Things to see and do Sahara

Former Place Joffre under the French occupation, she became a place of independence on 22 September 1960. Its central monument is a rider wearing the litham (piece of cloth covering the lower part of the Tuareg face). This legendary face bears the name of El Farouk. According to the local legend, this white man, white dressed, haunting the streets and squares of the city. This protective genius is one of the symbols of the mystery of Timbuktu.

Designed by the Memory of Africa Association, this museum traces the history of the mysterious city from its origins to today.

Khailil Ibrahima Touré is a man of culture. His love of tradition led him to display in this house dating from the th century traditional objects from the Arab-Berber culture. From the women's room to the kitchen, through the arms room, here is a perfect rebuilding of the old way of life. Dames, cowries of divinations, musical instruments, not forgetting arms, handcuffs of traditional prisoners and costumes, the visit is interesting and well explained. It is the most beautiful museum in Timbuktu.

Boubacar is the sole copyist of Timbuktu. In his home, he devotes himself to the ink of the poems and excerpts of Arabic manuscripts dating from the th century, such as the famous «Wind comes from the north, gold comes from the south, money comes from the white country, but wisdom comes from Timbuktu». The tour of the workshop is very interesting, the purchase in no way mandatory, and the price displayed on each copy.

In the centre of the city centre, men do the work of iron, leather, embroidery, weaving. Many objects are there. But prices are often too high.

This is the site where the famous well, disappeared today, kept by the old Buctou.

This Sudan-Moroccan style building is the most beautiful traditional house in the city.

Visitors can see the houses where the great European explorers stayed. The main ones are René Caillié (the house where he stayed collapsed in 2002), Gordon Laing and Heinrich Barth.

Built during the period of the Empire of Mali. It is said that it was an Berber woman who built her. She wanted to do it in the image of La Kaâba (the house of God), based in Mecca. During the th and th centuries, the mosque housed the famous university of Sankoré.

Built around 1400, it is the best maintained of the three major mosques in Timbuktu.

Located in the Abaradjou district north of the city, the monument was inaugurated on 27 March 1996 at the Flame of Peace ceremony celebrating the end of the rebellion in the north of the country. More than 3 000 guests, representatives of the United Nations and the African Union, attended the inauguration. The then President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré, and his counterpart in Ghana had ignited the weapons of rebel veterans to put an end to the clashes. For the people of the city and north of the country, it symbolizes peace finally found. It consists of 3 parts: the walls of the history, the stake and the silhouette of four people who hold the torch of peace.

This documentation centre bears the name of the most famous and prolific intellectual in Timbuktu. There are more than fifteen thousand manuscripts, the oldest of which dates back to 1241. These are carefully restored and archived before being consulted by scholarly researchers. Traités theological treaties, books of mathematics, astronomy, science, philosophical thinking, this library contains universal knowledge. These fragile documents shed light on the new history of the entire region.

Many sands offer a-hour excursion to the first nomadic camp.

A very good agency led by an experience guide, Aly Dicko. This child in the country surrounded by a strong and competent team. In addition to traditional circuits (Timbuktu, Dogon country, Djenné…), the agency offers pinasse excursions and walks in the desert on camel back or in 4 x 4. These tailor-made tours are tailored to all awards and groups.

Alkoye Touré, the representative of Azalaï (which means caravan of salt in tamaschek) is the correspondent of the Nomadic Travel Agency in Timbuktu. It organizes circuits in this region. Chamelières tours can be made to Araouane and Taoudénit.

This office of guides and interpreters covers the entire tourist area of Mali.

Legend tells that two brothers of the same mother, but not the same father (one songhai, the other tamashek) had decided to fight. The mother tried to interfere, but they didn't hear it. God would then have turned into a rock.

It is a small cylindrical stone. This is where the people came to make sacrifices when the village had problems.

It is said that a prophet came to pray near the cave. When he began his prayers, a dog began to bark and the prophet had no time to finish. By entering the cave, the visitor can discover some paintings that represent the traces of the hands and feet of the prophet. According to legend, the place could have been Mecca if the prophet had finished his prayer.

This crystalline massif, located in the heart of the desert, is located in one of the most beautiful regions of the Sahara. The landscape, lunar, consists of large black rocks and craters. Tuareg huts and wells are one of the few animations in this sorry spectacle. The Tuareg of the Adrar are legendary hospitality.

The Adrar can only be a reason for travel to Mali. The Adrar has many rock engravings of great aesthetic quality that represent the fauna that lived there 6 000 years ago: elephants, rhino, giraffes… Today only few rare headlines still haunt the rocky walls of the massif. They also include gazelles, antelopes, hyenas, and several species of snakes.

Located 6 km from Gao, it contains numerous funeral stelas of the th century. One of them, in marble, was reportedly burned in Almira, Spain.

Excavations revealed traces of a mosque dating from Kankou Moussa in the th century. Counting 500 FCFA for visiting the site, there is unfortunately - for the moment - a lot of things to see.

