Arakao

Arakao is a ring of granite in the northeastern Aïr broken open on one side, a horseshoe some ten kilometres across with a tongue of Ténéré sand pushed through the gap and spread across the floor inside, which from the air gives it the crab-claw shape it is known by. The walls stand several hundred metres above the sand. It sits inside the Aïr and Ténéré World Heritage property.

What you actually see

• The horseshoe - a broken ring of granite around ten kilometres across.
• The sand tongue - Ténéré dune pushed in through the gap in the wall.
• The inner floor - the enclosed basin the sand has spread across.
• The walls - granite standing several hundred metres above the floor.

When to go

November to February is the cool season and the practical window. Summer heat is extreme. Low sun morning and evening shows the form best.

Honest expectations

This is a remote desert destination reached only with a guide, permit and full self-sufficiency arranged in Agadez. There is no water or shelter. The shape reads properly only from height or from the air.

Nearby

Temet is west, and Iférouane is southwest.