Algeria - Castles made of Sand

Hi Ineke! Tell us, how do you end up in southern Algeria?
My passion for the Toeareg nomads drew me - literally and figuratively – to the desert. I wanted to know how it is possible to live in the desert. My image which was full of heat and sand appeared not to be correct. I met a Toeareg archaeologist (online) who told me a lot about his people. He helped me with a painting I was making with their writing language – Tifinagh – in it. I got more and more captivated with the people, their music, their rock paintings and the simplicity of living in the desert. This resulted in a trip for three months to Djanet and Tamanrasset. UNESCO organized by coincidence a series of lectures about the preservation of Toereg culture. 

And then you established a travel organization...
Well, after those three months I didn’t want to go back home. I decided to work together with professional guides and chauffeurs to initiate trips to the National Parks of southern Algeria. I’ve guided cultural trips in Greece in the past. I thought it would be great to show this beautiful landscape and desert life with the Toeareg to travellers. 

After the idea the time of figuring out how to do this started. Where could I find reliable and serious guides? What did I want to show? Which routes will we take? How will I learn their language – Tamachec? And, from what place can we do a direct flight to avoid Algiers? Other cultural questions also arose. Will I be accepted, being a woman? How to do business with this culture which clearly wasn’t my own yet? Where could I find the best places to show travelers?

All these questions needed answers so that the expeditions would also benefit the Toeareg. It now offers work for the guides, chauffeurs, people with camels and the cook. Also the goldsmith clan gets some support via the Nomads Project.

Do you live there the whole year? Are there tourists continuously? 
From October to April I live there. The tourist season starts at the end of October and lasts until the end of April. After that period there are no more direct flights and it gets way to hot. Because of the altitude of the area (around 1500 meters above sea level), the temperatures from November to April are the best for travelling here. November for instance has and average between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius. 

How is safety over there? Exciting experiences?
Fortunately I haven’t had dangerous experiences. We have contact regularly with the National Parks and Dutch Ambassy in Algiers regarding safety. We always check if something is happening.

Last year a part of this area was closed down for tourism – near the border of Niger. We have helped some travellers incidentally with visas who wanted to travel from Tunesia to Niger with own transportation. We don’t do that at the moment because of the problems that can occur near the border with Niger.

We always carry a satellite telephone in case something happens. Sometimes roads can’t be passed because of rain for instance. Then we have to adjust the route. This can happen and then you have to adapt to the circumstances.

How are the people? And how do they see tourist?
The Toeareg are proud and hospitable people. Whenever you visit them you’ll be spending two hours with them on drinking tea before know it. Leaving before finishing three cups of tea can be seen as rude. 

Tourists are always welcome. The Toeareg are interested in how you live your life and what you do. Their pride has mainly to do with living in the desert, together with nature and the freedom that comes with it. Most of the Toeareg wouldn’t trade their life with our, often hastily, existence with busy jobs and without a lot time for each other.

Foreign tourists mean work, so also income. The people who own camels can earn money with camel trips. The Toeareg men, a lot of them know the desert like their back pocket, guide the area. The Toeareg (also known as ‘Targuis’) are professional people who take their jobs very serious and, above all, they enjoy showing ‘their’ desert.



How do you travel in the desert? What are the preparations? And, what do you show visitors?
Behind the scenes we take care of visa invitations. Nationals Parks, the Algerian and Dutch embassy are being informed regarding travel dates, program and visitors. The Toeareg crew and me meet beforehand to talk about the route, the food, appointments regarding times and places. 

I take care of transfers from the airport, the briefing in the hotel and I give last minute travel tips. It is good to go well prepared on a trip with the Toeareg. Before leaving everybody receives the program and after booking a pack list for the trip will be send to you. During the trips it’s almost impossible to call home or to take a shower. Sometimes we find a well which allows us to take a short dip; otherwise you’ll have to wait until the last day in the hotel.

Travellers can choose a varied journey. A week per four wheel drive, a week with the camel caravan. There is also the possibility to would two weeks with camels, or to go check out the rock paintings that are on the UNESCO heritage list on the Tassili Platform nearby Djanet. Combinations are also possible. 

During the four wheel drive trip you see the best, most varied landscape which quickly changes. Unparalleled beauty: bizarre rock formations, red/orange and yellow sand dunes of hundred meters high, rocks which look like camels, people with elephants, high mountains, old tombs, centuries old rock paintings and engraving, ponds with fish, villages (like Iherir and Djanet) near oases, dry river beddings with plants, herbs, gazelles, marmots and donkeys, semi nomadic living Toeareg in reed huts, tents and little villages. And, above all, the silence of the immeasurable vastness of the desert. Going on a trip with the Toeareg guides is an experience on itself. They show you how to make bread in the desert sand, sometimes they spontaneously start making music, singing old songs. 

What is – for you – the best thing during the trips?
The simplicity of living in the desert is something you have to be open for as a traveller. It are the moments as a participant where you’ll be struck by the immense grandeur and silence of the desert.

Next to desert trips you also do other things…
Purchase and selling of jewelry, (indigo) fabric, bags and more – all made by the Inaden, the gold smith clan of Niger. This jewelry is being sold during festivals and lectures. 2,50 Euro per item is going to the Nomad Project. This allows them to buy medicine, milk powder and more for the camps during the dry seasons. We also visit these camps in November.

And what keeps you busy back home?
During the wintertime I stay in the desert. When its summer I stay in Greece a couple of months, in between I’ll visit The Netherlands. Sometimes I visit a festival or give a jewelry presentation.

Those lectures of the Toeareg culture and jewelry presentations I do in hotels and musea in Greece, or on request. In the first weekend of October I’ll be doing a expositions about a new collection in Groningen (in the north of The Netherlands). 

When people are interested in more information, where do they find you?
For more information around the Nomad Project, questions about the Toeareg culture, jewelry expositions and desert trips, people can visit my website: www.sahara-art-venture.nl



Pictures of the Toeareg and the landscapes of southern Algeria can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahara-art-venture/show/