Adrar des Ifoghas
Algeria · Africa
About Adrar des Ifoghas
The Adrar des Ifoghas is a large plateau in the eastern Kidal region of Mali covering roughly 250,000 km². Adrar is the Tamasheq word for mountain while Ifoghas is the name of a Tuareg clan which lives in the region, the French so named it to differentiate from their (long-held) Adrar in Mauritania. The area is home to a surprising number of animals, including gazelles, antelopes, hyenas, jackals, snakes, & lizards. It contains some very scenic desert landscapes, including granite outcrops, eroded sandstone, gueltas (similar to an oasis, but less "green" around them), rock paintings, petrified wood, and even an ancient river valley.
Adrar des Ifoghas travel guide
Understand
The Adrar des Ifoghas is a remote part of the Sahara with plenty of remnants to evoke its ancient, non-desert past.
Settlements Abeibara — Aguelhok — Essouk — called by some the "cradle of the Tuareg" this tiny town was once a prospering town along trans-Saharan trade routes from the 9th to 12th centuries CE; rock painting dating to 8000 BCE can be found, although little remains of its ancient past. Legend holds that Boctou, founder of Timbuktu, was born here. Tessalit, [1], a town of a couple thousand Tuareg which serves as the border post for the small amount of traffic between Mali & Algeria; the town has some gypsum and ancient salt mines. Tin-Essako —
Eat
Bring all the food you will need, as food cannot be purchased outside Kidal. If you stay in a settlement for a night, you may be offered (or can possibly pay for) a meal with a Tuareg family.
Drink & nightlife
The Tuareg are Muslim and it would be very insulting of you to bring alcohol! Having three cups of tea with a Tuareg is a classic experience and not to be missed. As for water, bring all the water you will need! The settlements have wells and there are some large gueltas to replenish your water supply, though.
Go next
Anefis, picturesque town on the edge of the Adrar. Gao, the closest thing to a city anywhere near the Adrar. Kidal, the region's capital
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.