Into Tamanrasset

February 8 1953 (Sunday) Land Mileage 1790

Early start again and by this stage, we allowed only one bowl of water between us for washing.   We took it in turns to start first!   Every two days, each had a chance of clean water either at night or in the morning.   This was not as we would have liked by any means, but water was a commodity that was far more important for drinking.   The trucks were on the move early and were away ahead of us again. 

We climbed out of the water-worn Arak Gorge which was very narrow, with rocky slopes gradually rising up to Hoggar Massif.    This gorge was proof that at some stage in the existence of the Sahara Desert, there had once been a lot of water around!   We carried on along the track, passing a rocky hill which was marked on the map off to the right.   Next a fork in the road appeared in front of us and our trusty Trans African Highways book assured us we were on course; we kept right as we had no intention of bearing left to Meniet, which was off our route.  We passed a dry well and then took another right fork on to Iniker where there was an S.A.T.T. rest house and good water.   Naturally we filled up the water tank, but the well attendant was far more interested in my red gold hair!   At school, I used to hate being called "Carrots" by the nasty little boys, but suddenly it was of great interest and he went and called his wife to come and look at my golden red head.   The hair gained us three eggs and we had a very friendly wave to send us on our way!    

Just after this we found a tree of sorts, which gave us a bit of shade, and we stopped to have a snack and a wash.  How nice it was to have a water tank that was full again!   Proceeding on our way, we passed the Tropic of Cancer at 14h00 and then gradually we started climbing up a mountainous and rocky road.   We passed through a small village with houses built of reeds and carried on climbing.   It was quite a bad track at times,very stony, but the Land Rover pulled on and upwards, crossing everything that got in its way, until we reached Tamanrasset, (when Algeria was under French rule, this place was called Fort Laperrine) at 4480 feet.   It looked and felt as if we were sitting on the top of the world; miles and miles of wide open space was in view!

This appears to be the only photo I have of Tamanrasset.  I would presume this is the main street lined with trees. David on the left in the foreground.

Dad decided that as we could not get petrol, being a Sunday, perhaps this was the chance we needed to break the journey and have the pleasure of staying at the S.A.T.T. hotel.   Joy, we could have a really good wash, as there were basins with running water in the rooms!   We could even each have clean water.   We had a complete change of clothes; the last set could have stood up on their own, being bright orange with sand.   It was even a chance to wash our clothes, as we thought that the heat would dry them very quickly.  Oh to be clean and smelling sweet once more!

The next stop was the hotel verandah, where we could relax with  ice cold drinks; this really was bliss and they tasted like nectar.  Dad moved the vehicle to what we hoped was a safe spot and locked up as well as possible for the night.   Somewhere along the way the trucks had fallen behind us, but at that point they suddenly re-appeared  out of the blue (or orange!).   They also decided to stay the night as they needed fuel the next day, so the dining room was a very busy place that night.   The soup was really not too bad, but the meat that followed was, by the taste of it, the old tough gazelle (no photo!), which we had passed many miles back, had been caught and had toughened up even more by the time it caught us up in Tamanrasset!    This was followed by a dish which looked quite disgusting and smelt no better.   Mum and I turned up our noses immediately, but David and Dad gave it a try only to find they never got past the first mouthful.   Everyone else in the dining room appeared to be thoroughly enjoying it, so maybe this was an Arab delicacy for which our English taste buds needed educating!   Hopefully we would not be around long enough to have to force the issue!  We finished up with apricots which we all thoroughly enjoyed.  

The hotel generator packed up just as we finished eating, so suddenly we were all plunged into darkness!  We stumbled our way to our rooms and made our way to the beds for an early night.   What a night; the temperature dropped seriously and we were all up looking for jerseys and anything to put on to get warm.   We had almost no sleep at all and shivered our way through till morning.   So much for the wonderful night's sleep we were going to get! The Land Rover was five star by comparison.

To be continued :-) 

I have put this section of my life story on Kindle if you should be interested:-

 

See

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-GREAT-1953-TREK-ebook/dp/B008KK0KHU/ref=pd_ys_iyr1