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 :-) 

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Hot and Dusty

February 7 1953 Land Mileage 1585

All aboard and on our way again by 07h30.   For the first 25 miles, we were travelling on soft or crusty sand and care was necessary to follow the right track; this scenery became rocky, interspersed with slate hillocks.   After the previous very boring plateau country, the scenery changed day by day and almost hour by hour!    We saw several gangs of workers, who were out repairing the track and they all waved a very cheery greeting to us as we went along the way.   We passed two cairns which were marking wells, but according to our book the water was undrinkable!   Next was the Tiguelgemine Well and this made a wonderful change to the scenery, as there was lots of vegetation.     I have tried to do some research on this well, but apart from the fact it exists according to the Trans-African Highways book, that is where the story ends!  We pulled up to have a look around, once again to find the trucks were on our route. 

This picture is in the correct order in the album for it to be the well, but Mum oddly only labelled as Oasis. I am wondering if the shadows on the bottom right were perhaps cast by the trucks that were there!

The occupants came over and joined us and we found that they were combining their photography with hunting and discovering new roads, such as they were!   The day was now getting very hot, but we needed to push on.   The track dropped away into a pretty, but sandy gorge and here we made the mistake of missing our next stop for fuel, the 'village' of Arak in the Arak Gorges. Fuel was by this time a necessity, but luckily we realised before we had gone too far out of our way.   No wonder we missed it; the map gave the impression of it being quite a good size village, but in fact it was one hotel with a petrol pump!  The directions between the well and Arak read as follows: "Note monument to the east, keep ahead, road runs in on right. In 29 miles pass well. 9 miles further pass triangular cairn on left. Arak gorges terminate 4 miles beyond Arak. The latter is at 1770 ft." 

We filled up tanks and cans with fuel once more and went into the S.A.T.T. hotel where we thoroughly enjoyed lovely, long, cool drinks.    One forgets how good a cold drink can be, when everything has been luke warm for the previous week!  We stopped there for an hour, trying to relax in a bit of shade while we could and we had already decided that we would not go much further that day.   We drove up out of the gorge and found a secluded spot off to the side of the track.    A good clean up was again the order of the day, as we were thickly coated in dirt and sand.   Because of the tremendous heat that day, we had taken the windows off and stacked them on the roof carrier, so the dust had billowed in and all over us!  

We were just about on the point of going to bed, when we suddenly had some excitement!   I was terrified by a huge grasshopper (perhaps a locust) which suddenly jumped on me.  I screamed, knocking it off and dived into the sleeping bag, covering myself up completely.     David and Dad dashed up and down with torches, trying to catch it, which they eventually did.   Another one then appeared, which also had to be caught and David remarked that one more and he was moving inside to sleep as well.  Our first encounter with 'big game'!  We finally managed to get off to sleep, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by a huge truck passing through, making a terrible racket.    We did expect to get a bit of peace and quiet, sleeping in the middle of the Sahara Desert!

I apologise for the shortage of photos but there seems to be none taken in or around Arak!

To be continued :-) 

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

 

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Into the sand dunes!

February 5 1953 (Thursday) Land Mileage 1195

After the usual morning routine, breakfast, washing and packing, we were on the road by 07h00.    

Packing up in the morning

The dust was quite appalling, and the first sand dunes appeared in front of us.   Cameras had to be brought out and we made a short stop to record this part of the journey.   

While we were doing this, the trucks from the previous night had pulled up close by and filmed us with large cine cameras as we went on our way.   What they were up to, none of us knew; maybe we would hit the big time film studios yet!    We passed several signs marking small wells along the way, but we had already planned to carry on to El Goléa where we could top up with fuel and water.   

Dad adjusting the stays that held up the water tank plus extras at El Goléa.

It did not take long after 14h00 for the locals to see what were up to!

We arrived here just on 13h00, to find the place was literally asleep, until 14h00.   At that time, a little Arab boy appeared from nowhere and with considerable sign language explained where we could find petrol, sold us two eggs and then, sitting on the front of the Land Rover, he guided us into the "market square".    Here we bought twelve oranges and managed to find another egg; three between the four of us, quite a feast!!

David and Dad negotiating the cost of some food for us.

In El Goléa, we had to report to the Military Commandant; they took our names and address, not that the latter existed at this stage; the Land Rover was in fact the only address we had. Whether he ever understood anything we said, we can only surmise!

