes.

We had now started heading in a southeastern direction, with our destination being the major town of Agadez.The only bad part about getting to Agadez is the fact that we would then be leaving the desert. There was one great stop en route to Agadez and that was the town of Fachi. Fachi has the largest working salt mine in this area of the Sahara. Upon our arrival in Fachi, we had a quick lunch and then made our way to the salt mines. What a site! There was about 60 people working that day and let me tell you this is some the most difficult hard manual labor I have ever seen, but they welcomed us with the typical Hugh warm African smile.

We had a couple more days of travel before reaching Agadez. Upon reaching Agadez, we treated ourselves to a proper Hotel, a shower and a wonderful meal out with cold drinks! 

The next leg of this amazing journey would take us in a southerly direction. 
As we departed Agadez we pretty much departed the Sahara and headed into the savannah. The geography changed quite a bit as we saw more trees and vegetation. After completing a very long day of travel our next stop was the border crossing between Niger and Benin. We spent the next eight days traveling through Benin and to our final destination, Togo. These are two of the smallest countries in West Africa, but are very rich with traditional African culture. Our highlight in Benin was walking through a couple of remote mountainside villages. The only access to these villages was on foot. As we approached the first village it was as we traveled back in time. There were about twenty-five people living in the village. My first encounter was the fetish priest of the village. He is the elder and wise man; people must go to him for advice and other important events in their life. He will usually preside over a marriage as well. Fetish worship is a common way of life in Benin. One can make a fetish display area at their home and choose to worship anything or maybe a god.

As we set off on foot for the next small village, I found myself sitting in a hut with a traditional blacksmith who was making arrows and spears for hunting. Again it felt as though I was back a thousand years in time. The blacksmith let me have a go at fanning the fire and some metal pounding, it was much more difficult than I thought it would be!

One more day was spent traveling villages in Benin and then we crossed a small remote border station into Togo. Our African staff were all from Togo, so you could see the look on their faces as they were happy to be home, however it would be another six days before we reached the capital city of Lome which was also our final destination. In addition to fetish worship in Togo, it is the Voodoo capital in West Africa. Voodoo is a religion, but it is real famous for its lively celebrations of worship, lots of dancing, drumming, chanting, ECT. Some of these celebrations will incorporate fire dancing as well. We did have the pleasure of attending two different evenings of Voodoo; it was fun and very lively. If you went to one of these celebrations tired, you would not be after you left!

One other event that is popular in Togo but not well known is horse dancing. Most often this will be a group of about four to six men each one with his own horse. There is live music, usually drumming. The horses then dance to the beat of the music. I had never witnessed an event that requires such an intimate connection between the horse and the man. It was truly a work of art and beauty.

As we departed this central area of Togo, we headed south for the capital city of Lome, our final destination. Lome is located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.  Much to our surprise as we entered the Mercure Hotel, we were greeted by Television Camera Crews; I guess we had our few minutes of fame. The average traveler does not often undertake a trip of this magnitude, so they wanted to interview us to find out about the trip. The minister of tourism for Togo was there to welcome us as well.

The Expedition was now over, but not my travels. In order for me to get back to my base in Cape Town, South Africa, I had to fly via Nairobi, so I decided to visit my Masai friends in Tanzania. Upon arrival in Tanzania, I traveled out to the remote village at Lake Natron. It is a beautiful spot situated in the Great Rift Valley. I spent the next few days visiting my friends, relaxing, and exploring the area. I also had the honor of meeting and interviewing the local chief.After six weeks of very difficult travel, I caught a short flight to the Island of Zanzibar for a few days of well deserved relaxing on the beach before heading back to South Africa.