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Desert · 8 days

Essential Ennedi

Eight days in the heart of the massif, flying in to Fada so that all the time goes to the ground.

Duration
8 days
Group size
4–10 travellers
Difficulty
Moderate

From€3,450per person

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The short format for those who do not have fifteen days. We reach Fada by air — three hours instead of three days on track — and give six full days to the Ennedi: Archei, Aloba, Terkei, Bachikélé, the Oyo labyrinths, the Lyre Arch.

Same massif, same quality of camp and same team as on the grand loop, without the long approach days.

Highlights

  • Domestic flight N'Djamena–Fada: three days of track saved
  • Six full days inside the massif
  • Archei, Aloba, Bachikélé, Terkei and Oyo
  • Camps at the foot of the arches

Our journeys

Upcoming departures

Provisional calendar — dates and availability are to be confirmed with the agency.

The route

N'Djamena → N'Djamena

N'DjamenaFadaGuelta d'ArcheïArche d'AlobaBachikéléTerkeiOyoN'Djamena

8 days

Day-by-day itinerary

  1. Day 1

    N'Djamena

    Arrival in N'Djamena

    Airport welcome, hotel check-in, briefing and equipment check. Depending on timing, visit to the National Museum.

    HotelDîner

  2. Day 2

    Fada

    Flight to Fada, into the massif

    Morning flight to Fada. Vehicles, formalities, then out to the first formations. Camp among the sandstone mushrooms.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  3. Day 3

    Guelta d'Archeï

    Archei guelta

    Approach walk up the wadi to the black pools. Crocodiles from the viewpoint and the constant traffic of dromedaries coming to drink. Camp nearby.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  4. Day 4

    Arche d'Aloba

    Aloba Arch

    Drive to the Aloba Arch, one of the largest anywhere. Camp at its foot, explore the surroundings, photography at sunset then under the stars.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  5. Day 5

    Bachikélé

    Bachikélé guelta

    A guelta of quite another kind: more open, fringed with palms and borassus, clear water. A baboon colony holds the cliffs. Swimming possible upstream of the drinking point.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  6. Day 6

    Terkei

    Rock art at Terkei

    A day on the painted shelters: Bovidian frescoes, older Bubaline engravings, recent Cameline dromedaries. Reading the superpositions with the guide.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  7. Day 7

    Oyo

    Oyo labyrinths and the Lyre Arch

    Walk in the sandstone corridors of Oyo, where the sky narrows to a strip. Past the Lyre Arch — Djolio — on the way back to Fada.

    CampPetit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner

  8. Day 8

    N'Djamena

    Return to N'Djamena

    Morning flight to N'Djamena. Free day, shower, farewell dinner and transfer for the international flight.

    Petit-déjeuner, dîner

What's included

  • Return domestic flight N'Djamena–Fada
  • Transport in equipped Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4 with driver-mechanic
  • Chadian French-speaking guide (English on request)
  • Cook and camp crew
  • Full board throughout the itinerary
  • Camping equipment: tent, mattress, table and chairs
  • Unlimited mineral water
  • Travel permits and site entrance fees
  • Satellite phone support and first-aid kit

What's not included

  • International flights to N'Djamena
  • Chadian visa and processing fees
  • Travel, repatriation and cancellation insurance (mandatory)
  • Alcoholic drinks
  • Tips for the team
  • Personal expenses

Sites & heritage

Les sites traversés

Natural siteUNESCO

Guelta of Archei

The most famous guelta in the Sahara: a narrow canyon whose black water, stained by camel dung, shelters an isolated population of desert crocodiles.

Geological formationUNESCO

The Aloba Arch

One of the largest natural arches on earth: a sandstone span 77 metres wide and close to 120 metres high.

Natural siteUNESCO

Guelta of Bachikélé

Less hemmed in than Archei, fringed with palms and borassus, with clear water and a baboon colony living in the cliffs.

Rock artUNESCO

Terkei

A vast set of caves and shelters once inhabited, whose walls carry some of the finest Bovidian paintings in the Ennedi.

Geological formationUNESCO

The Oyo Labyrinths

A maze of sandstone corridors stretching for kilometres, walked between vertical walls with the horizon never in sight.

Geological formationUNESCO

The Lyre Arch (Djolio)

A double arch whose two openings suggest the body of a lyre — one of the most photographed profiles in the Ennedi.

Historic town

Fada

Capital of Ennedi-Ouest and the launching point for every exploration of the massif.

Essential Ennedi

From €3,450 per person

Enquire about this journey