Northern Sahara Algeria and Tunisia

Algeria is eighty five percent desert. Driving here is a test of survival. The sand is soft and failure is fatal. Running out of fuel becomes a matter of life and death. The desert does funny things to your head. You can see mirages. It can get incredibly lonely in the Algerian desert. The HOggar mountains are a bizarre landscape in the sahara. There are spires and pinnacles sticking out of the desert. You can climb to the top of a nine thousand foot mountain and watch the sun come up or down. Algeria has lots of oil and natural gas that support the economy of Algeria in the sahara desert. Algeria has been caught in violence for many years. Algiers is a modern city that looks something like a city of France. The Casbah is the old area of Algiers that was the center of the struggle against French rule.

From Algiers you can catch the train to Oran. The train station at Oran is very ornate. Oran has still a large french influence.

Going into Libya, by bus you arrive at Benghazi, LIbya's second city. Cyrenia was a bustling port in Roman times. Shortage of water is a problem but there is engineering project to bring water from the coast to the Libyan desert. Leptis Magna is an old Roman city at the edge of the Sahara Desert in Libya. The amphitheatre is supposed to have the best acoustics of any amphitheatre of the ancient world.

Southern Tunisia is so arid that people have been living in caves. Some people have refused to move from their caves. You can even stay with the villagers. The caves are cool in summer and warm in winter. The people are generous and always give the traveller or guest a cup of tea. Djerba is where the Sahara Desert meets the sea in Southern Tunisia. The fishermen still catch octopus in clay pots, like they did in the roman times a thousand years ago. Djerba get lots of foreign tourists every year. The Souk has brass kitchen utensils. There are many Roman ruins around the area. Monastir has a great monument, the ribat.

Algerian Sahara Resources

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