Andras is right about the guides - commonly they'll speak French, especially the older guys who are more reliable. But no English apart from Salah.

I would not worry about getting lost. Unless you have your own specific itinerary (unlikely as you don't know the area), your guide will follow a tried and tested route through Illizi wilaya which will be old hat to him but deliver all you want in spades between Tamajert and Tin Merzouga. We will be doing a version of this route this January.

[Interesting to hear A2 is open from Illizi; a great route. But I wonder if it's open from the BoD end where it cuts into Tam wilaya for a few miles? I was just about to ask someone that.]

Depending on the number and state of your vehicles (usually massively over-equipped by local standards), I believe a sat phone is the only reliable rescue device. Have the number of the agency, so the guide can talk to them even if you can't, and tell them what's up.

You may find it useful to get hold of an old copy of Sahara Overland which described a few routes in that area.

Maybe your experience with NGOs (and their purported budgets) is different, but being allocated an amenable guide is as much a lottery as it is with travel companions. Once you're on the piste he will effectively be leading you and probably know the best tracks, camp spots and so on, even if you disagree at the time. Some can have their own agenda (visiting family and friends out bush; taking short cuts), but with no language or local knowledge you will be pretty helpless but who knows, it may improve your experience.

In my experience there is no need for a fixer – if you have problems you get resourceful and people will be helpful if there are any around. And the scams you talk of are very rare as a tourist as Algeria is not like other Maghrebi countries – another part of its appeal. On the way down the Gendarmerie may insist you stay in a hotel (little choice on your approach route) or camp (for free) by a police station.
Once on the piste (or south of Illizi) the only towns you will visit are Illizi and Djanet, plus maybe Bordj el Haouas. But it would be good to get a French-speaker in your group. I've found this massively improves things and avoids misunderstandings.

It will be the local agency you will be dealing with. You won't know the guide until you meet him, probably a gnarly old Tuareg living on three peanuts a day and who happens to be available. His driver may be a younger flash harry who may have ideas (and driving styles) of his own.

I remember the first time we hired a guide in Algeria (before GPS and before it was mandatory), we suspected he was dicking us about. I can't recall the reasons for this resentment, but I think it was just an reaction – as you may be having – to being led after years of DIY. Plus he was not a chummy Tuareg. But we would have struggled to follow the four-day route without time.

By the way, I presume you know that your agency escort/guide in their own car with a driver will cost up to €150 a day. This includes the 3+ days it takes them to come up to meet you at the Tunisian border (or Algiers) - and the three days back after leaving you back at the border.

I've also just been told you get an additional Gendarmerie vehicle escort from the border to Illizi and back, after which you guide takes over on the pre-approved route. My group had this last time in 2011 on the west side. They found the Gendarmerie changeovers at various district boundaries irksome.

On a first visit to a county like this you have to accept that things will not go exactly as planned – most usually vehicle problems. So better, within reason, to treat it as a valuable recce just and go with the flow.
Unlike nearly all other North African countries, desert tourism and guiding is run by desert people, not northern entrepreneurs, and has been that way since it started. Despite all the aggro in getting and driving there (only China is more complicated) they know the game and know what tourists want. For most Saharans Alg a firm favourite.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Boatloads of good feedback there gentlemen...much appreciated. Also, apologies to Milano for highjacking his thread a little bit.

So my main takeaways so far are:

- Bone up on my French (my wife and I were thinking of taking a conversational French course anyway)

- Manage my expectations of the guide issue

- Don't let the relatively minor potential headaches interfere with actually enjoying an area I have always wanted to see.

Thanks a lot, Chris for your long comment!
RR

For our trip in January this year Mr Tidjani from Timtar hired a guy called Noureddine (nunokazza x hotmail.fr) from Djanet. Fluent in English. A very goog knowledge of Tassili. He is a painter.

He is also connected with with Tinariwen Tours
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004782258596

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www.globerider.pl

These are his paintings:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Tiknaren...=page_internal

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www.globerider.pl

fwiw, a bunch of us got our visas in the UK in just a week with no problems (submitted and collected by one of us - letter or email of permission required to do this).
In other words, with fewer complications than expected.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Hi Chris,

Have you planned to travel with your vehicles?

Which agency toget your visas and which route have you gave?

Thanks,

RR.

That is odd Chris, I applied in person at the London consulate about 6 weeks ago with an approved letter from a Djanet tour company and didn't hear anything back for 5 weeks. I had to get my passport off them last week for travel. Rode the iron ore train from Zouerate to the coast instead - not quite as good scenery for sure (and still washing iron ore off my skin after many showers..)