Azalai Salt Caravan

The azalai is the salt caravan that runs each cool season from the Aïr across the Ténéré to Bilma and Fachi and back, camels loaded with millet and grain on the way out and with salt cones and dates on the way back, navigating by dune shape and star on a crossing with no road and one well in several hundred kilometres. Lorries have taken most of the trade but the caravans still go.

What you actually see

• The loaded camels - grain out, salt cones and dates back.
• The navigation - route found by dune shape and star, not by road.
• The crossing - several hundred kilometres with almost no water.
• The surviving trade - a caravan route still worked despite lorries.

When to go

November to February is the caravan season; the crossing is not made in summer heat. Departures are irregular and set by the caravaneers. Trips must be arranged long in advance.

Honest expectations

Travelling with a caravan means walking or riding for days in hard conditions with no support, and it must be arranged well ahead through Agadez. Departures are irregular and cannot be booked to a date. This is not a tour.

Nearby

Agadez is the western end, and Bilma the eastern.