Composed of two basins, they are the only remnant of Gafsa. A few years ago, the inhabitants of Gafsa were happy to bathe there. Above the pool, a large ostensibly contemporary fresco represents Neptune. The redevelopment of the site was carried out in 1993.

Dating from the 15th century and built on Byzantine ruins, the Kasbah of Gafsa is located behind the courthouse. It was restored after having been particularly damaged during the Second World War by the explosion of a German ammunition depot. A very pleasant garden, fed by thermal springs, brings calm and serenity. This place contrasts strongly with the tumult of the city. It is a pleasant place for a walk that we recommend during your stay in the city of Gasfa.

Built by the Aghlabids and enlarged by the Hafsids, the Great Mosque of Gafsa is the third largest mosque in Tunisia. It would have seen the day between the year 800 and the year 909. As often in Tunisia, non-Muslims are only allowed to visit the courtyard. Its architecture is identical to that of Kairouan and the Zitouna mosque in Tunis. The court is surrounded by columns with capitals borrowed from other ancient monuments. Only the minaret is recent (and dates from the twentieth century), since the old minaret was in ruins.

Bypassing the Roman site and skirting the fortress, one reaches, by a little frequented entrance, the quiet palm grove with narrow roads. Extending in a rectangle of about 4 km by 3 km, it surprises by its high density and the height of its palm trees. One finds there a multitude of trees or fruit plants and sometimes even an inhabited house. In some places, the forest which clears up lets appear splendid landscapes with the red ochre of the mountains in background of this green ocean, under a deep blue sky.

Nefta is distinguished from Tozeur by its major religious role. Second holy city of Tunisia after Kairouan, it welcomes since the ninth century Sufi pilgrimages. The city has many religious buildings: two mosques and more than a hundred marabouts punctuate its landscape with their white domes. The most famous, located at the edge of the Corbeille, is the marabout of Sidi Bou Ali, a Sufi saint of the XIIIth century. It is the oldest place of pilgrimage of the city. Pilgrims still come from all over the country to venerate him.

Nefta is also known for its white sand dunes, located about 10 km from the city. There are horse-drawn carriages waiting for customers on avenue H.-Bourguiba. It's a bit long by carriage, but very picturesque. You can also go there by car, it is signposted. At the foot of the dunes, camels are waiting to take you to the top of the dune where you will have a breathtaking view of the desert, especially with the light of the sunset and a striking silence. It is also possible to make this walk on foot, about 20 minutes.

The mosque of Bled el-Hadhar (or Blad El Hadhar) is built on Roman vestiges which were used as a basis for the construction of the minaret, it was enlarged in the twelfth century, its official date of construction was set at 1193. Although smaller in size, its shape resembles the Okba Mosque in Kairouan. Its courtyard is framed by four galleries. A median nave shares the prayer room, going from the entrance to the mihrab.

The medina of Tozeur is one of the most beautiful in Tunisia. Called Ouled el-Hadef district, it dates in places from the XIVth century. You enter here in a tangle of alleys with vaulted walls and built with these superb sand-colored bricks. The medina of Tozeur is entirely built with these bricks of clay moulded with the hand and whose geometrical reasons in relief on the frontages of the houses symbolize the richness of the owner. These symbols would have a magic-religious significance. Take time to stroll in the coolness of the streets. Here you come across a small square once used to "park" dromedaries, with superb carved doors, there you stop in a bortal, these long vestibules with date palm ceilings that keep the coolness perfectly. Further on you recognize one of the many mosques, identifiable by the green door. You also have fun finding the Corinthian capitals and Roman columns from the surrounding ancient sites. Dar El Hadef is the first house of Tozeur. Today it is open to the public and its visit allows you to understand a little better the history of the medina. It is not perfectly maintained and it is a pity. Here and sometimes elsewhere, the houses of the medina of Tozeur are neither perfectly maintained nor completely renovated. The medina is also quite dirty in places. Let's hope that the classification in progress to be included in the Unesco world heritage will make this architectural jewel better preserved!

A small museum on the history of Gafsa, quite interesting for history lovers. The collections are divided into two groups: the first is made up of tools (in flint and carved stone or bone) from the prehistoric period, which are linked to the Capsian culture, while the second brings together various pieces (statues, ceramics, mosaics, etc.) from the Roman, Byzantine and Vandal periods. Two mosaics in particular, that of Venus fishing and that of the athletic games and pugilism, are particularly beautiful!

This small lake differs from its big brother by its banks eaten by reeds and dominated by steep peaks that miroitent in water. Its waters are also salted. The small village, located on the slope of its south bank, looks even more desolate and ghostly than its counterpart… No market, no petrol, nothing alone a few tents and stone boxes, most abandoned… However, if you make a small stop, you will not be submergé by an army of small sellers of flint (you find a mess in the pagaille. region), flèche and harpoons, and handicrafts. In front of the recent influx of tourists, prices have climbed, and all the goods are displayed at 5 000 FCFA… You can talk afterwards! As follows: pens are of great market value in the surroundings, and you can easily exchange one against two or three silex… You will also be offered these beautiful pink or green heels, which seem to make Fureur fureur!

