Before I
started this life-changing trip overland across Africa in 1974, I thought I might
be able to sell some travel pieces to major newspapers. I wrote some inquiry letters, and got about
1/3 answers back saying they’d take a piece on “spec”, 1/3 that wished me luck
on this grand journey, and 1/3 that simply said they had their own writers and
so no-thank-you-save-your-postage.
But, optimist
that I am, I looked for a theme that would make an interesting piece of
journalism/travel-writing, and cranked this out. Lucky you, you might be the first to see it
published, courtesy of the internet! Yay! Mission accomplished!
Dateline: Tamanrasset, Algeria, June 14 1974
SWIMMING THE
GRAND SAHARA
The British
couple out of the pages of Somerset Maugham sat in the Café Tanezrouft at Reggane,
Algeria, waiting for the twice weekly bus to In Salah. Over a cup of strong mint tea made from the
local magnesium-tainted water, they claimed that Algeria since the French left
is dreadfully short on amenities. But
they forgot to take into account one of the most pleasant amenities in the
Grand Sahara and one not quite as scarce as you might think – swimming pools.
In this
country where two million people were affected by the drought in the southern
Sahara regions due to failure of seasonal rains for seven consecutive years,
swimming the Grand Sahara may seem like a cruel joke. But water abounds if you know where to find
it, and it is found in the same places it has been for centuries, albeit in
small quantities now.
The otherwise
inhospitable route from Figuig at the Moroccan border to Tamanrasset
via In
Salah offers at least a swim a day, if you plan it properly. Whether you go by local transport, Land
Rover, or an expedition-laden Bedford truck, a Michelin map is invaluable, for
it marks with fair accuracy the water spots and gives some indication of water
quality.
One your first
day out from Figuig, Bechar is a natural stopping
place. Although the main objective and
most time-consuming process best performed in Bechar is to change money (in
summer 1974, one dollar equaled 4 Algerian dinar), water is in abundance in
Bechar – until 12 noon, that is. You can
have a quick and improvised shower (fully clothed, of course) courtesy of a
hose kept running in the public garden in the center of town near the Galerie
Algerienne. If you get there after noon,
however, you’ll be out of luck, because the water pressure for the entire town
is cut.
Hotel Rym in
Beni
Abbes, an easy day’s drive away, marks the beginning of genuine swimming
opportunities. There they have a pool
almost Olympic in size, within beckon of an air conditioned café with cold
drinks available. Although the water
appears dubiously green and murky, jump right in! Standing water in a 110 degree day seems
everywhere to assume that color and consistency.
If the price
of a swim and a bed at Hotel Rym is too dear (about 40 dollars a night with
full board), brace yourself for an additional two hours drive in the hot
Saharan air and stop at Kerzaz.
Kerzaz is significant mainly for a man-made
swimming hole located about 100 feet from the roadside. For a large enough crowd, all paying the one
dinar fee, the keeper of the pool will open the valve and add a few inches of
fresh water to the seagreen contents of the pool. He will also sell you vegetables and fruits
ripe off the trees in the oasis.
Beyond Beni
Abbes you will get your first look at real Saharan sand dunes, and soon see the
mesa-like formations that mark the beginning of seemingly endless desert. The occasional patch of oasis-like greenery
is invariably accented by a blazing white mini-mosque at its edge, with gentle
breezes whispering an almost liturgical octet through the sparse vegetation.
The most
common geological features you are likely to see in the desert are wadis, and
they are plentiful. A wadi, as it is
called in Arabic, is one of the fissures in the earth which will channel water
off when there is any rain. Otherwise, the
wadi is a dry gully, baked so hard by the sun that the ripples that formed
momentarily in the latest muddy flow of water are almost petrified patterns.
The stretch
of road to Reggane becomes more and more bleak; your vehicle will soon be
off tarmac surface and onto hard graded road, and too soon off that and
following a dirt track marked only with occasional piles of stones.
The
magnesium-tainted water at Reggane is plentiful, and the tea at the café takes
on a uniquely different flavor. Although
there’s no swimming available at Reggane, the next best thing is
available: hot showers for 2 dinar, in
the wonderfully refreshing mineral water that flows freely from the taps of the
“traveler’s chambers”.
