The Koboué Chasm, an expedition at the origin of a world

This morning, we head towards Abéché.

We stop in Mongo, capital of the Guéra for lunch.

We arrive in Abéché and spend the night at Oum Zara's place from the NGO SOS Tchad.

We travel through vast empty spaces and pass through Kalaït, the last town to see before arriving at the foothills of the Ennedi.

Finally the long road is over. We are delighted by the beauty of the Chadian desert.

We have lunch in a local restaurant.

We then camp at the foot of the Djoulia arch.

The Bachikélé oasis welcomes us for a beautiful excursion. There, you must be careful with photos. Certain animals like dromedaries, zagawa people who live there are very reluctant to be photographed. We can only photograph the herds and children with the villagers' permission.

The itinerary is marked by miracles, including the Bachikélé oasis which is a marvel of adaptation where one feels quite small. We discover there many animal and plant species that have survived while transforming and taking refuge in this ecological niche.

We travel by 4x4 across the vast plain and climb up towards the Baména massif to observe a huge arch at the foot of Mount Aloba.

We have lunch under the arch.

Then we head west following the massif through gorges and the Chinéké and Koki arches.

Finally we reach Tokouloula "the elephant arch" which is found in a massif with jagged ridges.

We camp in this massif which takes on phantasmagoric forms in the evening.

We propose a short morning walk from a winding canyon to the Toukou well. Photography is always best avoided as generally, people, and especially women, do not like being photographed.

We walk along the Archeï wadi on the right bank to reach the painted grotto called "the great riparo or grotto of the Italians".

Then we arrive at the edges of the guelta. We climb onto the promontory to see the crocodiles coming out of the water.

We return to the guelta canyon for a picnic.

Then we continue on the road in 4x4 to explore an exceptional geological gem, the Ohio Labyrinth.

Finally, we camp at the Ohio Labyrinth.

We make a short hop in 4x4 to reach the starting point of the camel expedition which ends at the Koboué sinkhole.

These 9 days of intensive trekking allow us to explore the incredible sites of the Ennedi and the guelta complexes, which nestle in the hollows of the plateau that make life possible in these almost uninhabitable places. Remnants of time whose paintings we tell the stories of, these ecological niches bear witness to the history of a green Sahara.

We spend the nights in bivouac.

We resume our journey by crossing the Werta Gorges which is the paradise of the Barbary sheep. It should be noted that addax grazed here a few years ago. We can sometimes spot gazelles, fennecs, jackals and very rarely hares.

We then arrange a visit to the authorities and chief of canton of Tebi. This courtesy approach is essential.

The discovery of the surroundings of this little-frequented part of the Ennedi continues. We cross the dunes of the Mourdi, short barkhanes that move rapidly with the winds.

We then explore the Démi and the salt flats of Téguédeï whose salt extracted from the ground is characterized by its reddish hue.

We camp on the outskirts of Ounianga Kebir.

We set off on an adventure to Ounianga Serir, a vast ensemble of 14 lakes, including the famous Lake Bokou which fascinates travelers with its freshwater populated by various fish and bordered by reed beds. We have the opportunity to enjoy swimming. We can observe various bird species, including the white avocet, the Cape teal and the marbled teal. For migratory birds, these lakes represent an important stopover. At the beginning of the night, we hear the cries of golden jackals gathering to go hunting. These lakes are a remnant of the immense paleolake that existed during the last humid period of this desert, approximately 8,000 years ago. Several sources of fresh and warm water feed the lakes. They are sufficiently abundant to maintain the basins filled even with low withdrawals and very high evaporation. The villagers use these for drinking and watering small gardens under the palm trees.

We resume the journey across the vast plains of the central territory to reach Bir Koray. This city became notorious during the Tchad-Libya wars.

We spend the night in the hollow of a dune or towards the western foothills of the Ennedi.

We continue our journey along the sandstone cliffs to reach Fada. Along the way, we encounter many surprises.

Then we stock up at the market before heading gently down to Gaora Halagana or "the cave of the young".

We spend the night camping between sand and rock.

We travel through the great plateaus before moving on to Kalaït, a city known for its sand storms.

We then cross the beautiful landscapes between Sahara and Sahel to reach "the belly of paradise" Bata'n Djéné, Anakasa center.

The journey continues through the heart of the Sahel to reach Moussoro, a city of nomads, most of whom are cattle, camel and goat herders.

We spend the night in the bush.