CHAD

Trips to Chad to discover the masterpiece of all deserts and its nomadic peoples

Chad isn’t just a country—it’s a vast, diverse landscape and cultural universe. It’s one of the world’s greatest destinations. If you love deserts, wide-open spaces, and nomadic cultures, you can’t miss this incredible country.

Chad is one of Africa’s great adventure destinations. A vast country situated between the Sahara and the Sahel, where distances are measured in days of travel and where some regions remain among the most remote on the continent.

Traveling through Chad means crossing steppes, deserts of sand and rock, mountain ranges, lakes hidden among dunes, vast savanna landscapes, and territories that have been inhabited for centuries by nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples.

From the surreal rock formations of the Ennedi to the Tibesti Mountains, from the gatherings of the Wodaabe herders to the shores of Lake Chad, the country offers an extraordinary blend of scenery, culture, nomadic life, and untamed wilderness.

At Kumakonda, we’ve been offering trips throughout Chad for nearly 10 years—from Tibesti to Zakouma, from Ennedi to Lake Chad. We’ve walked 250 kilometers alongside a salt caravan and sought out nomads across the country. We’re passionate about Chad; we’re experts on this country, we know it like few others do, and we want to show it to you. Welcome to Planet Chad

Ennedi and the Ounianga Lakes: The Monumental Sahara

The Ennedi Massif is one of the Sahara’s most spectacular landscapes. Over millions of years, wind and water have sculpted the sandstone, creating natural arches, towers, canyons, and rock labyrinths that rise up in the middle of the desert. Among its walls are permanent oases, rock paintings and engravings, and small camps of Gorane and Zahawa herders.

In this linked article, we show you some must-see places in the Ennedi

Further north, the Ounianga Lakes form one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the Sahara: a succession of blue, green, and reddish lakes surrounded by dunes and palm groves in the very heart of one of the driest deserts on the planet.

Traveling through Ennedi and Ounianga means spending days crossing virtually empty landscapes, setting up camp under the stars, and experiencing the true vastness of the Sahara.

Gerewol: Beauty, Dance, and Wodaabe Tradition

Among the Wodaabe, a traditionally nomadic people who have historically been herders, one of the most extraordinary cultural gatherings in the Sahel is celebrated: the Gerewol.

For several days, different family groups gather after the rains. The young people prepare carefully, paint their faces, and adorn themselves to take part in long group dances and chants in which beauty, elegance, and the ability to attract men play a central role.

But the Gerewol is much more than just its famous dances. It is also a grand gathering of families scattered throughout the Sahel—a time to strengthen bonds, exchange news, celebrate marriages, and keep alive an identity deeply rooted in nomadism and livestock herding.

Attending a Gerewol means spending a few days sharing in the life of a Wodaabe camp and getting a closer look at a culture that continues to move across vast territories in search of rain and pasture.

On our blog, you can find many articles about the Gerewol, such as this one, which we’ve linked here

Tibesti: The Mountains of the Sahara

In the far north of Chad lies the Tibesti, one of the most remote and spectacular regions of the Sahara.

Volcanic mountains, enormous calderas, lava fields, oases, palm groves, and rocky cliffs create an almost lunar landscape. Here you’ll find Emi Koussi, the highest point in the Sahara, and extraordinary sites such as the Trou au Natron caldera.

The Tibesti is also the traditional homeland of the Teda/Toubou, who possess an extraordinary knowledge of the desert and have traversed these mountains with their camels and herds for generations, although they now mine for gold.

Reaching the Tibesti Mountains is a true expedition: long days of driving, campsites, barely marked trails, and a sense of isolation that is hard to find elsewhere in Africa.

Lake Chad: Water and Nomadism in the Sahel

In the westernmost part of the country, we find a completely different side of Chad. Lake Chad forms a vast, ever-changing mosaic of shallow waters, islands, channels, reed beds, and sandbars.

For centuries, its shores and islands have been home to fishermen, farmers, ranchers, and nomadic communities, whose lives depend on the movements of the water and the changing seasons.

Sailing on the lake allows you to explore small island communities, markets, fishermen, and cattle-herding camps. In the surrounding area, you’ll find villages inhabited by the Buduma/Yedina, Kanembu, and Kanuri peoples, as well as Chadian Arabs and various groups of herders, creating one of the most culturally diverse regions in the country.

Zakouma: The Sahel’s Rich Wildlife

In southeastern Chad, Zakouma National Park protects one of the most important savanna ecosystems in Central Africa.

During the dry season, wildlife congregates around the remaining water sources, and visitors can observe large herds of elephants, buffalo, Kordofan giraffes, antelopes, and an extraordinary diversity of birds. The recovery of its elephant populations has also made Zakouma one of the great recent success stories in African conservation.

After days of traveling through deserts, a visit to Zakouma offers a glimpse of another side of Chad: open savannas, wetlands, and a surprising abundance of wildlife.

The Nomadic Cultures of Chad

Along with its landscapes, one of Chad’s greatest attractions is the people who have learned to live in them.

The country lies on the border between the Saharan and Sahelian regions, and this location has given rise to an extraordinary diversity of nomadic and semi-nomadic cultures.

The Toubou, Wodaabe, and other Fulani, Arab, and Buduma groups, as well as various pastoralist communities, continue to move with their camels, cows, goats, and sheep in search of water and pasture. Their camps appear and disappear with the seasons, following routes that have been used for generations.

On our trips, we try to set aside time for these encounters: stopping by a campsite, sharing a cup of tea, getting to know the families, visiting livestock markets, and gaining an understanding of how life is organized in regions where water and distance determine practically everything.

Because traveling through Chad isn’t just about reaching Ennedi, Tibesti, or Zakouma. It means crossing one of Africa’s last great nomadic territories, sharing the journey with those who live there, and discovering a country where travel still feels like a true expedition.