What a lovely trip, begun years earlier in Bologna: one day a friend of mine introduced me to Abdul, owner of the ALAWY TOURS COMPANY of SEBHA (LIBYA). Abdu — as everyone affectionately called him by then — was looking for a good graphic designer to handle the coordinated image of his travel agency. And so came business cards, brochures, stickers, and above all the website. But one fine day the opportunity arrived: to go and visit Libya with the ALAWY TOURS COMPANY, and then put together a fine presentation for the 2005 edition of the BIT (the Milan tourism fair). 12 days immersed in history, in adventure, in a fabulous and breathtaking landscape such as the Sahara desert.
A particular encounter, a different culture, a different society.
Abdu waits for my wife and me at the Tripoli airport. Together with the guide "Speedster", the legendary Bilghasem, we head towards the hotel, and then prepare ourselves for a first contact with Libyan culture, we start off very well, a stratospheric restaurant where we can taste, accompanied by traditional music, all the specialties of this knowledgeable country.
Early in the morning, temperature not too mild, we set off for Sabhrata, Roman history awaits us. Heading West, after a fair dashing of Km, traveled along the coastal road we arrive at Sabhrata. What an enchantment, Roman civilization in one of its flourishing periods settled here and built wonderful cities, Sabhrata is one of them. Everything you could ask for from well-kept Roman ruins is here, the sand has preserved many buildings, a look at the adjacent museum and then... off we go...departure towards the interior of Libya.
Our friendly guide Bilghasem (immediately nicknamed Bel) grinds out Kilometers upon Kilometers, through the Nafusa mountains, we stop along the road for Nalut to visit the Berber fortifications where these people used to store grain and oil during their long journeys to new lands in search of water and vegetation, then, the arrival in Ghadames, we have dinner and stay overnight in a picturesque hotel.
the whole day is dedicated to the visit of Ghadames located at the beginning of the Sahara, an ancient caravan center, the traditional dwellings in Libya are man's answer to the harsh environmental conditions and to the need to maintain social organization and respect social and cultural tradition, the old city of Ghadames in beautiful Libya is defined "a living bridge between traditional architecture and contemporaneity in the entire country". It has a total area of 75 hectares, including buildings, palm groves and gardens, the oasis of Ghadames is part of the secondary region of Gharyan, one of the five secondary regions of the Tripoli region. Moreover, it is one of the most important trade routes, connecting central Africa with the Mediterranean seacoast.
History records that travelers arriving from Yemen crossed the valley in which Ghadames is located, they stayed one night night and when they moved on, at the arrival of morning, they forgot their provisions. Later they remembered their provisions and that they had left them behind where they had lunched the previous day. A man on horseback therefore went back to retrieve the food, the horse dug with its hoof into the earth and water gushed out, for this reason, the current spring is called the spring of the "horse" (el Faras Di Eyn). This story explains the origin of the name Ghadames which means "yesterday's lunch". The Arabic name contains two words Ghada which means "lunch" or "food" and Ames which means "yesterday". The oasis of Ghadames has been colonized by many countries like other parts of the country.
In the afternoon we move a few kilometers to taste the first dunes of the Sahara, we position ourselves to watch a spectacular sunset over the desert. After all these exciting sights we have a reserved spot in a typical little restaurant in the new Ghadames...boy what feasts!!!
Another dashing of kilometers and we find ourselves in the middle of Libya at a crossroads in Shuerif, eating more Libyan delicacies and smoking the narghile, right after, departure towards Sebha, our gateway to the desert adventure, we will arrive there in the evening.
here we are, early in the morning, we say goodbye to Bel, our speedster guide, with whom we shared the few cubic meters of his little van and we set up the guide's big Toyota that will whisk us across the dunes of the Sahara, Saad, a big man who in other circumstances might seem like an unreliable character, in this case will prove to be a safe guide to entrust one's life to in a place as inhospitable as the desert, with him is the cook, the very reserved Bilel, a young Tuareg, who will stuff us with Libyan delicacies even in the middle of the desert. The moment has come, we set off towards Germa, where in the national museum, we become acquainted with the places we are going to visit, from their history to their geology.
Having visited the museum, this is the moment...we take the road...what road...a strip of asphalt...that from one moment to the next turns into sand, after a few kilometers into a track..that only Saad can see... we stop and my wife and I have our first contact with absurd spaces...that in all our lives we had never seen before..after lunch..back in the car and off we go...towards the dunes of the Idhan Murzuk to set up our first real camp on the dunes of the Sahara.
After the first breakfast, we set off with the 4x4 towards the wadi Matkandush. Passing through the yellow sand dunes of Uan Kasa, the expanse of Messak Mellet with its white stones and of Messak Settafet, the expanse of sharp black stones, to visit the beautiful prehistoric rocks carved by the ancient inhabitants of the area. Incredible to see carved on the rocks animals that lived in the Sahara about 10,000 years ago. We spend the night among high and red sand dunes in Idhan Murzuq.
Having arrived near the imposing yet fascinating Akakus range we enter we cross the gorges of Teschuinat and Fozzigiarein, here we find immense sculptures of nature like the great arch then, again, incredible rock paintings depicting hunting scenes and social life of the ancient inhabitants of the Akakus, incredible: gazelles, giraffes, oxen, proof that this was once, 10,000 - 4,000 years ago, a green region, with fauna and with human settlements. Only 4,000 years ago the weather changed and little by little the rivers and lakes became dry and inhospitable, we spend a night in the Akakus, setting up camp protected by tall rock formations. We pass near the site called Addad (the finger), a curious rock formation shaped like a finger, we leave the Akakus from Awiss towards Alwenat to then head towards Ubari.
Incredible friends, what unforgettable days, now however we are back in civilization, the first human outpost after 5 unforgettable days in the desert. We travel the road that from Al Awinat heads towards Sebha, we stop to taste an authentic Arab coffee at the house of our guide Saad and, subsequently we head towards the dunes of Awbari to stay overnight. In the morning we head into the interior of the sand sea of Awbari and up and down the ocean of dunes, great fun!!!! we will arrive at the beautiful region of Duada: an area dotted with palms and salt lakes in which the surrounding dunes are mirrored. We find lake Gabroun, Mafu, Mandara, Oum-Al-MA.
We stay overnight and the following morning we visit the remaining lakes where frantic races up and down the dunes await us, in the evening back to Sebha, the following morning we head towards the local airport, and boarded on a fabulous Antonov Indiana Jones style we head towards Tripoli
Having arrived in Tripoli with a sensational flight, Bel is waiting for us, to go this time towards the East, towards Leptis Magna, we begin with the arch of Septimius Severus then the Cardo Maximus, where this intersects the road to the west the Decumanus Maximus and dedicated to Severus built in 203 A.D to celebrate the arrival of the emperor, all around, gyms, saunas, shops, temples and baths then the museum and finally the beautiful amphitheater. In the evening Bel invites us to his house and his wife prepares and teaches us all the secrets of a good Libyan cous-cous.
The whole morning is dedicated to shopping in Tripoli's various little markets. After buying spices, green tea and various pottery, we head to the airport, where we say goodbye to all of Abdu's co-workers, and then board the plane that will take us home.
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