ALGERIA

June 2008

Recent travels

Borders with Morocco and Libya have been closed for years.
The two Austrians kidnapped in Tunisia in February were transported across
the length of Algeria by AQIM and it is said, 'sold' to Malian rebels.

 

Currency
Dinar. 95D = 1 euro (black market in Algiers of 10-15%?).

Price of fuel
Petrol (essence) 21.2 d/litre; Super 30 d/litre where available (unleaded available in the north); diesel 13.7 d/litre.

Costs
Fuel is cheap. Meals from 200d, camping from 400d, hotels from 1000.

Useful languages
Arabic or French.

Escorts
Travellers with vehicles heading into the Algerian Sahara need an escort pretty much anywhere in the country now, ie: not just the desert. Without vehicles you may get around freely in the north (assuming you get a visa), but not in the desert.

First of all arrange your itinerary (or direct transit to Niger) with an approved agency (see below), then they send your official invite aka: certificate d'hebergement to the consulate where you apply for your visa. These escorting regs match broadly similar requirements in Libya and to a lesser extent, travelling in remote parts Niger and Egypt.

Hassle, of the type encountered in Morocco or Egypt in unknown in Algeria. You will find the people exceptionally hospitable and courteous. Sly hustlers at Algiers' new airport are about as bad as it gets.
Security is another issue. There have been renewed bombings in the north since 2007 (last in June 2008) and foreginers are said to be a target. Flying directly into the south for a tour may be fine but driving too close to the Malian and especially Nigerienne borders is unadvisable. The fact that the Austrians kidnapped in Tunisia in Feb 2008 were magically spirited across Algeria to Mali suggests some sort of local government or military collusion with the abductors (a charge also levelled at mass abductions in 2003).

Visas
Needed by all citizens of non-Arabic countries, usually applied for in your country of residence (which for most people rules out Tunisia for example). It's possible to obtain a regular 30-day visa in Agadez (Niger) the same day for 24,000CFA. The consulate is at: N16° 59.131 E7°59.905 (Mon to Fri & Sat morning). You need the letter of invitation/booking from the Algerian agency, two photos. See this. You'll then need to meet your guide at In Guezzam from Agadez (or Bordj Moktar should you come up from Mali, although don't bank on getting an Alg visa in Bamako, Mali).
The usual path for the Sahara travels is to apply via an agency as described above. According to UK visa regs (could be different elsewhere), for independent travels in the north you can submit a certificate d'hebergment ('proof of lodging') by booking a night in a hotel. Finding a hotel that will answer your query and fax the CdH can be another matter. If you have been officially invited to northern Algeria (usually by some institution) a Letter of Introduction with an Algerian address and an explanation is all that is required. In other words travelling around the north without a guide as was possible a few years ago is less easy in the current climate where the north is more dangerous than the south. The last time I was at Algiers airport they asked which agency we were travelling with.

APPLYING FOR A VISA IN THE UK for a Saharan visit
The Algerian Consulate
6 Hyde Park Gate, London, SW7 5EW.
Closed Sunday and Monday (Sat - collection only).
Tel. 020 7589 6885
Fax 020 7589 7725
Website

Apply in the basement between 9.30am and noon. Note if applying in person by 8.45 there are already half a dozen couriers queuing. On opening the doors they now hand out numbered tickets to those already waitiing; if you arrive after ticket handout pop downstairs and ask for one. Arriving much after 10.30 may mean you won't get to the head of the queue before they close at noon.
If you DIY, collect between 4 and 4.30pm a week later (during Ramadan 2.30-3pm but varies). Download form here (pdf). Fill out two copies and attach a photo to each.

You need an invitation from an Algerian tourist agency (they fax a copy directly to the consulate; see below) and a letter from your employer, basically saying you work there. A single-entry 30-day visa costs £28 for a UK passport holder.

Tourist agencies in Algeria that can fax the necessary invitation for tourists - aka "certificate d'heberegement" include:

Agence Tanezrouft, September 2007 prices for up to 3-4 cars:
Guide with a car:
€135-150/day

Guide in your car :
€50-70/day
€530 for 6-day Tunisia to Niger transit via the Trans-Sahara Highway

Info needed for your invitation
• names and date of birth
• nationality of the participants
• passport numbers
• how are you travelling to Algeria
• registration number of vehicles
• itinerary
• exact dates of entry and exit to the country
• 'transit' or a 'tourist' visa.

The certificat d'hebergement will only be accepted if faxed directly from the agency to the consulate where you're applying.

Many travellers use Tanezrouft because I use them and list them here but lately some have had not so good experiences once out there; the usual combination of duff guides/escorts and their sometimes unreliable cars (sometimes a problem in Libya too).
In my experience a drop in quality eventually occurs with any agency in the Sahara but for the moment I stick with the devil I know. When it comes to processing the visas Tanezrouft are fine. There are plenty of other agencies; Akar Akar comes recommended; let me or the forum know your positive experiences.

Border formalities - overland
An hour or four from Tunisia at Taleb Larbi (between Nefta - El Oued; the most common entry point where your escort meets you. Fill out police forms for you and your car, then customs declaration forms and maybe get a search. Then you need to declare and change your official money and buy motor insurance (2069d for 4 weeks for a 4x4). They also do a health briefing (AIDS awareness?). Then you must check into the gendarmerie a couple of kms down the road.

The crossing from Ghat (Libya) to Djanet is closed to tourists and despite what the new LP says, I don't believe the crossing out of Deb Deb to Ghadames in Libya is possible for tourists either; entry into Algeria certainly isn't. Nothing doing yet with Moroccan borders, Mali-Tanezrouft is risky as usual and the Algerian Tanezrouft may be closed to tourists (see below). Though we went as far as Tessalit in October 2006, a month later it was dangerous again and has flared up in late 2007 in line with the unrest in north Niger.

I hear travel agencies in Algeria had been advised recently that the whole Erg Cheche region is closed to tourists (except close to the towns). A lot of contraband passes up and down this way. It seems even Reggane - Bidon V - BBM (the northern or Algerian Tanezrouft) is now off bounds.

Coming down from Taleb to Djanet in February 2007 was a right arseache but business as usual - tedious checkpoints in every town and village, some insisting your guide goes to the local barracks to fill out a form; next time I go south I will probably take the Algiers-Tam route. A 2008 report on this and the Tam route here.

Driving down from Algiers port in January 2008 there were police at every roundabout and checking-in is required with the Gendarmerie if you stop at In Salah and at Tam. Exiting via Bordj is straightforward both ways although north Mali has its issues right now.

Border formalities: flying in
To Tam for example, on an organised/private tour: no compulsory exchange required (though you may want to change some anyway for personal use). Just fill out the brown card and a white customs form declaring money and phones, cameras/etc (no binoculars aka: jumelles). This customs sheet is looked at but virtually never checked against your money on the way out. They ask but don't search much.

Desert pistes
The landscapes of the southeast offer the best of the true Sahara without committing yourself to crossing the desert to West Africa, with clear tracks, many wells and much nomad life.