Streets squares and districts to visit Sahara

To try to imagine what this city could have been, it is necessary to wander through the streets of Chinguetti, sandy and blocked by the scree. You breathe Chinguetti by walking there, you measure the threat of the danger which guards the city by falling, with the angle of a street, on the dunes of the erg Ouarâne. In this maze, at the turn of a house, some goats appear, as if to show you the way. Don't be fooled by the exterior of the houses, some are still occupied in July and August for the Guetna, the festival of dates.

Several Nubian villages lie between the islands and the western shore of Aswan. The best-known (and most popular with tourists) is Gharb Sehel, opposite Sehel Island, which is partly man-made and most of the merchants don't live there... Gharb Assouan, on the western shore, is older and a real place of habitation, accessible by motorboat, or Sehel on the eponymous island. Here you can visit real settlements where crocodiles are the lucky charm of the house. The most beautiful village is on Elephantine Island, where the murals are real masterpieces.

Naama Bay is the main urban feature of the city's entertainment area. A long concrete driveway and delimited by trees arranged in a line. Much of the town's reputation for quality of life is directly related to the quality of the Naama Bay boardwalks. You will naturally come to this "waterfront" which is the entire length of Naama Bay. The languid and sustained glances that are cast upon it make it the first meeting place of the city. Beware of the gigolos, though..

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.

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.

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!

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.