Offroad with guide in Algeria?

[de Duin]

Recently I was informed by a well known german operator that the mandatory guide in Algeria does not go offroad / is not allowed to.
We're planning a trip to Niger in december and would like to drive via Djanet using Criss Scott's routes A2, A3, A6/A7 and A10.
Has anybody reliable information on this?

Thanks in advance

Jurjen,
Rotterdam, Netherlands

[Yves]

Hi,

the information "... the mandatory guide in Algeria does not go offroad / is not allowed to." strictly applied is wrong.

Some pistes/areas are not permitted even with guide, that is true: A1, A2, A9, A12, A15. I am not sure about A3.

Allowed are: A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9 (staying south of Amguid), A10, A13, A14 (most of the time) and more which are not covered by Chris book.
Camping in the petrol area arround Hassi Messaoud south until Illizi is not allowed.

Chris actually runs a bike tour in southern Algeria.

Yves

[Richard Washington]

thanks for the info Yves.

The detail that worries me is that no camping is allowed in the petrol area from Hassi M to Illizi.

The distance between those two towns is large. Does this mean you have to stay somewhere in In Ammenas? I'd guess that is the only town between the two with a 'hotel' and even then??

In the past it has taken 2 days to get from Hassi M to Illizi - with nights spent camping in the desert.

[Yves]

Hi Richard,

>The detail that worries me is that no camping is allowed in the petrol area from Hassi M to Illizi.

That is the theorie. Guide frequently have to sign a contract at the checkpoints, that they will not leave the road. There are about 15 checkpointrs from Taleb Larbi to Djanet.
As you know, there might be exceptions from the normal practice, depending on the guide and the circumstances.
There is a hotel in In Amenas, the camping near by is crappy.
An other possibility is to pass the night in sight of one of the checkpoints.

Yves

[Tomasz]

Hi,
Just came back from Algeria. There are some 780 km between Hassi Messaoud and In Amenas. We camped behind a dune some 40 km south of the town. Gandarmerie visited us twice on location (in the evening and in the morning). They were very polite and gentle and made no problem. By afternoon the following day we managed to drive to Hassi Bel Guebbour (357 km), but because it was close to 5 pm, gandarmerie took our passports and told to come back to pick them up just after sunrise. We camped in the dunes some 3 km north of the post. In Amenas is a terrible place; however, there is a hotel you can stay overnight. But we escaped the town even it was becoming dark. There was no gandarmerie post until some 46 km south of the town. Here we were definitely halted by gandarmerie in the middle of nowhere. We camped some 100 metres from the gandarmerie barrack. The generator was on the whole night, but we got acquainted with the soldiers - some of them even tried Polish vodka

[Chris Scott]

FEI, Tourists are not allowed to travel at night in this area and I am told that Hassi Bel Guebbour control does not allow tourists through after 4pm, so time your transit appropriately or spend the night. There are a couple of rough cafes, big dunes and hot springs just down the road to BOD.
The next checkpoint north is Gassi Touil, and south (or east) might be Ohanet (240km? - great roadside resto) or the following crossroads near the Libyan border.
Unless it's changed much since I last checked it out, the hotel in In Amenas is no better than the camping. We slept by the barracks.
The checkpoints on this route from Taleb to Djanet have become a real pain - and they are still throwing the odd stone in the El Oued villages. Next time I would use the TSH out of Algiers.

Chris S

[roro]

My experience (Feb. 07 ) : We camped about 50 km after H.Messaoud near dunes , no problem with police . Same thing just before In Amenas .
I found the police's controls almost "cool" for us until Djanet . More difficult for the guide , especially in Zaouatenlaz .
RR.