Ait Ouazik Rock Engravings

On a stony rise near Ait Ouazik, south-east of Tazzarine, dozens of dark boulders carry engravings pecked into their surfaces - gazelles and antelope in numbers, elephants, ostriches, cattle, human figures, and abstract spirals and circles, made over a long period and generally attributed to the Neolithic and later, when this country was savanna with standing water rather than desert. The animals are the evidence for that: elephant and giraffe do not live in stony hammada. The engravings are on the open ground, unfenced, with no shelter over them, and the site is looked after informally by people from the village who guide visitors to it for a fee - which is the practical arrangement and is worth paying, since finding them alone is difficult and knowing which boulders matter is the whole thing. Morning and late afternoon light raises the carving; midday flattens it.

What you actually see

• Pecked animals - gazelle, elephant, ostrich and cattle on dark desert boulders.
• A green Sahara - species that could not live in this landscape now.
• Spirals and circles - abstract motifs alongside the figures.
• Village guiding - informal custody by people who know which rocks matter.

When to go

October to April, at either end of the day for raking light. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The site is unfenced and unprotected - do not touch, chalk or wet the carvings. A guide is necessary to find them. There is no shade or facility. Summer heat here is dangerous.

Nearby

Tazzarine is west; Nkob and Jebel Saghro are further west.