As far as I have heard, there hasn't been any incidents in the Algerian south for years now?
We had a number of guides after driving from Tunisia to Illizi without one.
Sometimes we had a contract with an agency, sometimes not. For the guide from Illizi to Djanet, nothing was written down or signed (except for the renseignement). Nor did we ask for it - we only gave him a ride because they wouldn't let us through without him.
What kind of responsibility would the guide/agency carry? Accidents? Theft? Kidnapping? What could the penalty be, other than loosing the license to operate?
What is written in the fine print when signing with say Tanezrouft?
And what could they do if beards with Kalashnikovs showed up?
From our experience, a guide is not mandatory except for in some parts - the desert between HBG and Illizi. And Illizi wilaya. Could be because of 2003?
Between Djanet and Tam there's barely a checkpoint.
Going west from Tam to Mali. we could have done it without a guide but preferred not to. And if we had run into the gendarmes on the way down, I don't think they would have let us go alone.
|