Igor,

I'm thinking aloud, and in no way giving advice! Any advice should say: Don't go !

My view is, that the Niger-Chad-Sudan route carries far more risks than Algeria even under present circumstances. The main difference is that the few who dared to take on the challenge there were accepting and prepared for the risk, whereas south Algeria was perceived to be completely safe before, so no precautions were needed.

I'd say your analysis is correct, you can probably (but by no means certainly!) pull it off by sticking to main roads and joining up with other vehicles in the more remote stretches.

On the other hand, the recent events have substantially increased the risk not only in Algeria, but in the whole of the lawless central region of the Sahara. Your real problems start when you leave the roads and hit the pistes to go further south.

Certainly I would not consider the route down from Libya to Chad presently. Also northern Niger was never a quiet place even in the good times, and little good news came from those parts recently.

I personally would have not considered doing a solo trip along your planned course even before the recent events. I don't think the Algeria situation adds much to this, only broadens the risk zone.

Andras
www.fjexpeditions.com

[This message has been edited by andrasz (edited 18 April 2003).]