pists in Algeria

[jltoul]

Has someone informations about the following pists :
-how is the pist Djanet to Ghat from Djanet to its southern point ?
-from this point going south east ( toward In Ezzane ) on some maps there is some pist : is it camel pist or nothing more ?
-in the north of Zaouatallaz is , towards north east , the ancient pist to Fort Tarat : How good is it , and how long to reach Fort Tarat
Thank you for answers , I hope there will be .
Jean-Luc

[GWJ]

HI,

My husband and I just finished our western Africa and trans-saharan travel through Libya, southern Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana. We took the piste Ghat-Djanet in early July this year. On the piste there are NO signposts or stone heaps, only tracks. Coming from Djanet though, you have a first stretch of tarmac road to the airport. There you follow the signpost to the left, towards Tin Alkoum. You need good maps and GPS. At the border post of Tin Alkoum, police had been insisting that we drove in convoy with two cars of local Algerians. We were actually glad because the piste did split up a few times (in the first stretch of the piste direction south, towards Ghat anyway) and we wouldn't have really known which way to take: the GPS waypoint of Djanet wasn't of many help to us as the piste makes heads completely south before heading into the right direction. We gave up following the locals as soon as dusk fell. They seemed to know the piste very well but drove painstakingly fast. A convoy with locals might be a good idea if you are only 1 car, but be prepared for a hell of a drive. We completed the last stretch of the piste without too much trouble on our own the following morning and this seems to be exactly the bit of piste you are interested in. The piste is very sandy starting in Djanet and becomes more rocky and bumpy towards the southern point you are interested in. You will probably need about 3 hours to reach it. We do have the GPS-way points for it, but at this moment my husband, Sam,is still on the way back with all the data. We can give them to you from the 12th of September onwards, if that is still in time for you.

We haven't gone south-east from there on and from Zouattelaz, we drove the piste to Tam. Good luck with your other questions. If you want any more information you can write me on Bea@prepare2go.com. And if you are french-speaking as your name suggests, you can write me in French. Beatrice

[Chris Scott]

Towards in Ezzane, certainly the junction off the Ghat Dj piste is clear as on the map and stays so as far as Oued In Djerane turn off (where we turned east) - I belirve it continues south - I know some guys who went part of the way south (with GPS towards Alidemma arch??), but not right to In Ezzane.
let me know if you want more. it is a great area)

Chris
(back in 3 weeks)

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Author of Sahara Overland and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, among other things

http://www.sahara-overland.com