Unless you
are a fan of underwater swimming, the water resources one day’s drive from
Reggane will disappoint you. An
underground river runs at Aoulef. It’s a good place to stock up on water for
drinking and bathing, but beneath the wells is not the best place for a
swim.
In Salah, as romantic as the place sounds,
has indeed lost the famed lustre of its French days. The humble hotel café in the center of town
is the best place to stop for ice-cold beer, a real luxury at this distance
from civilization as we Westerners know it.
After your refreshment there, head back out of town and turn onto a road
that was last marked “route barree”. At
the end of this short road, you will find a natural spring that gushes from the
ground at an unceasingly strong pressure, straight into a pool about ten feet square
and three feet deep, and perfect for a dip in the hot afternoon. The water proceeds out of the pool into two
irrigation channels that are important for the region, so please, use no soap
or shampoo in it! Come equipped with a
wash basin and do your washing at the side.
After an
early morning dip with the sun rising over the oasis, head toward
Tamanrasset. Although the road there is
in the process of becoming a magnificent tarmac highway, it is not yet done; and after some hours on the graded surface
next to it, be sure you pull over at the sign that says Tiguel Geuemine, with a
note that water will be found 2 kilometers further on. The two kilometers may be the most rugged terrain
you are likely to clamber over in the Sahara, but the walk will be well
rewarded. At the end of a rock canyon
that at one time was filled completely with water lies a lovely little lake,
surrounded by reeds of the kind that must have hidden Moses, and with a solitary
palm tree silhouetted on one side by craggy overhanging cliffs. When you’re not around, gazelles, rabbits,
swallows and other animals drink there.
The Saharan
swimming tour now proceeds onward, over a patch of rugged road to Tadjemout,
a water spot with a promise of swimming for 2 dinar, but an unpromising looking
swimming hole. If you feel like pushing
onward a bit more, proceed to In Amguel, where a small stream good
mainly for a sitz bath runs through the oasis near there. According to a local Touareg turned
auto-mechanic, a mere 9 years ago the rains were so plentiful that the In
Amguel oasis regularly flooded to the extent that truckers would have
to wait a week for water to subside before proceeding. But lack of rain for 9 years has led to
thoughts of seeding the clouds, and rumor has it that this will be done in
September.
Tamanrasset, ultimate destination, is easily
reached in the next day. There you’ll
find a hotel with showers and a peaceful outpost for rest after your push
through the Grand Sahara – the region called the “last word in aridity and
desolation” by the first vehicular trans-Saharan overlanders in 1922.
Although the
swimming and other kinds of bathing are plentiful if you know where they are,
avoid the mental set of regarding the Sahara as the world’s largest bathing
beach. Ten minutes in the sun is enough to
give any exposed skin the worst Sunday sunburn imaginable. And when the sun is up, keep your head covered
at all times, in or out of the pool!
Never take
water for granted in the Sahara; use the swimming holes and any other water
stop to fill up all available canteens and water jerry cans. Take your drinking water first, before you
stir up sediment with your splashes.
Carry sterilization tablets so you can take advantage of even dubious looking
water; you may need it desperately if your vehicle breaks down.
The best
investment you are likely to make as a Saharan overlander is the three-meter
length of gauzy fabric referred to as a cheche or shesh. Designed to be wrapped around the head as a
protection against the sun and around the nose and mouth as a filter for dust,
it has innumerable other uses. It can
serve as a light mosquito-deterrent sheet in the hot nights, as a sarong-like
wrap for poolside or even in-pool wear, and for a moistened covering to cool
water bottles. Local cost is about one
dollar and twenty cents.
Take other
clues from the local people in order to conserve precious body water and
prevent dehydration. Wear long-sleeved
shirts, and pick up a pair of the Berber style pantaloons, which allow for
plenty of air to reach your upper legs and eliminates uncomfortable perspiration
in that body region. Take another
important hint from locals and avoid travel at midday. Get up before the sun to travel if need be,
but stay quiet and in whatever shade you can find between 11 and 3.
And if you
think of it, pack some instant iced tea mix.
I wished I had; it would have made that murky water a bit more
palatable.
