Chad holiday
“Experience one of Africa's greatest off-the-beaten track adventures exploring the incredible landscape and culture of Chad.”
Highlights
N’Djamena | Guera region | Faya oasis | Abeche | Kalait | Archei gorges and rock paintings | Terkei and Toukou rock formations | Fada | Mourdi dunes | Saharan crocodiles | Ounianga salt lakes | Bahr el GhazalDescription of Chad holiday
One of the most remote and least visited countries in the Sahara, Chad offers a wonderful off-the-beaten track encounter with dramatic landscapes and a proud people that rarely see western visitors. Travelling over often rough terrain with wild camping beneath dazzling starry skies, this is a trip for those in search of real and unique adventure.Chad offers some of Africa's most startling landscapes, and highlights of the trip include the bizarre sandstone formations and prehistoric rock paintings of Ennedi, the never-ending dunes of the Mourdi, and the awe-inspiring Guelta d’Archei. You'll also get a chance to swim in the remarkable multi-hued salt lakes of the Ounianga Serir oasis, in a dune setting considered among the Sahara's most spectacular landscapes.
Diverse people live in this mysterious land – Gaeda, Tama, Tubu, Bideyat and Zagawa. You'll encounter nomads driving huge herds of camels to precious waterholes and isolated trading communities making a living out of the desert's so-called 'red salt'.
You'll also see some amazing contrasting settlements. Compare the modern capital N’Djamena with the ancient capital Abeche, and visit the Saharan crossroads town of Kalait. In Fada, discover a wonderful Saharan village with houses made of banco clustered around an old French colonial fort and busy market.
And amid this arid land, you'll also discover some of the fantastic wildlife that survives here, including gazelles, bustards, hyenas and jackals - plus the rare Saharan crocodile.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com
Check dates, prices & availability
Date
Price per adult
Basis
Status
06 Nov 2021
£5765
excluding flights
Available
Vouchers
Accepted
Holiday type
Small group holidays
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modelled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. If you’re heading off on a gap year your, perhaps – but for those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.
The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.
We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.
What are the main benefits?
Big experiencesHave big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.
Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!
Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.
Who is it ideal for?
Travellers who are short of timeIf you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.
Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.
Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.
Mythbuster
“I won’t get any privacy!”Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.
“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.
“The accommodation will be basic”
Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.
“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.
“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.
Meet a group leader
As well as taking care of all the day-to-day practicalities, your group leader is the one who will turn your trip into an adventure. Leaders are extraordinary characters – the kind of person who has spent 14 Christmas days on the slopes of Mount Everest, runs marathons wearing tiger suits to raise funds for their conservation and thinks nothing of leading an overland trip in Sudan or Afghanistan. Fearless and inspiring, group leaders are as important as the destination itself.
Meet a local guide
No matter how experienced your group leader, they can never make up for the knowledge gained from a lifetime in the destination. That’s why many of our trips work with local guides around the world – who invite you into their homeland with pleasure. As well as doing crazy things like climbing Kilimanjaro 100 times, they also donate their time to local projects supported by travellers – such as rebuilding Sri Lankan villages following the 2004 tsunami.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
This trip spends time visiting some of the most remote communities on our planet and we place a great emphasis on treading sensitively. The local Tubu population are especially wary about having their photographs taken and our groups are carefully briefed on this in order that we do not offend. When visiting villages we first ensure that our presence is welcome rather than simply descending en masse and overwhelming the local people, many of whom may not have seen western travellers before. In exchange for allowing us an insight into their lives we bring gifts of items that are hard to come by for semi-nomadic people, such as soap and tea, which are gratefully received by the women of the families. We feel that it is important not to intrude upon the lives of these people and so will only stop at settlements that we know are happy to receive visitors.Where possible we buy supplies along the way, and although our groups are small this can make a significant input into the local economy of villages which otherwise have little opportunity to trade.
