Writing
Wilderness Travel
Trip Itinerary: Tibesti Mountains, Chad
Introduction
For decades the Tibesti Mountains--the highest in the Sahara--spanning the border between Libya and Chad, have been off-limits to travelers. It's estimated that fewer than one hundred Americans have ever been in this incredible range. Now, thanks to a more stable political situation in Chad, it is finally possible to experience what people who have been there consider the most breathtaking desert mountain scenery on the planet.
In this remote area of the world, the formations of brown sandstone and yellow dunes, the green oases and bright blue sky create an overwhelming sense of the powers of nature and of time. In the far northwestern corner of the Tibesti region, four- to seven-thousand-year-old cave paintings--some of the oldest in Africa--showing simple hunting scenes give us information about what life here was like when the climate was tropical and water was abundant (millennia ago, when Lake Chad was several times bigger than it is now, the Tibesti formed its northern edge). For the present, however, the untouched desert landscapes here are as fantastic and varied as anywhere on earth.
The magnificent mountain scenery alone is a reason to make this joumey--but there are also fascinating archaeological, historical, and cultural components to the trip. Magnus Andersson--who conceived, scouted, and designed this trip--is familiar to many Wildemess Travelers as the Trip Leader for some of our most remarkable adventures: in Irian Jaya, West Africa, the Congo, and Tonga & Western Samoa. Drawing on his experience with the United Nations and Red Cross in Africa, he has organized and led over 100 expeditions to 25 countries. Magnus is one of the world's last great adventurers. He is uniquely capable of facilitating incomparable cross-cultural opportunities for adventurous travelers!
