Algeria opening up again?

It looks like Algeria, or parts of it, are starting to open up again. There have been a small number of 4x4 and MC groups that have completed trips down to the south recently. You still need an escort to get to the south if you are driving your own vehicle, and you have to have a 'guide' in some instances, but once in the Hoggars are Djanet areas you can explore away.

Despite the terrorism present in Mali and Libya, Algeria has actually done an excellent job in the past couple of years. The attack on the In Amenas oil facility in early 2013 was the last major attack. There are still some terrorist cells hiding out in the mountains in the north near the Tunisian border, but there has been nothing in the south for nearly four years now.

Since oil prices dropped, Algeria has been forced to look at alternative sources of income. Morocco announced $6 billion in tourism revenue in 2016 and it looks like Algeria noticed.

The Grand Erg Occidental is still out of bounds but seeing the Hoggars is on my bucket list, so I will be watching closely!

Been in the Hoggar Mountains late eighties, you won't be disappointed.

I'm in if it opens up its been on my list for a while now the Hoggar mountains and the Grand Org shame the Org is still off the menu.

I did see last year there was a tour on motorcycles from Portugal in the area but I think they were on a guided tour

A video link here for a bunch MC overlanders and a support truck in the south this January:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bl28p-o11M

That yellow MAN/VW truck didn't look too stable.

What a wonderful landscape, not surprised you want to go there. All a bit of a blur when I was there. Drove the Trans Sahara Highway from Algiers due south down though Ain Salah, Tamanrasset, In Guezzam, across the border into Niger, Arlit and finally Agadez. That's roughly 2,500 km on mostly dirt tracks. Only the very first section in Algeria was paved and driveable by "2WD cars, plus the last part before Agadez although this was so poor, it would have been better left natural.

Took a while though, four and a half days to be precise ... madness!

I love the fact they were just about to drive the truck through someones crops before it got stuck.

Fantastic scenery not sure my 110 would make it without putting up a fight.

I'm thinking quad-bike or buggy with low pressure balloon tyres is the way to go with a support vehicle meeting up at night for camp on this particular route.

What an adventure, when we going !!!!

Actually a good buggy would probably be a lot of fun in that area...as long as you had a support truck to carry gear, water and food.

Tembo wrote:

Actually a good buggy would probably be a lot of fun in that area...as long as you had a support truck to carry gear, water and food.

That's what I thought failing that there must be some great places too explore without the need to try and dig a truck out of a 50 foot dune and away from tarmac roads.

maybe something like this...you could even 'Mad Max' it up a bit. The Quadzilla RL500 Mk II. Road legal and comes with its own winch...

Wonder what those dumper style tyres are like on a wet roundabout? 'Interesting' to say the least!

Tom Mc wrote:

Wonder what those dumper style tyres are like on a wet roundabout? 'Interesting' to say the least!

Tbh I wouldn't think they are road legal, I was thinking more like Maxis Trepadours with tyre balls no need to carry a spare all the time then

You wouldn't want tyres like that in the sand anyway, they would just dig you in. They would suit mud mostly I would think.

Yep, certainly good for digging.

For the Dakar we were sponsored by Armstong Tires to the tune of 8 tyres per vehicle ... and they were brilliant. Not one puncture in 7,500 miles / 12,000 km. Same goes for the second Range Rover, although that was never a real test as they never got past the dunes in Libya.

We went though the Sahara and never got stuck once ... and that was without difflock as the vacumn pipe decided to make an early exit! Effectively, we only had one wheel drive, so the V8 had to compensate with a lot of grunt.

Our tyre pattern had rounded shoulders with no lugs whatsoever - basically it was a road tyre. Importantly when we were seeking a tyre company, their avertisements stated they had kevlar-reinforced side walls. Sounded good so contaced them. Good choice, both for sponsorship and the actual tyres. They were brilliant and hard-wearing on the tread itself.

Going to shift this over the proposed trip section...

Was reading some security related news yesterday, discussing North Africa, where it was noted that according to records of the last five years Algeria and Morocco are the safest African countries, along with Rwanda. So from a safety standpoint it is looking good for the 2018 Hoggar mountains expedition.

Tembo wrote:

according to records of the last five years Algeria and Morocco are the safest African countries, along with Rwanda.

Strewth, I for one would have lost money on that bet!