We believe that tourism is a double edged sword that needs to be wielded very carefully. Our philosophy is to have a limited amount of departures - usually between one and three a year - for each of our itineraries. By limiting our presence in areas where local culture can be quite fragile, we hope to avoid as much as possible the phenomenon whereby an area changes in character due to repeated and prolonged exposure to tourism. We want to visit an area as friends, not intruders and to ensure that what we see will also be there for others to enjoy for many years to come.
Our groups average only six clients, and many tours operate on a private basis with just two travellers. This has much less impact when travelling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social affects. Finally to emphasise our commitment to Responsible Tourism all clients will receive a copy of our Travellers Code of Conduct with their travel documents.
This tour travels through some very remote and often pristine environments, and outside of N’Djamena all nights are spent camping. We make a point of ensuring that we do not leave any permanent traces of our stay behind, making sure that we take all litter with us. The desert is a fragile environment and we take great pains to ensure that we do not disturb it.
The Impacts of this Trip
The local Tubu population are especially wary about having their photographs taken and our groups are carefully briefed on this in order that we do not offend.
When visiting villages we at first ensure that our presence is welcome rather than simply descending en masse and overwhelming the local people, as many of whom may not have seen western travellers before. In exchange for allowing us an insight into their lives we bring gifts of items that are hard to come by for semi-nomadic people, such as soap and tea, which are gratefully received by the women of the families. We feel that it is very important not to intrude upon the lives of these people and so will only stop at settlements that we know are happy to receive visitors.
We work with Chadian drivers and guides, and at the end of each tour travellers are able to leave any unwanted clothes that they can then distribute.
Environment
This trip spends time visiting some of the most remote communities on our planet and we place a great emphasis on treading sensitively. The local Tubu population are especially wary about having their photographs taken and our groups are carefully briefed on this in order that we do not offend. When visiting villages we first ensure that our presence is welcome rather than simply descending en masse and overwhelming the local people, many of whom may not have seen western travellers before. In exchange for allowing us an insight into their lives we bring gifts of items that are hard to come by for semi-nomadic people, such as soap and tea, which are gratefully received by the women of the families. We feel that it is important not to intrude upon the lives of these people and so will only stop at settlements that we know are happy to receive visitors.Where possible we buy supplies along the way, and although our groups are small this can make a significant input into the local economy of villages which otherwise have little opportunity to trade.
We believe that tourism is a double edged sword that needs to be wielded very carefully. Our philosophy is to have a limited amount of departures - usually between one and three a year - for each of our itineraries. By limiting our presence in areas where local culture can be quite fragile, we hope to avoid as much as possible the phenomenon whereby an area changes in character due to repeated and prolonged exposure to tourism. We want to visit an area as friends, not intruders and to ensure that what we see will also be there for others to enjoy for many years to come.
Our groups average only six clients, and many tours operate on a private basis with just two travellers. This has much less impact when travelling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social affects. Finally to emphasise our commitment to Responsible Tourism all clients will receive a copy of our Travellers Code of Conduct with their travel documents.
This tour travels through some very remote and often pristine environments, and outside of N’Djamena all nights are spent camping. We make a point of ensuring that we do not leave any permanent traces of our stay behind, making sure that we take all litter with us. The desert is a fragile environment and we take great pains to ensure that we do not disturb it.
Community
The Impacts of this Trip
The local Tubu population are especially wary about having their photographs taken and our groups are carefully briefed on this in order that we do not offend.
When visiting villages we at first ensure that our presence is welcome rather than simply descending en masse and overwhelming the local people, as many of whom may not have seen western travellers before. In exchange for allowing us an insight into their lives we bring gifts of items that are hard to come by for semi-nomadic people, such as soap and tea, which are gratefully received by the women of the families. We feel that it is very important not to intrude upon the lives of these people and so will only stop at settlements that we know are happy to receive visitors.
We work with Chadian drivers and guides, and at the end of each tour travellers are able to leave any unwanted clothes that they can then distribute.
Climate
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