El Kala National Park

El Kala covers the far north-eastern corner of Algeria, where a belt of cork oak and alder forest runs behind a coast of dunes and beaches and encloses a set of lakes that are among the most important wetlands in North Africa: Oubeira, Tonga, Mellah and the marshes around them, listed under the Ramsar convention and used by tens of thousands of wintering ducks, coots and waders, along with breeding herons and the occasional marbled teal. The park is a biosphere reserve. Behind the lakes the forest holds wild boar, jackal and one of the denser cork oak stands in the Mediterranean, and the town of El Kala works as a fishing port.

What you actually see

• Lakes Oubeira and Tonga - Ramsar wetlands used by wintering waterbirds.
• Cork oak and alder forest - dense woodland behind the coast.
• Dune-backed beaches - the shoreline between the lakes and the sea.
• The fishing port of El Kala - the working town in the park.

When to go

October to April for the wintering birds and cooler weather; the lakes shrink in late summer. A day or two. Binoculars are essential. Local guiding helps with access to the lake edges.

Honest expectations

Access to the lake shores is informal and often through private land. There are no hides or visitor facilities. Water levels and bird numbers vary a great deal between years. Summer heat and mosquitoes are heavy.

Nearby

Annaba is west; the Tunisian border lies east.