Travel Guide Erg Ouarane

When you arrive in Chinguetti you see it, both disturbing by its immensity, and reassuring by the calm it inspires. To the southwest of the city, it extends for about 300 km, and is the western extension of the Erg Chech which begins in the Algerian desert. It is enough to take a few sandy streets of the old city to see the damage it causes and to realize the futility of engaging in a fight, lost in advance, against such a power. The continental trade wind, with its predominantly northeasterly direction, is its main ally in the work of conquest and destruction that it carries out! These dunes, oh so representative of the desert and often magnified through illustrations and postcards, leave a bitter taste in Chinguetti. The erg shelters some oases in the region of Adrar, then there is no more water. The corridors allowing to circulate easily between the immense cordons of dunes are called the Mghalig.Lagueila is an oasis located east of the Zarga Mountains and southwest of Chinguetti, in the middle of the Ourarane erg. It is less extensive than other oases of the Adrar, more known, as those of Mhaïreth or Tergit. The hikers who come to discover the region stop there for a picnic or a bivouac. Motorized vehicles do not have access to it. Some permanent inhabitants maintain the palm grove and plant a few vegetables (carrots in particular) and cereals.