The base price should be either paid in full after signing up or a deposit has to be made and the rest of the base price to be paid before the expedition.

The base price includes

• guiding services for the whole duration of the expedition in your language
• planning and organizing a basic itinerary for the trip
• assistance and help with preparations before the trip and during the expedition
• full knowledge and experience of your guides
• car plus driver
• 3 meals/day
• invitation letter for visa
• travel permit
• individual tents and matresses
• Base price 150,- USD per person and day.

The base price doesn´t include

• expenses for transport – flights range from 400,- EUR return from Vienna to 600 EUR.
• Visa costs 100 EUR plus postage at the Tchad embassy in Berlin (prices may change on short notice)
• accommodation costs in N´Djamena at the start and end of our tour. In the desert we will camp for free – max. 100 EUR (120 USD) p.p.
• police clearance/permit to travel in Tchad – 100 USD
• personal expenses – that depends on what souvenirs you buy etc. – 100 EUR (110USD) p.p.

The rough expenses for an 18 day expedition through Tchad = 3500 EUR (that´s a price that has no competition)

These estimated costs are a rough guide and are calculated on a maximum basis. A detailed list of estimated expenses will be sent to each participant together with the itinerary, map and more info after the signup.

Some of the expenses are paid for by each participant during the expedition and this directly to the service provider.

You can find more information about prices and expenses in Africa below, in our „IN AFRICA“ section and also in + RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES where you can find out what else to do during the trip and get an idea, what costs what.

Have you decided on becoming an expedition member to explore the unknown? Fill in your registration with us, that is your first step into the adventure. This is where the preparations start.

Information about the itinerary

The detailed info about each expedition containing info about the car, equipment, what to take with you, what not to bring and much more will be sent out to you in our “information for team members”.

Visa

To be able to enter Tchad you need a visa. This needs to be applied for before the trip at the Tchad embassy in Berlin. It is best to send out all passports with all required documents and the fees in cash all together, that avoids problems with the application. We don´t charge any handling fee for that, you only pay for your visa and postage. If you would like to solve your visa by yourself, no problem, you will find details about the embassies in our information pack.

Personal meeting

After signing up of all team members we would like to have a personal meeting with the whole group, where we can get to know each other a bit and where we talk about the itinerary (you can have your say in this also!) If a personal meeting is not possible, we can organize an online meeting (skype, zoom) and we can talk about any questions you may have.

Consulting and advice

While you are preparing for your trip, we are at your disposition with hints, advice and recommendations.

You will receive an information pack after your sign up.

What and how to pack

Travel light and comfortable. Best is to have collapsible bags, not a suitcase. It should be resilient to dust and general traveling. What proved ideal is a normal backpack and a small day pack. Weight wise it should not be more than 20kg. You won´t need too many clothes, just the basics, light but also a sweater. Our experience: You will need less than you think!

More info will be sent out to you after your sign up.

Passport

will have to be valid for at least 6 months after the trip and not contain an Israelian visa.

Vaccination

it is not in our competence to recommend you vaccinations or to make a plan for you, you will need to talk to professionals about it. Your GP is your first point, otherwise some health or travel medical centres will be able to help you. What we can recommend is that we think it´s a good idea to be vaccinated against some of the major diseases. It may happen that you will be asked to prove a yellow fever vaccination upon arrival. What we can also do is telling you what WE are vaccinated against and what is written in our international vaccination pass:

• Hepathitis A, B
• Meningitis
• Typhoid
• Tetanus
• Yellow fever
• Rabies

Travel insurance

travel insurance is something very important and a must-have. If you want to join one of our expeditions, you MUST have a travel insurance. This protects yourself and us.

In general – some countries, that you need visas for will ask about a travel insurance as well, for example Namibia for Czech citizens.

