The Sahara Desert is the largest in the world. Interestingly, Chad is 3/5’s desert. When we lived there, we lived just below the desert, in what is referred to as the Sahel. The temperatures where we lived would commonly reach 110 F (43 C), and we recorded temperatures as high as 119 F (48 C). The Sahara regularly exceeds those temperatures.
We have all seen the movies of vast deserts with nothing but sand. The only hope for survival is an oasis. Amazingly, Chad has a beautiful and historic oasis.
During our years in Chad, we used to laugh when we saw the tourism agency in the capital. We wondered why in the world anyone would ever come to Chad as a tourist. We knew there was Zakouma, a national park with lions, elephants, giraffe and other wildlife. What we didn’t know at the time is that Chad has the Ennedi Plateau.
The Ennedi Plateau was declared a UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage site in 2016. It is almost 20,000 square miles out in the middle of the vast desert of Chad and has magnificent rock formations with valleys that contain life giving water. It is a place that nomads visit regularly to water their camels, where crocodiles and barbary sheep roam freely, and where cave paintings dating back thousands of years can be found.
The Ennedi Plateau is located in northeast Chad and is a difficult place to visit because of political unrest and banditry.
Well, we are not laughing anymore. We missed our opportunity to visit such a hidden gem, a place where very few eyes have taken in the desert beauty and magnificence of God’s creation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39332438
https://www.zambezi.com/locations/ennedi/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/The-worlds-most-dangerous-places/chad/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennedi_Plateau