January 20 - News
Back from the Amguid Crater Trek, there's a slide show here. Same time, same place next year.
You can also finally read my yarn on the 2006 Empty Quarter Crossing here.
The fly-in Tenere tour for February 2011 may get reprofiled to include a few days trekking round the back of Djado. Can't say i've ever heard of such a thing but my man in Niger seems keen to give it a go so until the Tenere's westside sites are open and safe, why not. I've long wanted to explore the mysterious valley of Enneri Blaka in the Tubulands.
Of the hostages in Mali no news other than threats to kill them if AQIM prisoners in Mali are not released.
I'm doing a talk on the Sahara at Adventure Travel Live in London next Saturday - Theatre 5, 2pm - and there will be some specials on by books and dvds on the Trailblazer Guides Stand A35.
January 3 - Tenere tour for 2011 - Routes updated - Kidnappings Map added
I'm off to the Immidir for a couple of weeks. In the meantime I've previewed a tour to the Tenere for February 2011. More details when I get back.
I've also updated the Trans Sahara Routes page which is usually the most viewed page on this website, and added a map of kidnappings in the Sahara since 2003 in an attempt to help first-timers assess where the dangers might be year by year.
December 20 - More kidnappings in Mauritania - closed or difficult borders - trans-Sahara drug trade
More bad news from Mauritania - an elderly Italian, his Burkinabe wife and an Ivorian driver were reported kidnapped from their shot-out minibus very close to the Malian border on Friday night. A Reuters report here, location here, discussion with doubtless links to more recent reports starts here.
Like the kidnap of the Spanish and the Frenchman in Mali earlier, the raid took place at night - and this latest event took place on the track or road from Ayoun to Nioro and Bamako in Mali - in other words a main route not out in the desert.
In the meantime AQIM have released a statement claiming they are holding the 3 Spanish and the Frenchman abducted in November somewhere in Mali, as expected.
Other news - also bad - it's said the Malian border with Algeria at Tessalit is closed to tourists (not that anyone would go there at this time) while at Assamaka they're trying to pull a scam and make you pay 100s of euros for an unnecessary escort to Arlit - though this could be just down to one individual and a flash in the pan.
Lately more news agencies are carrying reports about cocaine shipped from South America being transported across the Sahara to Europe, under protection from AQIM. A discussion in this subject here.
November 30 - 3 Spanish kidnapped from a moving car in Mauritania
Three Spanish aid volunteers working for Barcelona-Acció Solidaria were grabbed from their vehicle yesterday (the last in a convoy of around 13) while driving down the main desert highway from Nouadhibou at a point inland and northeast from Nouamghar, around 170km north of Nouakchott. The village of Chelkhett Legtouta is mentioned, but it doesn't appear on any map and may be a new settlement following the construction of this desert highway a few years ago.
An early news report here, a translation of another Spanish newspaper report here, and a discussion with links to many more recent reports here.
November 28 - Frenchman kidnapped in Mali
The first kidnapping of the season, a French malaria researcher grabbed in Menaka, eastern Mali (close to where Edwin Dyer and group were taken earlier this year). More news here.
November 8 - News
By the time you read this I'll have converted the stripped down GPS waypoints on the Morocco Overland - Routes page more useful .gpx files.
Looks like the next Simoon crater tour is happening in early Jan - as a way of working off Xmas excess on the 200-km trek to the Amguid Crater. it's recommended by the BMC.
Travel news: it seems the Algerian military is pushing hard at (or getting lucky with) AQIM, if recent reports are to be believed. Events include the wounding of Abdel Hamid Abou Zeid near Adrar last week - the guy who is said to have executed Brit hostage Edwin Dyer in Mali earlier this year. Whether he was actually caught is not clear. As a result the Algeria page has been updated and my 4x4 February tour cancelled.
Mauritania is currently not issuing even 3-day visas at the Western Sahara border this has been the case on and off for the last year or so so, as always it's best to get it in advance at Rabat. Details here
July 14 - Final hostage released in Mali - Algeria-Niger - Morocco Overland in stock
As the Malian army sends out operations against AQIM camps in the north of the county, news comes through that the last hostage, Swiss Werner Greiner was released on Sunday in Gao, most probably for the usually denied ransom. More here.
It is said that the Niger border with Algeria at Assamaka is closed, possibly as a result of the President of Niger's recent actions.
Following over-optimistic delivery estimates, Morocco Overland is now finally available at Matt's and ought to be in the bookshops in a week or two. The 'Routes' section of the Morocco Overland website is now fully functional.
For those who pre-ordered, thanks for your patience.
June 20 - Libya turns the screws again
For the latest visa regs, click this.
June 6 - British hostage killed in Mali
An Austrian-based Brit, Edwin Dyer (left) who was kidnapped with 2 Swiss and a German in January 2009 while on a German organised tour in eastern Mali, was killed last Friday by his AQIM captors when a second deadline for ransom demands ended. These demands included the release of Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric held in a UK prison for extradition to Jordan and described as an associate of Osama bin Laden, as well as up to 10 million euros.
Although other hostages have died in captivity and tourists have very occasionally been killed in the Sahara, Edwin Dyer is the first tourist hostage to actually be executed when a deadline expired. It is thought the fact that he was British was significant in his murder. The two women in the group were released in April along with the 2 Canadian diplomats grabbed in Niger in November 2008 (9/09: interview with Robert Fowler here). It is thought ransoms were paid by their governments although this is always denied in these cases. A Swiss man Werner Greiner, whose wife was among the two women released earlier, remains in captivity.
If you can stomach it, there is a 250-page monograph dating from June 2008 published by the Institute for Security Studies, titled: 'Terrorism, in the Maghreb' available here.
News links, comment and recent developments here.
Archived News 2008-9
