UNIQUE DESTINATIONS
TURTLE TOURS, INC

Toll-Free: (888) 299-1439 Phone: (480)488-3688 Fax: (480)488-3406
Turtle Tours, Inc.
Box 1147, Carefree, AZ 85377
E-Mail: turtletours@earthlink.net

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SAHARA DESERT EXPEDITIONS:

The great Sahara Desert, an experience in awe-inspiring magnitude, where oceans of dunes undulate forever, sand and rock together create outlandish sculptures and mysterious Neolithic rock paintings evoke a seemingly impossible ancient way of life. These are overland journeys taking you through a variety of awesome landscapes. And you'll camp at night beneath a blanket of a million and one stars.

MAURITANIA: ANCIENT CITIES, NOMADIC MOORS

17 days: departures November - February

The ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA, where the western edge of the Sahara Desert reaches right to the Atlantic ocean, is our newest Sahara Desert destination.
A country of over 625,000 square miles, with a population of little more than 2 million inhabitants, it is the world's lowest density country. No wonder, as its southernmost green region bordering Senegal and Mali covers only 5% of the country. The remaining 95% is made up of rocky uplands and enormous Saharan expanses.

This is a special desert of vast vistas colored black, ochre or tan; gentle, undulating, curving dunes among which nestle green oases lined with palms, mud brick houses and nomad tents; dramatic rugged mountains black and burnt; rocky flat plateaux broken by immense mesas of black and green rock against which dunes have begun to pile up, curve by curve; and sudden outbursts of lush vegetation with more camels than you will find in any other Saharan country due to the greater rain fall and the corresponding greater pasturage.

It is also a desert alive with towns and people: from ancient towns like Chinguetti and Atar that serve as witness to a rich cultural and trading past; to tiny oases towns of mud brick fringed by palms among rolling dunes; to nomad camps of two to three tents, whose white pointed roofs can be spotted way off in the distance in so many parts of the desert.
And finally, it's a desert with a rich archaeological past where you'll find neolithic traces almost everywhere, lying on the sand surface: arrow heads, mortars and pestles, axe heads, grinding stones...all dating back many thousands of years.

Plus, you'll meet the inhabitants of this terrain, the hospitable nomadic Moors, always ready upon your arrival with a mat for you to sit on and a bowl of fresh milk to drink.

This is a rugged 15-day overland journey by 4WD vehicles, taking you through a variety of awesome landscapes, where you'll camp each night beneath a blanket of a million and one stars.
Starting from the recently built capital of Nouakchott at the Atlantic Ocean, you'll begin your expedition heading northwest to the Adrar Massif, a rugged landscape of deep gorges and sheer cliff-edged mesas, softened by rolling gentle dunes, and peppered with tiny oases and nomadic camps. This is also a voyage through Saharan history, as you'll visit the 13th century capital and religious mecca of Chinguetti, still inhabited today; 17th century Atar, a wonderfully exotic town that was an important trading stop on the one of the great East/West camel caravan routes; and Azougui, the ancient Almoravidian capital of 1000 years ago.
From the Adrar, you'll head south to the Tagant plateau, a region of mountains broken by chains of dunes and wadis, sheltering beautiful tranquil oases. Then, head due west along the Route de L'Espoir, the Road of Hope, directly back to Nouakchott.
Nights are spent camping, as often as possible among the dunes, and whenever possible close by camps of nomadic Moors.

NIGER: SAHARA AND SALT CARAVANS

This is a journey into the AIR MOUNTAINS and TENERE DESERT, a border of volcanic mountain "fortresses" fringed by some of the most sublime Saharan landscapes. Disproportionate space, outrageous dunes among the most beautiful in the world, exaggerated landscapes evoking emotions of the same magnitude. Recent volcanic eruptions give relief to this desert that some consider one of the most beautiful, as much for the diversity of its landscapes as for its human aspect.

The Air Mountains...black and volcanic and home to the legendary and hospitable Tuareg, the "Blue Men of the Sahara". This is an accessible mountain range with lively verdant oases from where camel caravans begin their long journeys in search of salt and lined with a fringe of individual mountain fortresses.confronting together the vastness of the Tenere Desert.

The Tenere Desert...an enormous emptiness that extends over 700 miles between the Air Mountains and the Tibesti to the east. Despite the "invasion" of its northwest corner by the Paris/Dakar race, the great Tenere still preserves its fascination and myth for us today with its haunting images of caravans of dates and salt still in force.

Your overland journey begins in the Tuareg holy town of Agadez, the capital of the Air. Then, for the next 5 days you'll travel overland north through the Air Mountains and along its border with the Tenere Desert. You'll stop at oases and nomadic camps, at wells and at rock engravings, while you'll camp beneath mountains and on top of dunes.

Next, turning east, you'll enter the great TENERE DESERT, known as the "desert of deserts", as you head to the DJADO PLATEAU, with its mysterious ancient ruined villages, exotic rock formations that delight your imagination, rock engravings and glorious landscapes.

Then south through the Tenere to the "forgotten" oases of the KAOUAR PLATEAU, where you'll discover BILMA and FACHI, centuries-old points of call for the great "AZALAI", the salt caravans which still ply the route between these salt-producing oases and the villages of the Air Mountains. Following the ancient salt caravan route you turn westwards through the great dunes of the ERG of BILMA to AGADEZ, your final destination.

Send an E-Mail or call to discuss a group or custom itinerary: