DAY 45. TUES 20/03. Agadez to Arlit. 253 kms. Total 10633 kms. Auberge (?), Arlit. N18 44.350 E7 22.963

Said our farewells to Andre, Anton and co. Very sorry to be leaving after such excellent hospitality. Nipped into town for some internet and shopping. Finally even bought some meat from a local street butcher – we must be getting tough or thick-skinned! Hit the road north to Arlit after final payment for peage/toll (1000 CFA Agadez to Arlit) Pretty uneventful drive except for it being really hot and Inga developing a very bad stomach which called for numerous toilet stops along the way. Checked out the hotel as mentioned in our guide book but it didn’t look too camper friendly so after asking a few people we were eventually lead to an Auberge where we could camp – never got the name of it though! Maybe a good thing though as it was not our favourite camp. Pretty grim toilets and lots of dodgy looking men (from the neighbouring country up north, either illegals or selling 2nd hand cars, or both...) sitting around starring at us. Also didn’t help Inga being sick and just climbing into the tent as soon as we arrived. Rob loaded some gps info for the following day and cooked an “emergency” packet pasta and sauce for dinner before bed.  

DAY 46. WED 21/03. Arlit to Ain Guezzem, Algeria. 244 kms. Total 10877. Bushcamp outside Algerian border post. N19 28.900 E5 47.400 (km 228 way point route A10)

Inga was very weak and lightheaded this morning from her bad bout of diarrhea, even though she had been taking rehydration sachets (don’t think the heat was helping) Under normal circumstances would not have driven today with Inga in her condition but we were meeting our guide in Algeria today, which we had confirmed 2 weeks previously, and with no way of contacting him we had no choice but to go on. So Inga lay in the back recuperating/resting while Rob drove. Route is A10, Arlit to Tamanrasset, in Sahara Overland. Route to Assamaka (Niger border outpost) was a bit of a surprise…. Knew it was a sand road but did not know it was so much of a true desert crossing – 200 kms of nothing except flat sand, burnt out car wrecks and tyre and drum route markers. No villages, people and hardly any vehicles! Also exceptionally hot – probably one of our hottest days on the road so far so had to stop a few times to let Cathey cool down as it was hard going in the sand. A few dunes around km 117, where we let down our tyres (for the rest of the journey all the way to Tam) Went through Niger border exit formalities all pretty quickly in Assamaka (3 separate buildings/huts all close together-near km 210 wp) before crossing the border into Algeria, where we arrived at the Algerian border post around 5pm. There was at 1st some confusion as to where we were meant to be meeting guide, at border post or in town (Ain Guezzem) a little bit further on. Eventually the Algerians contacted the guide who was waiting close by. After 2 hours we were still there. Turns out you now need a certificate from the vet saying your vehicle has been sterilized against bird flu. And the town vet stops work at 4pm so no-one could reach him. This requirement has just been introduced so it caught our guide a bit by surprise. He eventually tracked him down and arranged for him to come out at 9pm the following morning. So we camped out in the desert just outside the border post walls. Security was no problem we were assured by the police as they were all carrying large automatic weapons! To be honest the Algerians at the border post were really nice and friendly, at first we thought they were rude and aggressive but once we got chatting they were really funny and friendly… even came out when we were camping to give us 2 bottles of frozen water and a pineapple. We chatted to our guide, Wifa, for a bit when he came back to join us after having been off searching for the vet. Inga was feeling somewhat better, although still a bit weak and cooked the fresh beef we had bought in Agadez in a lovely sauce with some mash. Probably would have ended up camping here anyway as there is not much in the way of accommodation in Ain Guezzem that we saw when we were there the next day. 

NIGER COST SUMMARY:

• Camping: 4000 – 5000 CFA (for 2 people and vehicle)
• Diesel: 500 CFA/l black-market in Birni, thought to be 575 normal price and 590 in Agadez, which is what we were told as we didn’t buy any from a gas station
• Food: fresh produce (meat, fruit, veg) readily available from markets/street sellers (no supermarkets) Costs moderate but still more expensive than Mali. Other products eg imported goods, tins, toiletries etc more expensive.
• ATM’s – none yet but may be on their way soon

DAY 47. Ain Guezzem to past km 483 way point, route A10 to Tamanrasset. 245 kms. Total 11122 kms.  Bushcamp N21 33.768 E5 32.539

Got our certificate in the morning from the Vet that we had been waiting for. (Although no sterilization was done so quite what the point was we have no idea?) This allowed us to complete immigration procedures as the border guards had kept our passports overnight and we had not been stamped in yet! Also had to complete a currency declaration form which needs to tally up with money changed and left over when you exit the country. Didn’t take too long but if you consider we had been there since 5pm the day before really was a long wait at the border! Then off to Ain Guezzem town itself over a few more kms of sand. 1st stop was gas station where there were literally 100’s of old Toyota Landcruisers waiting for diesel. Never seen so many in one place before. Luckily our guide must have sweet talked the pump attendants to let us jump the queue, being tourists, otherwise we might still have been waiting. Very cheap diesel: 100 l = 12 (euro)cents or 9 pence a litre! Then just had to register with gendarmerie before a quick bit of lunch at a local restaurant before continuing along route A10 to Tamanrasset. Tar road out of Ain Guezzem now goes a little further than as described in “Sahara Overland”, to after km 356 way point before hitting the sand again. (It is actually tarred a good bit further than that already but unfortunately we were not allowed to drive on it yet as it is still blocked off with stones.) Nothing too exciting really except for stopping to pull a local 2WD Peugot out of the sand. Not too sure if our guide was that keen on camping but we eventually stopped just after km 483 to camp as it was getting quite late and Inga wasn’t feeling too well again. Inga went up into the tent and Rob cooked up some pasta with yesterdays leftovers for dinner for us and the guide. Sorted Wifa out with a bed “downstairs” in the back of the Landy while we slept upstairs in the tent.   

DAY 48. Bushcamp km 483, route A10, to Tamanrasset. 158 kms. Total 11280 kms. Camping “Kat-Kat”/4x4. N22 47.161 E5 33.344

Completed the 150 kms to Tamanrasset in the morning. Last 60 kms is supposed to be tar but it is really hit and miss until the last 15/20 kms, when new good tar starts. In Agadez, Andre had said we should stay at Camping Kat Kat and we were not disappointed. One of our best camps so far in Africa. Hot showers, our own enclosed outdoor area with light and electric plug and breakfast for 100 D (extra). Went straight in for a shower. Then there was a bit of admin with the tour agency – going over programme for next few days and also payment. Inga still not well and slept most of the afternoon and evening and so it was decided to visit the doctor in the morning. Rob updated a bit of the blog, listened to the BBC world service news for the 1st time on the short-wave radio – very shocked to hear about Bob Woolmer (didn’t even know that the World Cup Cricket was on, that’s how out of touch we have been. Also rest of the news in Africa doesn't sound too good e.g. Kinshasha, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia etc. so maybe it's better not to listen at all to the news) – and cooked another bag of emergency pasta and sauce. Very cold for us in Tam due to the altitude (1300m) compared to what we have been used to so all the warm clothes are out again especially at night when the wind is blowing. Quite similar to Windhoek in some ways, e.g. altitude, surrounding mountains/hills and similar vegetation. A very pleasant town actually, mainly because it is quite clean, not too hot and has nice little shops where you can get just about anything you need. 

ps haven't got this far in the blog yet but Inga all OK now so don't worry - doctor sorted her out with injection for blood levels and horse tranqualiser-sized antibiotics so all fixed up