TCHAD
A vast, forbidding desert at the crossroads of North and Central Africa, Tchad is rarely visited by tourists. And yet this barren landscape is exquisite in its ‘splendid isolation’, its topography hugely varied and packed with hidden wonders that bear witness to a fascinating past. More than nine thousands years ago when Tchad was a land of abundant grasslands and wildlife, human settlers took advantage of its position on the trans-Saharan trade routes. Productivity and trade flourished while empires rose and fell over millennia. An exploration of this terrestrial ocean is guaranteed to set all senses tingling as the past reveals itself in tantalising fragments.
Photo Credits: Sophy Roberts
Located in the northeast of Tchad, the remote and rarely visited Ennedi Massif is a natural sandstone masterpiece spanning 50,000 sq.km of a sculpted landscape marked by cliffs, natural arches, spiring rocks, giant labyrinths, and water catchments. This Eden of the Sahara was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 for its unique natural formations and globally significant rock art. Dating back 8,000 years, the rock art is a testament to the historic role people have played in this landscape. The flora and fauna of this region is also extraordinary. Ennedi is home to a relict population of desert-adapted West African crocodiles, Barbary sheep, patas monkeys, some 525 plant species and at least 180 bird species that pass through on their transcontinental migratory routes.
ENNEDI MASSIF
Photo Credits: Sophy Roberts
WARDA CAMP
I loved Warda Camp – opened in 2018 and newly upgraded this year, created by SVS Tchad and perfect in its simplicity: a thick duvet, a fly swat, a soft light for reading, an iron trunk and seagrass carpet, with hot showers shielded by canvas to the rear of each room. We ate fresh salads and barbecued meats; the bread tasted of Tuscany, and the wines were good. At night, we drank mossy Scotch whiskies around a campfire of slow-burning acacia wood.
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Sophy Roberts for the Financial Times - Splendid Isolation
Sheltered from the desert by lofty golden cliffs, we stay at the elegant yet simple Warda Camp. With its cool and comfortable white Lotus Belle tents, classic Italian cuisine and fine wines, it is the ultimate base for our Ennedi adventure.
EXPLORING THE DESERT
Piero Ravà fell in love with the desert on an overland trip in 1975. Soon after, he formed Societé de Voyages Sahariens (S.V.S.) and began leading expeditions to Niger, Algeria, Libya and Tchad. Nearly five decades on, his sons Rocco and Tomaso, together with their team of passionate expedition leaders, continue to explore and discover.
Based in Kenya, Tropic Air Helicopters is a diverse company best known for aerial filming, wildlife conservation and bespoke expeditions to Africa's wildest and most remote regions. Over the past 20 years, Tropic Air’s clients have experienced pioneering trips to Ethiopia's Danakil depression, spent nights under the stars by the shores of Lake Turkana and even landed atop the active Virunga volcanoes.
With the Sahara too compelling to ignore, Tropic Air joined forces with S.V.S. in 2018 to create rare desert encounters in Tchad. The result has been truly extraordinary. Every trip to this remarkable land has been a voyage of discovery, the experience of working together tethering us to a future of further discovery.
Photo Credits: Sophy Roberts
ROCK ART
Ancient human life is evident throughout the Sahara. Pottery, primitive tools and iron-smelting sites give clues to an ancestral past, but none better than the numerous examples of rock art that fill the Ennedi landscape. There are hundreds of known sites and certainly many more to be discovered. The art is classed into two distinct categories: petroglyphs engraved onto large slabs of rock, and paintings normally found protected by overhanging rocks or in caves.
These masterpieces are open to interpretation. Some attest to the abundant wildlife that once roamed here, some pay tribute to the livestock the human population revered, whilst others leave us baffled with their shamanistic undertones.
Photo Credits: Sophy Roberts
WATER IN THE DESERT
Bachiguele is one of Ennedi’s most important oases, where the water flows as clear as tears through a tight sandstone canyon lined with Rauvolfia Caffra and Ficus Salicifolia trees. These precious waters are crucial to the Bideyat people's way of life. A quiet walk through this canyon opens a small window onto their semi-nomadic existence.
Archei Guelta is a favoured watering hole for camels and home to the last Saharan desert crocodiles. Perched high on the cliffs overlooking the gorge, we see camels gathering in vast herds.
Photo Credits: Sophy Roberts & Mark Hilery
BIR KORA
In 1987, an invading 1500-strong Libyan armoured task force and T-55 tanks despatched by Colonel Gaddafi was pushed back and defeated by the Tchadian army in Toyota pick-ups at Bir Kora. The remaining graveyard of Libyan tanks along with scattered unspent ammunition bear harrowing testament to this fierce battle, hidden and revealed in turn by the desert’s shifting sands.
Photo Credits: Mark Hillery
LAKES OF OUNIANGA
Beyond the Ennedi Massif and across the Mourdi Depression lie the lakes of Ounianga. Dotted across a 100km stretch of the desert, they are framed by linear orange dunes and pink and white cliffs. The lakes exhibit a variety of sizes, depths, chemical compositions and colouration. Stopping at Lake Bokou for a picnic and a bracing swim, we can witness an extraordinary hydrological system unique in Earth's deserts.
WILDLIFE
While the Ennedi is not a wildlife destination, a surprising number of animals can be found here, particularly at night. As well as the near-extinct Saharan crocodile, there are Fennec fox, striped hyena, patas monkeys, Barbary sheep, Dorcas gazelle and migratory birds.
TIBESTI
Delving deeper into Chad’s northwest, Tibesti is a combination of volcanic rock and sandstone: a 380 kilometers long mountain range made of tarsos in various states of decay, and the highest point in the Sahara. There is still life in these rocks though: you will find craters with bubbling mud, others with hot springs and some salt mines. Three times the size of Switzerland, it is mostly devoid of people, but a sense of energy pulsates through the atmosphere.
TARSO TORR
The Northwest of Tibesti is dotted with endless dramatic mountains and valleys, with big tall canyons and numerous little river crossings. The Tarso Toon, Taro Voon and Tieroko are fantastic walking destinations.
The Tarso Toon, a strato-volcano that lies in the central Tibesti mountains, it is 2,575 metres high and stretches 20 kilometers across. It also features a massive caldera.
Within this mountainous region live the rare Barbary sheep, these sheep populations have declined drastically over the years due to hunting for their skins, meat, and sinew.
BURIAL SITES
Within Tibesti you will find Compass graves. These are large stone rock canes, with a unique tear drop shape, orientated towards the East. These burial sites offer an insight into the beliefs and practices of the past. Some are as long as 80 meters, adding a layer of mystery and significance.
EMI KOUSSI
The Emi Koussi is a shield volcano that lies at the southeast end of the Tibesti Mountains. It was summited in 1938 by Wilfred Thesiger, and marks the highest point of the Sahara. Its crater is an impressive 12 miles wide and 4,000 feet deep.