A CIRCULAR ROUTE THROUGH THE HOGGAR, DEPARTING FROM AND RETURNING TO TAMANRASSET
The alarm at 5:30 is traumatic, then the journey unfolds without further troubles. Once we arrive in Algiers we don't see anyone from the group — we were supposed to be 6 — we find only one companion and the Algerian agency confirms that there will be only 3 of us. Under relentless rain we're taken to our hotel, which is on the coast, about 30 km from the capital. Off to bed early because tomorrow the alarm will ring at 3:30.
At 5 we're at the airport, a little man from the agency takes the tickets and disappears; he'll reappear just before departure to load the luggage and give us back the tickets. The flight over the desert is fascinating, we're heading into nowhere. In Tamanrasset (Tam) we disembark, the baggage storage is a big shed and the luggage arrives on a cart pulled by 2 people. A towering Tuareg takes charge of us and transports us to our hotel; we'll still have to go back to the airport because one bag hasn't arrived. At 17:30, after the caravan of off-road vehicles has formed, we begin our adventure in the Hoggar. In our Land Rover, besides us 4 Italians (a girl from Savona has joined us), there's also a Frenchwoman. At 20:00 the driver warns us that we've arrived at the camp; we look outside but don't see any tents. Meanwhile the Tuareg has stopped and had us get out.
When I ask where the camp is located, he serenely looks around and answers HERE. We'll spend the night on a beach cot; had I known, I would have brought my sleeping bag. Dinner is very good, perhaps also because of our appetite; the menu consists of cooked and raw vegetables and sardines in oil, and for fruit... dates, naturally.
The cold of the night kept us from fully appreciating the wonder of sleeping under a starry sky such as you no longer see in Italy. To wash, we find a spring among the rocks, then we resume the "journey"; after Tahifet we climb to the Azzon pass. Lunch with the usual cooked vegetables and sardines. The track toward Tazrouk runs through a landscape of dark stones. By 4 p.m. we've already arrived at the spot for the night's bivouac. After dinner we spend the evening singing with the group of Algerians. We get ready for another night in the cold.
We wake up with the sun; at 8:30 our travel companion measures a temperature of -4°C; luckily the sun immediately warms the air. After loading the beds onto the off-road vehicle, we set off again. Today the landscape changes; we find ourselves traveling through an area characterized by large blocks of stone. After lunch we make our way among them. In the afternoon we reach Ideles; the village lies in the middle of a vast plain, a group of palm trees points the right way. We also find a blacksmith's shop; finally we'll be able to spend a bit of money (we were told we have to spend at least 100,000 during the course of the trip). We resume the journey; the track becomes uncertain and the cars race across the plain, each following its own path, giving us a sense of complete freedom. Tonight, with the cots, we'll make a tent, with the desert as our mattress.
The last night in bivouac went well even though the "mattress" left a bit to be desired. We begin our approach to the Assekrem; we also start seeing strange rock formations, but the weather rapidly worsens and when we arrive at the refuge the sky is completely overcast; even today there will be no sunset as expected. While the guides prepare dinner, we climb up to Father Foucauld's hermitage; the wind is very strong and the colors almost absent. We return to the refuge for dinner; our group has a lounge available; we have dinner, then the table is cleared and mattresses are placed in place of the tablecloths. We sleep a bit piled on top of each other, but at least we're warm.
We wake up at 6:30, sort out our bags, then head toward the hermitage for mass. Outside the refuge we find a thick fog like the Po Valley and even a bit of rain; the guides say it had been several years since there was a day like this; what luck... Inside the hermitage it's pleasant, also because there's a stove warming us. Back at the refuge, we set off for Tam; the weather definitely improves. By 4 p.m. we're in Tam, at our hotel. The big dinner is at 6:30 p.m., then we spend part of the evening walking through the deserted streets, then a little show of Tuareg dances and off to bed.
We set off for Algiers; we return to our hotel; we look for a taxi to take us into the city, but we're practically isolated. We decide with our other 2 friends to stuff ourselves with an à la carte dinner; unfortunately at the hotel the only menu is the napkin one, so the result is the usual meat with rice; oh well. We get ready for the return to Italy, still with the images of the desert that won't leave us so easily.
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