• KALAIT: A little town with a market and starting point into the Ennedi Plateau, known for its 5 rock arches. We will camp in the desert here

 

• TERKEI: Our first beautiful rock paintings await us. We soak up the calm, peaceful desert feeling…

 

• Labyrinthe d´Oyo: one could really get lost in it, an area of rock formations with little gorges that feel like a maze

 

• Guelta d´Archei: deep down in the gorge we come across a waterhole where camels drink, it is a fascinating place and great for photos

 

• Manda Gueli: here, we will explore fascinating rock paintings in the desert

 

• Aloba: another rock arch waiting for us to explore and take photos of

 

• Bachikele: it feels like in this desert one stumbles from one breathtaking spot to the next – and that is exactly what we are doing! More rock formations

 

• Niola Doa: a mysterious woman expects us today – in the shape of rock engravings with a fantastic clarity

 

• Demi: It is getting salty! We are on our way to a salt lagoon, fringed by palm trees. We are already on our way to the Ounianga Lakes deep inside the Saharan desert
• Ounianga Serir/Ounianga Kebir: It means the small and the big Ounianga, these are 2 lakes in the middle of the desert, a little miracle, if you wanna call it that. The lakes are on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

 

• Erg du Djourab: Sand, sand and more sand. Dunes and real desert feeling is what expects us on the way back towards civilization.

For the first part of our trip we will get through some towns and villages before heading into the desert. Whenever possible, we would like to stop on markets and meet people. It would be nice to encounter nomads and bedouins in the desert and to interact with them.

We will certainly have lots of photo opportunities and will be able to get some great shots.

Enrich your trip with a few unforgettable outdoor or cultural activities

• We can arrange a Gerewol ceremony, which will be held only for us and will cost around 500 USD for the whole group. Depending on group size it will be more or less expensive for each one of us.

The start of our expedition is in N´Djamena. Mostly, we travel with Turkish Airlines, Egypt Air or Ethiopian. The price depends on your departure airport. We mostly fly Turkish, they have a good service, interesting prices and Istanbul doesn´t make much trouble with security scans.

If you fly through Cairo you can´t bring a drone as they are forbidden in Egypt! Also, no pork, alcohol, porn magazines allowed in Tchad!

It is not necessary that the whole groups flies over together. If some want, they could fly over earlier or depart later, in case they want to explore a bit more of N´Djamena. We will meet you at the airport when your flight arrives.

For the expedition we will rent 4×4 vehicles. That is the only option if we want to go into the desert and far away from civilization. The price is quite high, but actually includes everything. We will do a fair amount of offroad driving in the desert, so we definitely need 4x4s.

In the capital, we will stay in a hotel, there are no other options. That one costs around 100 USD. On our expedition we will camp, you need to bring your own sleeping bag and will share tent with someone from the group. A single tent is possible for a supplementary fee. In the desert there is peace and quiet, often we can also sleep under the stars on the carpet. Camping in the desert is free.

Our drivers will cook for us also, we have the advantage to just kick back and relax. We will certainly give them a hand here and there but for this expedition, we will be pampered! The food is included in the price of the tour.

Tchad is a muslim country with sharia law. The rules are not as strict as in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia but you need to stick to the basic rules. Most of all the dress code – men should have long pants to cover their knees, t-shirts with short sleeves at least, no singlets. Women should have long sleeves, long pants or a skirt. They will not need to cover their hair or face.
Intimate behaviour in public is not possible and impolite. The left hand is the “dirty one”, not to be used with people, money or food. You can´t buy any alcohol or beer, but rather fresh juices and coffee.
As mentioned before, you shouldn´t bring alcohol, pork, weapons, drugs or porn magazines. Any disobedience could bring us into big problems.

Weather

Our expedition runs in winter time, but don´t worry, winter in Tchad is not like winter at home. Temperature will still reach 20 – 25 degrees and more during daytime, night time will be cooler in some places, humid in others. We can´t really tell exactly as in the last years, the weather surprised us a lot. One year in January we needed 2 sweaters, the other year in January we had 35 degrees. Take light clothes but also something warm, just in case. We don´t expect rain, only a desert storm could hit us but then we just hide away.

Internet and communication

You should take into consideration that internet access will be very limited, often there will be nothing in the desert. We think it´s great to have a bit of a digital detox!

Safety

Tchad, apart from what the media wants us to believe, is mostly a safe country. The border areas with Sudan, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Libya are still not completely safe, but situations change quickly, as everywhere in Africa. For traveling around Tchad one needs a travel permit, where it is clearly stated where one can travel to and where not. State security wants to know where the tourists are. On our trip there will be lots of police or immigration checkpoints, but usually there are no issues. Tchad people are very helpful, friendly and polite.