First three days in Algeria (by Lieze)

Monday 28 February 2011

Today we’ve crossed the border between Niger and Algeria, so we arrived in the third country of our trip.

Because the south of the country is for the greater part desert (the Sahara), we immediately travelled to Tamanrasset, one of the biggest cities in the South of the country. Although we’re already travelling for a few weeks through Africa, we still aren’t used to the high temperatures of these countries. Here in Tamanrasset some of the world’s highest temperatures have been recorded! But nevertheless it’s a very beautiful city with breath-taking desert landscapes. It’s also a very mountainous region with an average altitude of 900 m above the sea level, but the highest point is 3003 m high! This point is named “Tahat”.

In the afternoon, we visited the Museum of the Hoggar where the local life and culture, which is strongly dominated by the main religion the Islam, is exhibited.

The city is also strategic very important because the headquarters of the Joint Military Staff Committee are located here. They use Tamanrasset to coordinate their military activity in the Pan-Sahel.

Today has been a very long day of travelling and visiting and I think you can imagine we’re all very tired! For the night, we’re staying with the local tribe, the Tuareg People, who live in lovely small red houses.

Lots of love,

Lieze

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Never thought I would celebrate my birthday in Algeria, but today that came true!

We left Tamanrasset at 4 p.m. before the heath was unbearable and we travelled further to In Salah, the next stop on our route.

This oasis in central Algeria is cut in half by a large sand dune on the Western edge of the town. While it slowly eats up buildings at one end (it takes 10 to 20 years to cover one house), a house is uncovered at the other end. As soon as a house is left in the open after half a century under sand, the grand children of the original owner takes bring the house back to good condition and then they move in.

The most important economic activity of In Salah is agriculture but the area around it contains important oil and gas reserves. “In Salah Gas” is one of the largest dry gas joint-venture projects in the country, realised by BP.

In fact, the whole country in well-known for its oil and gas finds. This has given the economy a lift, after years of political upheaval and violence. But still, the poverty in the country is dominating and especially the youth is unemployed, despite of the reasonable education system. Education is obligatory for children from 6 to 15 years old and there are 10 different universities.

In January this year, major protests broke out over food prices and unemployment. The government, led by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, responded by reducing the prices of basic food.

Today was rather a calm day without many visits of important curiosities. We spent almost all afternoon at the water, which is very salty by the way! In the evening, we saw a magnificent sunset from the top of the dune!

And because there’s only one hotel in this town (which is rather expensive!), we’ve decided to stay in one of the two camp sites.

Wednesday 3 March 2011

Today was our second day in In Salah. It’s a rather small city surrounded by desert so it’s very difficult to explore the area. That’s why we’ve decided to stay in town and learn more about the inhabitants and their culture.

As religion is very important for all the Algerians, there are a lot of mosques in the country. Today we visited the one in In Salah and it’s really a very beautiful building!

The people here build everything themselves, they even make their own bricks which are made of red clay. It is inexpensive and gives an excellent insulation against the heat, much better than concrete!

Tonight is our last night here in In Salah and I’m very excited for the continuation of our trip!

Talk to you soon!

Lieze

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8633851.stm  (This is an article about the Joint Millitary Staff in Tamanrasset)