4 km north of the railway line between Nouadhibou and Choûm, at kilometer 395, Ben Amira is one of the most breathtaking places in Mauritania. It is the largest monolith in Africa (over 600 m) and the third largest in the world, after Uluru and Mount Augustus in Australia. The legend says that originally there was only one monolith and that during the "divorce", the man would have stayed with the 2 children (the 2 smaller monoliths), while the woman, Aisha, would have left with her servant to settle 5 km further...

It was Augustus who erected this temple, originally located 40 km north of its present site. Earlier, Amenhetep II had built a temple here dedicated to Mandulis, also called Meru, a minor Nubian god, but also celebrated at Philae in the temple of Isis. His lion-like appearance associated him with Tefnut, the distant and dangerous daughter of Ra. Even later, he was linked to Apollo. Measuring 71.60 m long by 35.50 m wide, it was one of the largest sanctuaries in Nubia at the time, alongside Philae and Abu Simbel. The dismantling and relocation of the temple was the first work of its kind, and served as a model for all others of its kind in the region.

Two surrounding walls surrounded the temple; only one remains today.

Pylon: two upright positions indicate that masts once stood in front of this recent temple, typically of Roman date; it gives access to an open-roofed courtyard surrounded by 14 pillars.

Pronaos: once past the Ptolemaic portico, access is gained to a covered pronaos supported by eight columns.

Sanctuary: two vestibules precede the sanctuary, where Augustus is depicted giving offerings to various deities.

Enclosure: the enclosure provides access to the outer walls of the temple and to the now useless site of a nilometer.

To the west, a small chapel dedicated to Dedoun, a young Nubian god known as "the purveyor of incense", also appears at Philae.

Located on the right bank of the Nile, some 20km south of the town of Al-Minya, the Beni Hassan necropolis is a group of princely tombs dating back to around 2,500 BC. It comprises 39 tombs dug into the upper part of an arid rock. The relief and color of this rock overlooking the Nile make it one of Egypt's most beautiful sites. Only twelve tombs have decorative motifs, and of these, four are open to the public. In order, visit Khety (no. 17), Baqît III (no. 15), a little further on Khnoum-Hotep (no. 3) and Amménémès (no. 2). The last two are the largest and most beautiful. These tombs were dug at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, straddling the ^11th and ^12th dynasties (2060-1785 BC), for the nomarchs, the Pharaoh's regional representatives. Their power led to the collapse of several dynasties throughout the history of ancient Egypt.

To the south of the cemetery is a temple built by Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet 1. It is known as the Grotto of Artemis, because the Greeks syncretistically identified Pakhet with Artemis, and the temple is underground.

The numerous textiles and 38 mummies found during the excavations were put to scientific study by the Louvre in the 1990s. It revealed that mummification was not the exclusive preserve of the ancient Egyptian religion, since Egypt's first Christians, the Copts, were also mummified. If you'd like to find out more, take a look at the excellent documentary: The Mystery of the Coptic Mummies of Antinoe. The site is sometimes called Antinoe or Antinoupolis: on the site of his lover's suicide, the emperor Hadrian, who developed the Pax Romana throughout his reign, built the memorial city of Antinoe, of which only a few walls of mud bricks, shaped by the wind, remain.

With few remains, the Beni Hassan necropolis will be of interest mainly to those seeking to establish a chronology in the evolution of funerary art.

They will be seduced by the proportions of these vast tombs, of fairly simple architecture, with surprising paintings. These include a caravan of Asians, a fig harvest and a duck hunt. Whether surprisingly vivid animal scenes or depictions of wrestlers in action, they sometimes border on the comic strip or the Kâma-Sûtra. Gazelles are depicted mating, and the wrestlers aren't just fighting!

The «high dam» is located a few kilometres upstream from the river. Its construction began in 1960, following bilateral agreements between the Sudan and Egypt on the use of the 32 billion cubic metres of water that the 1929 agreements had left free.

The construction was entrusted to Soviet engineers; the work was completed in 1972. Its length is 3 600 m, its height of 111 m, with a thickness of 980 m. The dam is the centrepiece of the energy independence of the country whose electricity production exceeds its consumption.

However, different problems arise. Ethiopian and Sudanese silt deposited at the bottom of Lake Nasser and will require soon to be désensablé. The lake water reservoir could decrease if riparian countries in the Nile upstream use more water for irrigation of their land.

Nubia, which stretched south of the first cataracts, was inundated with lake waters. The population was relocated between Kôm-Ombo and Aswan, creating ethnic problems. Today, the pride of the Nubian people generates the development of clean tourism around their musical culture, culinary culture and traditions.