Arrival : Niamey with Air France via Paris or Royal Air Moroc via Cassablanca
departure : Agadez on Saturday April 1st

21 March : Afternoon arrival in Niamey - hotel transfer for overnight

22 March : early morning departure for road transfer to Agadez. Dinner and overnight hotel in Agadez
This is a long days drive with few scenic stops. We are traveling by air conditioned minibus and will make regular bathroom and meal stops.

23 March : Morning departure with 4WD : Agadez - Azel - Dabaga - Aouderas (beautiful small tuareg village) - Krip Krip - Oasis of Timia (gardens, oasis waterfall, ancient fort). Overnight camp. Arid moonscapes and emerald-green oasis, volcanic pillars and well-tended gardens, light-footed gazelles and flowering acacia trees: on this stretch of track, contrasts and surprises abound, to the unending delight of the traveller. In Elméki, Tuaregs still extract tin from ancient cassiterite mines.

24 March : Departure to Assode (ruins of the capital of Air) - Tchintoulous . Overnight camp.
Morning visit of the oasis and meeting with the local population. Tales of the flourishing past of'Assodé abound. The ancient capital of the Aïr is now a ghost town where only a few walls still stand, but pottery shards strewn all over the site testify to its once thriving economy. Bright green against the ochre expanse of sand, the Timia Oasis offers a striking contrast to the somber lava range that surrounds it. Kel Oui farmers still water their gardens with the wooden pulleys used by their ancestors. They raise corn, wheat, a wide variety of vegetables, even grapes. Downstream from Timia, a lovely waterfall cascades through a series of basins toward the guelta

25 March : Zagado Valley - Kogo and its blue Marble - Arakao (giant crater shaped like crab claw). Overnight camp.
The road zigzags through small, chaotic valleys, crosses numerous oueds and follows one, the Zilâlet, to Tchintoulous, a village nestled at the foot of the haughty Aguerâguer. Watch for gazelles in this area. The ever-widening Zagado Valley leads us toward Kogo. Huge marble mountains rise up along our path. At last, the Zagado Valley dissolves in the infinite expanse of the Ténéré desert.

26 March : Morning visist on the spot of Arakao - Crossing Ténéré north of erg Brusset - Overnight camp
To reach Arakao, we must meet the challenge of giant dunes and move away from the massive Takolokouzet before we can come back to its base and enter the ten-kilometer wide crater shaped like a crab claw. Arakao gathers the Ténéré sand through a large breach in its high walls, forming a gigantic sand buttress against the Takolokouzet. An unforgettable night under the desert stars awaits you there. We leave Arakao through its sand barricade, then cross the Tenere towards our intercept point for the eclipse.

27 March : Achegour - Dirkou - Overnight camp near Dirkou A melting-pot of cultures, Dirkou is a major trade route for traders moving through the deserts of Libya and Niger. Here, all kinds of goods are sold and traded in routes used for centuries. The town offers a chance to stock up on supplies too. Street scenes include girls bringing well-water, donkeys turning grain-mills, livestock trading and lean-to merchants. Here, we meet the Tubou people, a tribe proud to be strong and able to endure the dryest conditions.

28 March : Visit of the oasis of Bilma and overnight at the eclipse camp
Tonight, enjoy a fireside presentation on Tuareg Astronomy and its interpretations and uses in daily life in the Sahara by Tuareg shamen.  Feel free to set up your equipment early and polar align of the eclipse in the morning. Our camp overlooks a gracious range of blood-red cliffs to the east. Enjoy generator power tonight and bivouac supported showers and refrigerated water.

29 March : Eclipse day. Morning observation at the eclipse camp - erg of Bilma. Overnight camp before Fachi.
Local Tuareg and Tobou villagers are aware of our encampment, so we anticipate curious visitors on eclipse day. Weather statistics offer 90% chance of success at our location with 4:05 duration of totality. Afterwards, we will head south past Bilma towards Fachi over the Erg of Bilma.

30 March : visit of the oasis of Fachi (salines) - erg of Ténéré - Ténéré tree Overnight camp.
This is the winter route of the famous salt caravans going to Bilma. Meeting a train of camels plowing majestically through the soft sand is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Driving becomes more arduous for there is no road in this maze, not even the shadow of a track: as the 4WDs wind their way around the huge sand ridges, leaving faint tire marks that vanish with the first breeze, travellers feel as lost as if they were in the middle of an uncharted sea. The Fachi and Bilma Oasis provide exquisitely green havens in this boundless sea of sand. We find ancient ruins in Fachi. The fortified city once housed 30,000 inhabitants in complicated mazes and levels.

31 March : Bourra Nassaouane- camel well of Oufaguédout - Tiguidit cliff - Agadez. Overnight hotel.
The Tiguidit Cliffs bear rock paintings from prehistoric cultures who vanished several thousand years ago; with the pre-islamic tombs and petrified tree trunks discovered in the same area, they powerfully evoke a very ancient past. Tonight, on return to Agadez, we celebrate our success with a Gerewol - a spectacle shared by few outsiders!  The wodaabe tribesmen will hold a dance and contest to decide which man is the most beautiful. The thinnest, best decorated man with the whitest eyes and teeth will be chosen winner.  Afterwards, we dine at the Le Pillier open-air restaurant with live entertainment.

01 April : departure with charter plane to Paris

3 nights in Hotel, 2 nights improved camping, 7 nights primative camping.