We had a cleanup with some 'wet towels' which we were carrying with us, watched intently by the little Arab guide, who was very fascinated.   We gave him one and much to our surprise, his towel was spotless after a clean around the face; ours were certainly not after the dust we had travelled through.   He, riding on the front of the Land Rover yet again, then took us to where we could fill up the water tank.    Somehow or other, the hose slipped and the little Arab drenched everyone within a short distance, which included David.  Screams of mirth carried through the air and it was a generally amusing time to all who had witnessed it.    While this was going on, an Arab with a badly infected arm approached - he obviously hoped Dad could deal with it.    The medical aid kit came out and Dad did his best at cleaning it up and putting a bandage on, to try to keep it clean.   The next "patient" to approach in hope of treatment was a one-legged  elderly man; he just pointed to the missing one; to this day we still wonder if he thought my father was going to miraculously produce a new leg for him!     It was only at 15h00 that the petrol station opened, and here the two trucks that had been filming us earlier, also appeared for fuel. 

We were soon on our way after this, not wishing to waste more time and we managed to put another 46 miles on the clock before deciding that we should stop for the night.   We had travelled over a hard lake bed which was characterised by small dunes and boulders.    It was wonderful being able to stop at any stage.   All one needed was a small area of firm ground and that was the stopping point for the night!   It was all fairly barren and camping anywhere did not prove to be a problem.

Breakfast and wash-time using a small bowl and sharing the precious drop of water!

February 6 1953 (Friday) Land Mileage 1359

On the road again by 07h20; the sun was already shining and the weather at this stage seemed very pleasant.     The trucks appeared again and waved us down to let us know that we should pick up water at Fort Miribel, as the water there was excellent.  Fort Miribel was built in 1894, after the capture of El Goléa in 1891 by French troops. It was an advance look-out post, intended to protect El Goléa against incursions.

We followed them to the Fort, which we discovered to be occupied by the Foreign Legion; their transport was by Land Rover -  where were all the story-book horses?   The directions which we had for this part of the trip were to pass a white cairn, where there was a new well and thence we were to ascend to a plateau.   

After 16 miles, we were to pass a ruin on the right and then 6 miles further on there would be a small hut on the right.    Following the trucks had made this part pretty easy.

Fort Miribel

We picked up water and topped up again with fuel and discovered that the trucks belonged to a French film crew, who had done the trip on several occasions!   

Waiting for Dad to fill the water tank up again.

Waiting in the queue for fresh water

We left ahead of them, after taking a few photographs, but as everything around was such a brilliant white, we wondered if they would ever come out!   The trucks passed us yet again a few miles out of Fort Miribel, and after this the drive became very boring.   We were crossing the Tademait Plateau, the true Sahara, and there were literally miles and miles of nothing but hard little black stones; not a heap or a bump in sight.   It seemed to go on and on and we were all becoming very restless and bored when finally out of the blue, a beautiful view unfolded in front of us and we had a very steep winding descent from the plateau.    

Sahara after the Plateau

We could see for some considerable distance and the trucks were again in view, parked at the bottom.   We stopped at the top to record the view on film and to appreciate the change in scenery.    After the descent, the ground remained hard for a short distance, but suddenly we found ourselves in heavy sand; this was how we imagined the Sahara Desert would be!   The track was quite good and, with low tyre pressures, we managed to make our way forward without any problems.

After passing a landing strip, we pulled into In Salah.    We were by now 851 miles from Algiers and having gone over the mountains, we had dropped to 900 feet above sea level.   This was the first time we had a serious language problem, trying to explain that we needed fuel.   Suddenly we realised that the problem was in fact that the garage fuel pump was not working, and we had no choice but to fill our tank with the spare jerry cans of fuel; there for just this sort of emergency!    They kindly gave us a bucket of water to wash in; obviously by this time we looked (and probably smelt) as if we needed one!   We found that the sand really stuck to one's skin and it was very refreshing to get rid of some of it.   We had a very interesting chat to a French soldier who appeared, to find that he had been serving with the forces in England in 1942.  How nice to speak to someone who understood us!   We only got away at about 17h00, so after a 2 mile trip found a spot to settle down and really have a good clean up.   The sand had seeped into every nook and cranny and the Land Rover was in need of a good sweep out.    We then tried to rid ourselves of as much sand as possible before having a meal and going off to ‘bed’.

