Touareg festivals, scenery draw tourists to Algerian desert

From ochre ksours to breathtaking mountain vistas, the hidden treasures of the vast Algerian desert offer visitors a unique winter holiday.

Text and photos by Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 30/12/10

With many Algerian hotels filled to capacity for the winter holiday season, adventurous tourists are seizing the opportunity to go further afield and spend their vacations in one of the world's largest deserts.

The desert plains of Hoggar and Tassili, each as large as France and offering visitors dramatic lunar landscapes, cave engravings and vast open spaces, are wildly popular destinations for the end-of-year holidays.

Djanet, a small oasis town in the Tassili plateau some 1,800 kilometers from Algiers, is swarming with people preparing for Sbiba. The celebration of reconciliation between Touareg tribes attracts both Algerians and tourists, who appear overwhelmed by the beauty of the spectacle and the rich history of the region.

Despite being a top attraction for holiday-makers, the town has little to offer in the way of accommodation: just a hotel with around thirty rooms and a touristic village at the town entrance, with bungalows built in the local architectural style.

"It's a problem," admits Moussa Ag Moulay, manager of a travel agency in Djanet. Then again, most tourists don't stay in the town.

"They go off to explore the big open spaces and see the cave engravings, and mostly stay at temporary campsites," he tells Magharebia. "They love it."

This year, bad news spoiled the holiday season. For security reasons – namely, the kidnappings and other threats posed by terrorists along the main desert roads – the government closed the Hoggar and Tassili nature parks to tourists.

The decision resulted in booking cancellations from 50,000 foreign tourists who were due to spend their end-of-year holidays here, says Cherif Menacer, vice-president of the National Union of Travel Agencies (SNAV).

But many other visitors were already here when the decision came down. They express frustration over not being unable to "lose themselves in the desert and switch off from reality for a few days". Joala, an Italian architect, visits Djanet regularly. She's making the best of it, despite the travel restrictions.

"I'll visit authorized places nearby, such as the Ambassadors' Grotto or the village of Ihrir, and then I'll attend the Sbiba Festival," she says. '"That alone makes it worth the trip. It is a fabulous journey through time and space."

Venturing deeper into the desert, we head some 400 kilometers south of Djanet to Tamanrasset, where yet another festival is under way.

Performers from across Algeria have gathered for an Amazigh song festival. Beautiful shows entrance locals and tourists, making the end-of-year holidays all the more joyful and lively.

Here, too, the decision to close the parks in the Hoggar region has had a dramatic impact. Travel agencies are still trying to prevent the situation from becoming a total disaster.

"Normally, we used to organize tours over two weeks or more, but now we are confined to short ones around the suburb," says Habib Ben Messaoud, the owner of a Tamanrasset travel agency.

"No tourists have ever had problems using travel agency services, even at the height of the Azaoued conflict in northern Mali," he tells Magharebia. "Many tourists, especially the Germans, prefer using their trucks and motorbikes. They don't even pass through town, and go mountain climbing and explore the desert. They go as far as the Tenere Desert. It's a real adventure."

Assekrem, less than 100 kilometers away, has been invaded by visitors unable to find lodging in Tamanrasset during the popular Amazigh festival. At an altitude of up to 3,000 meters, the majestic mountains offer a lunar-like view of the Hoggar plateau.

Sunset is breathtaking; sunrise completes the awe-inspiring experience.

The small shelter that serves as an inn cannot accommodate all visitors. Tents have been put up at the bottom of the mountain, but because of the freezing temperatures at night, many people prefer to stay up until daybreak by singing, dancing or playing cards and dominoes.

Li Wang, a Chinese construction worker who lives in Algiers, was exploring the Algerian desert for the first time. "It's really fabulous. Algiers was covered in snow when I left it, and here it's like the middle of summer," he says with a smile.

"The scenery is stunning and people are different from city-dwellers. I plan to tell my countrymen to come here when they get time off," he adds.

We continue our desert tour in Ghardaïa, the capital of the Rustamid dynasty. Its five legendary ksours (fortified villages), unique architecture and history attract tourists. They love to walk the alleys of Beni Yezguen or visit the Lalla Achi auction market.

The city is festive all year round; the end-of-year holidays are no exception. The town boasts hotels and restaurants for every budget. Flights come here directly for those wanting to avoid a long drive.

Further west is Timimoun, the "red oasis". The red ochre-colored ksours, the music and the life style lure a growing number of domestic and foreign tourists to the region every year. There are no restrictions on their movements here.

Although there are a dozen or so small hotels, the town cannot accommodate all its visitors. Local residents often rent out their flats or campsites to tourists.

On the outskirts of Timimoun, dozens of ksours – some still inhabited, others in ruins – tell the story of the region. The area, known for being a staging post for caravans along the famous "Salt Route" between the north of the continent and the south, retains traces of its history as a "crossroad of civilizations". Its neo-Sudanese architecture is also found in towns like Timbuktu or Gao.

Bachir Fennoughil, a teacher from Timimoun who also works as a guide at the ksours, tries to explain the meaning of their Touareg names to a group of French tourists. Stéphanie, an anthropologist from Montpellier, was eager to sleep in the room where Princess Grace of Monaco once stayed, but Bachir told her that the Oasis Rouge hotel had since been turned into a museum.

We continue our journey to the north, passing by what is known as the "knot of oases", along the Grand Occidental Erg, a huge mountain of sand stretching over 2,500 kilometers. Oases appearing from nowhere still resist sand and isolation.

The oases of Beni Abbes and Kerzaz in particular invite one to stop for meditation and relaxation, but their isolation makes them ill-equipped to receive tourists. Further north is Taghit, a place that inspires dreams in all who visit it.

Wedged between a dune overlooking the entire town and the surrounding oasis, Taghit is a gem that harbors archaeological treasures, including cave engravings. But accommodations in Taghit are also scarce, which is why traditional houses are attracting more and more tourists.

These dwellings, most of which have been renovated and refurbished by local people to provide lodging for visitors, are helping to boost "home-stay tourism", explains Salah Boungab, the owner of one such property and the founder of the Maison des artistes in Taghit.

Several students traveled here from Algiers for their winter holidays. They had to spend their first night in their car.

"The only hotel is fully booked all year round, the inn has been booked for months, and we even had to book in advance to rent private accommodation", medical student Amar tells Magharebia. The group eventually found a house to rent, right in the middle of the oasis.

"I thought we would end up finding some old house in the center just so we could drop off our luggage and sleep for the night," his friend Samir says. "Instead, we get a little heaven on earth."

The young students from Algiers join the festive crowds. The oasis is swamped with tourists from all over, which gives it an atmosphere that will only grow as the end of the year draws nigh.

This week, in the last few days before 2011, it will host the 11th Marathon des Dunes and a cultural event dubbed "On the Trail of the Desert Caravans". These two events alone are expected to attract some 7,000 Algerian and foreign tourists.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2010/12/30/reportage-01.