Tefedest    5  discovery  circuits

North of the Hoggar mountain is the large granite mountain range of Tefedest.

The highest peak is In Ekoulmou, further North is Oudane mountain.

The Garet moutain , shaped like a dome, is well known for its legendary nomad steeple

return

nomad 's luggage hanging in a tree

Still today, nomads' tribes live in the mountain range of Tefedest ever since they find water, wood and pasture around. 

The circuits give opportunity to meet Tuaregs' people, living in camps or small villages and

to discover the prehistoric way of life through rupestrian paintings and engravings.

The Tuaregs' guides teach us their way of life.

They talk about  their ancestors but also about the nomads'people today.

They show us games in the sand, they recite poems, and we enjoy their danses and music.

Issalane

ethnology and culture

Issalane (tamacheq):  news from the family, about pasture and cattle when nomads people meet each other.

9 day circuit 4/4 in the mountain range of Tefedest

Wonderful circuit among majestic mountains, along the wadis, in various sites, in the hospitable village of Mertoutek, in the Issakamaren Tuaregs'camps.  Discovering many rupestrian engravings and paintings.
 

Ouhet
   summer village 

Zériba : reed shed

 A 9 day circuit in the Tefedest mountain range,

6 days trekking with bagpacks camels  and 3 days 4X4 assistance

 Ouhet is the summer village of  the tribe Kel Ouhet. In summer, they settle their camps in this village, in the center of the mountain range of Tefedest. They enjoy the fresh air, vineyards, fruits, they irrigate small gardens . All around we find ancient canalizations, basins and graves. We discover rupestrian engravings and paintings, witnesses of ancient population.
 

Ihedan
around the village of  Mertoutek

Ihedan (tamacheq): donkeys.

Some are wild, others stay close to Tuareg's camps. They carry water, and packs when nomads move. They are hobbled with ropes, just enough to stay around, and just enough to find their food not so far the camp.

 10 days circuit
2 days 4x4 assistance and 8 days trekking with pack donkeys

Start of the circuit at Mertoutek after transfer with 4X4 from Tamanrasset to Mertoutek. The donkeys will carry the food and our luggage. Participants will walk accompanied by Tuareg's guides. We reach the middle of the tassel of Tefedest.

That is the point where we settle a camp to go discovering prehistoric art in the Tefedest mountain range. Paintings and engravings of Chapoten, Tilalene and Tin Agrour. We return to Mertoutek through the shady wadi of Ahaouha.

I  k  e  n  a

Ikena(tamacheq) means  "it is well done", about a arts ans crafts, a meal well prepared

9 day discovery circuit, trekking, 4x4 assistance

The circuit offers us to discover various landscapes. We reach gueltas, ponds in dried wadis or in hidden rocks. We discover the majestic view from Assekrem where Father Charles de Foucauld settled his Hermitage. We cross small villages and we trek along wadis surrounded by large valleys. We travel through the Tefedest mountain range to reach the summer village Ouhet.

Garet  El  Djenoun

Garet El Djenoun (tamacheq) the djinns'mountain

9 day trekking and 4X4 assistance

A trek through the "white"Tefedest  mountain range, among dunes, oueds and  rocks which shelter numerous prehistoric paintings and engravings.

A walk  through camel paths to reach the knees of the Djinns' Mountain which Frison-Roche first climbed in 1935. Today this mountain is a playground for experienced climbers.