To be continued :-) 

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

 

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Sahara here we come

February 3 (Tuesday) 1953 Land mileage 0715

The first big day of African travel was upon us, and the Sahara ahead!    We had a healthy breakfast in the hotel, and David and Dad packed  all the last bits into the Land Rover. All was securely fastened down; we could not afford to lose anything off the vehicle! We then had a bit of a delay; Dad had decided that we should cash some more travellers’ cheques and the bank only opened at 09h30.  (I wonder if they still use travellers' cheques nowadays, considering that we all have bank cards?)   The small desert outposts, where we were hoping to top up fuel and water, would surely take only cash!

Finally we were on our way and we drove out of Algiers on the road towards the Atlas Mountains and Blida, the first village on the route, only 32 miles from Algiers.  This was an excellent road and after Blida, we drove through the incredibly lovely Chiffa Gorge, towards the hilly village of Médéa.  The area between Bida and Médéa  is the Chréa National Park.  

Descending the other side of the Altas mountain range, we passed  through several tiny villages, all of which looked very clean and tidy, in comparison with some of the earlier ones we had seen.   There were also several railway crossings and we did have to wait for a train at one point.    The road crossed a pine-covered plateau and then down the Mellah Valley, onwards to the village of Djelfa.   We had a stop here and stretched our legs; David and Dad came back with some tinned beans, biscuits and some lovely fresh oranges.  We then drove on to a spot some miles north of Laghouat,  which we decided was a good place to stay the night, before we got into the town itself.  The back of the Land Rover was dropped, for Mum to make up their bed.   Dad put up the camp bed for David, while David took on the job as chef.   We had a picnic case with us and everything was laid out in some style.    Sausages and beans tasted delicious after our first day of travel and we even had a choice of tea or coffee to follow.    As the sun started to drop and twilight came rapidly upon us, we hurriedly washed up and got ready for bed.   David slept as planned under the vehicle, my parents in the concertina bed and I slept across the front seats.   It was not a particularly good night; we had obviously stopped at a very busy interchange and heavy lorries trundled noisily in and out of Laghouat, in later times the provincial capital, for most of the night!

Main Street Laghouat.

February 4 1953 (Wednesday) Land Mileage 0964

We got up at 06h15, to find several Arabs around us tending their sheep/goats.   (Some definitely not identifiable as either!)   Mum was still hoping to see her Sheik on his 'whitecharger' but maybe this was still to come; on the other hand, maybe this only happened at the cinema!   We had some breakfast and packed up and we were on the road again by 07h15.   We stopped at Laghouat, 21 miles from our camp, about 270 miles from Algiers and at a height of 2460 feet.  

We filled up with fuel and Dad decided to find a garage, where we could have a couple of extra supports added to the roof carrier.    The water tank, now full, was very heavy and was of some concern, being affected by the vibrations from the road.    The numerous heavy trucks had caused the road surface to become very corrugated and the Land Rover was already being shaken around!    The garage where we had the job done was something which had to be seen to be believed!   It really was something out of this world.   Tethered in and around were a selection of donkeys and camels, plus a few dilapidated cars; none of the latter would probably ever move from the spot they were resting in!   Most importantly, they did have a welding plant and some metal that could be used to do the necessary work!    The power cables looked a bit the worse for wear and had several bare patches on them, but they did the job and left us feeling more confident that we were not suddenly going to  have a water tank crash onto our heads!  We took a couple of photographs of the garage and left around 09h30, feeling that the time had been well spent!

The garage in Laghouat.

We travelled on to Berriane, a small village which was built around a beautiful oasis.    It was just like one would see in picture books!    The green was really indescribable, a dark bluey green, quite remarkable and very, very pretty.   From there we carried onto Ghardaia, where we arrived around 13h30.    We were able to top up again with fuel and this was where we had to see the Algerian Customs.    We had been told that, under no circumstances were we to pass through Ghardaia without getting our Customs papers stamped and reporting to the Military commandant.    All this thankfully went very smoothly and we were soon on our way again; the shock arrived 14 kilometres out of Ghardaia, where the tarmac suddenly came to an abrupt halt, amid a huge cloud of dust.    The track, as it could only now be called, was well and truly corrugated, dusty and dirty and suddenly we all knew this was what we could expect from now on!   We continued until 16h45 and then stopped ready to set up camp for the night.   Two trucks passed us while we were preparing for the night ahead, but other than this, everything around was very quiet and desolate.

Sand castles in the Sahara!

Land Rover still in 'sleep mode' with the back down.

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