Waw An Namus

Waw An Namus 1998-1999

"Having seen this, we've seen everything!" These are the only words that came out of our mouths when, having reached the crest of the outer crater, we found ourselves before the "Waw An Namus" in all its majesty.

The volcano was the destination of our route but the journey had begun much further back, from Shaba, where we treated ourselves to a night in a hotel to then set off very early towards the oasis of Murzuk. There we finally left the asphalt to venture into the desert of the same name. The difficulties in getting past the harsh dunes of Murzuk were not few!!!!!!. Two days of travel to reach Al Katrun, where we took a nice photo with a group of kids who had climbed onto the back of the pick-up and where we were supposed to refuel with petrol and water, to reach the Namus, but as can happen in these parts……… "diesel's finished" was the answer the petrol station attendant gave us. The route drawn on our maps called for south-east towards Al Wigh and then east towards Namus, but it was unthinkable with the fuel we had left.

The reserve in the tanks, however, was enough to allow us a detour towards Tajri, a small community lost in the desert less than 100 km south towards Niger, and so we did. Having reached the dusty village square we found the police waiting for us for the usual document check, the petrol station and a large group of locals greeting us. Having filled the tanks and the jerrycans we're ready, we pay a few dinars for litres and litres of fuel and set off again. A military pick-up joins us, overtakes us, we find it a little further on broken down, we slow down and offer our help.

The driver thanks us, but doesn't seem worried, he touches a few wires and the old Toyota wakes up snorting and sets off again, catches up with us, and then we find it again, several km further on, near a compulsory passage between coils of barbed wire, where two very friendly guards open for us a sort of ramshackle barrier marking the military zone. We continue a few more km and find on a little hill the last outpost, the soldiers greet us, we respond with a toot of the horn. From now on we no longer met anyone, it's just us heading for Namus. The route is at times hard, at times technical. Three very intense days of travel, unique sunsets, unforgettable landscapes and a nice encounter with a Fennec. A plain of Fesh Fesh presents itself before us, truly difficult, seeming never to end, it's a very fine sand, very similar to talcum powder.

Here you have to keep the highest possible speed so as not to sink. It's the dawn of the third day, the decisive one, today we'll reach the volcano, we have a quick breakfast, take down the tents and set off. We've already been travelling for a few hours when we come upon a bank of fossil shells, thousands of years old, we all get off the vehicles, take a couple of steps, taking the chance to stretch our legs. There are thousands of shells, some very large, you only need to dig a little under the sand to find perfectly preserved specimens. As evidence of a life that flourished tens of thousands of years ago, in these places we also observe numerous pieces of fossil wood, petrified, and even stone tools skilfully worked.

Looking around 360 degrees you see nothing but sand and rocks, it's hard to imagine these endless valleys covered in water and vegetation, it really seems incredible! It's time to set off again, we're several tens of km from the destination and already one can see stones and boulders black as coal, flung there by the ancient fury of the volcano. The closer we get the more the tangible signs of the ancient and powerful eruptions increase, at about ten km the sand suddenly changes its colour, from straw-yellow it becomes black. We get closer still, we start to climb, we start to smell sulphur, the slope increases more and more, we reach the top and there it appears, in all its majesty, the Waw An Namus.

We're on the rim which is about 30 m wide, ring-shaped, with a diameter of about 5 km, at the exact centre there's another smaller cone, perhaps more recent, all around some splendid lakes, all of a different colour, surrounded by reeds and palms, all this in the centre of the Libyan Sahara, this, after having travelled for hundreds of km in the desert, makes the spectacle more incredible than ever; words or the images shown aren't enough to describe the feeling one experiences. Each of us lives that moment in their own way, one sits to contemplate the images flowing before their eyes, another moves to enjoy a better angle.

So we do too and……… surprise, the colour of the lakes changes with the changing perspective! FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We decide to go down on foot inside the volcano, the slope is very steep then, slowly, it softens, you can't get too close to the lakes because of the bottom which, near them, becomes muddy. Even from here the view is incredible, the black dunes inside the volcano have been shaped by the wind so perfectly that they look fake… they look like mountains of whipped cream… or rather, they look like gigantic meringues… or still waves of a sea in a storm… As I said, everyone is free to interpret the images that reach them in their own way, we all however agree on one thing "having seen this we've seen everything"…

Claudio Coletta Margherita Fenelli