Lat/Longs in Tassili Hoggar.
 

I'm going to be passing through:

In Akacheker
Tin Tarabine
El Gessour
etc.

area in November, does anyone have lat/longs (points of interest??!!) for the area?

Thanks for any help,

Sam

Nobody??!!

Sam.

Get it off a map, if they're on there!
The IGN one mils are accurate enough.

;-)

CS

Ah ha,

No, I'm after locations of, for example, the arch which you can drive your car through, any particular rock art areas etc. The touristy stuff! I can find a route easily enough but I'm trying to get a head's up on good "things to see" (also for camp sites etc.).

I should have made it clearer!

Sam.

Why don't you take a guide for a couple of days in your car???? Not that I'm thinking you are not able to travel alone - but the "very friendly poeple down there" need a job and there are not many...

The real phantastic places are not so easy to find. Paintings are hidden, often you have to search by foot.

Think about it.

That would be an option if I wasn't planning on continuing to Djanet. The cost of a guide in his own 4wd (so that he can get home!) is not really in the budget - regardless of how 'correct' it is to do so.

It opens up an interesting debate though - at what stage does independant travel become morally unjustifiable? The basic fact that I'm not flying into Tamanrasset on an organised tour means that there is less money coming in to Algeria. Where do you draw the line?

Anyway, still looking for a couple of places to see/camp on our way through!

Sam.

is this the 8 bike trip? - unless it's free you owe it to them to take a guide. As Sula says they truly richen your experience, as ours did on southern crossing (tho bikes arent necessarily into that sport of stuff).
Deep S Alg is remote - and even with GPS waypoints (much over rated IMHO) a guide will save you time.

And anyway - its all lovely down there whereever you go - surpises will be nicer.

>The basic fact that I'm not flying into Tamanrasset on an organised tour means that there is less money coming in to Algeria.

I would not agonise, you're doing more than most, and fly-in tours arent everyones cup of tea.

Ch

No, it's not free, but it's also not in the budget! (yet)

I asked Mokhtar last week if he'd be able to help (with his Toyota for fuel/water etc.) - and he obviously knows the area, once I have an idea of cost I can try and get it accepted, but in the meantime it's good to have as much info as possible.


Sam.

Moktar is no cheap - 100 quid a day maybe? It certainly got complex on the western side when we did it - so 'blundering' along any old tracks from the east to the west (where it opens out) should be easier.

Ch

Hi - there are indeed a lot of tracks: From a russian camp near the border, from tourists with and without a guide and from smugglers...

What is the story behind the russian camp?

hmm ... if they are exploring for gold, I guess they might like their privacy and they might not be the friendliest bunch in the World so I'd aim to give them a wide berth.
Richard

Hi Rich - you're quite right! And thats the reason why I mentioned it.
The local guides never lead you too close to these areas, even if the landscape is great there. They also avoid places where the smugglers pass.

the reconnaisance crew for the smugglers we saw seemed friendly enough, but I'm glad they dismissed us as harmless! they came over to check us out before sun-down and presumably gave the all clear to the dozens of smugglers who came racing up the valley just after night-fall! I was a bit unnerved as two of them (guides?) came back while I was attending a call from the god of rough guts in the small hours of the morning. there were army patrols everywhere the next day, but, when asked if we'd had a "quiet" New Year's eve, we acted dumb - Chris got an Oscar ;-)
Richard