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mThe guide pointed to the Algerian dunes stretching to the horizon, the saffron sand gleaming under the setting sun.
“In that direction,” she said, her eyes straining to see beneath the dark blue band of the Tuareg headscarf, “it’s just sand. Five hundred miles from Mali.”
Overwhelmed by the immensity of it all, I tried to understand. Five hundred miles to Mali, and the mounds didn’t stop there.
I previously lived in the Sahara, in the neighborhood moroccoWhere I joined the crowd of other tourists on camels making their way past our hotel to the luxurious bell tents and fridges stocked with refrigerated drinks.
The experience was capped off by dozens of tire tracks criss-crossing our trail. My Moroccan excursion wasn’t a venture into the unknown desert, it was a hairy theme park ride. Algeria Was different.
My time in Africa’s largest country began in the capital, Algiers: a city that can trace its past back to the sixth century BC, when it began life as a Phoenician outpost.
Successive rulers from far and wide – Romans, Ottomans, French – built around that original site, adding layers of their influence to the hills rising from the Bay of Algiers. This has created a city of many architectural styles, built around pathways that connect with the contours of the land.
The oldest section of Algiers is the Kasbah. Its steep stairs and winding streets remain a lively, vibrant hub of daily activity. There are workshops and small shops selling crafts, but these are oriented towards local buyers – no tourist traps here, no aggressive touts selling false promises of authenticity.
Lively traders call from the market stalls, and vendors talk amongst their colorful trays, each of which holds pomegranates, grapes, apricots and dates.
There is no heavy activity there, one reason for this is the lack of tourists. I met another Brit during my week in the country and saw only a handful of foreign visitors at the sites I visited.
But this will change. AlgeriaThe government of Brazil has set ambitious tourism targets, aiming for 12 million annual international visitors by 2030 (following their record-breaking 2.2 million foreigners visiting the country in 2023).
Investments are being directed towards increasing hotel capacity and improving internal transport links, as well as the quality of tourism services. Even before this, Late Algeria Have an advantage over your neighbors. Direct flights from London Gatwick reach Algiers in less than three hours – faster than flights to Marrakesh, Casablanca or Fez.
From Algiers, I flew an hour east to Constantine, to wander the high streets that give the place the nickname “City of Bridges.”
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Algeria’s third city is cut in two by a steep ravine, offering incredible vantage points.
At the northern edge of the city, the stone arches of the Falls Bridge cross the river at the point where it falls into the plains below the city. About 175 meters above that, the Sidi M’Said Bridge, a suspension bridge for road traffic, was for a time the highest bridge in the world.
The most irritating thing for a travel writer afraid of heights is the Mella Slimane Bridge, a pedestrian path that has a bad habit of shaking – they say – perfectly safely, as you cross it.
A two-hour drive from Constantine brought me to the Roman ruins of Gemila. Home to about 4,000 people at its peak in the 3rd century AD, Djemilla stretches across a peaceful hilly area. I had the place where I could hear crickets rustling and flowers whispering in the wind.
I walked through 2,000 years of crumbling houses, markets and temples, where thick blocks of limestone were surrounded by intricate mosaics, rich in detail.
I found Gemila – the name has its roots in the Arabic word for “beautiful” – as impressive as any Roman ruin I’ve seen around the Mediterranean. The main attraction was the ancient theatre, built on a natural curve of the hill.
Standing in front of what had once been the stage, I looked out at the growing, semi-circular rows of seating. My guide encouraged me to sing or shout. The site’s precision-engineered acoustics amplified my calls to an audience of no end.
Then it was on to Djennét, an oasis outpost in the south-eastern corner of Algeria – as close to the center of the Sahara as it was possible to get. Before heading into the desert, I climbed the mud-walled remains of Zelouze Castle for a hilltop view across a strip of palm trees.
As I approached Tassili N’Ajjar National Park, that wave of green leaves was replaced by jagged sandstone cliffs. Its name means “Plateau of Rivers”, which refers to the water that flowed here 6,000 years ago.
Evidence of greener times can be found on the walls of valleys and rocky outcrops: remarkable, rusty-red cave paintings of the people and animals who roamed these plains.
In this remote corner of Algeria, these ancient paintings depict a land of giraffes and elephants. This is now unimaginable as the desert extends to incredible distances in every direction; Five hundred miles to Mali, and even more.
how to do it
Untamed Borders offers 10 days”in the heart of safariTour covering Algiers, Constantine, Djemilla, Jeannette Tassili N’Azer National Park, from £1,750, excluding international flights.
British Airways Fly direct from London Gatwick to Algiers Houari Boumediene International Airport from £180. Flights take just under three hours.
Dom was a guest on Indomitable Borders