28 Jun Algeria: The Touggourt Oasis

They say you have to have friends even in hell, and I, who boast of having them all over the world, have a few there too.

Touggourt, in the Wilaya of Ouargla, competes with some other places in the world (where I have also been) for the honour of having reached the historical record for the highest temperature. So I say that among those places that could resemble hell, this one, with its 59 degrees, must be one of the ones that most closely resembles it.

Although for me, the heat of that summer in Baghdad has rarely been surpassed, and the proof is in this photo that we took of a thermometer in our Palace window (note, for those of you in the LOSE, you have to look at the small number that is the degrees centigrade).

And going back to hell, I was saying that I have some friends, Pedro, Alejandro, Antonio and Javier, who, knowing my interest in deserts and my curiosity to know what hell will be like and what I'm going to miss because it's so good, have been kind enough to take me there. And it worries me, because I'm delighted, (although these days it hasn't been anywhere near that temperature, but of course, the organisation can't be in everything).

I must admit that I did not find it difficult to accept the invitation, as I had already had Touggoort in my sights for some time, since it was from there that the expedition organised by André Citroen set off in 1922, the first crossing of the Sahara in a vehicle.

This expedition led by Audoubon-Dubreuil crossed the Great Eastern Erg through the oases of Ouargla, Hassi Inifel and In Salah, continued south through the immense hamada of Tademait, crossed the Hoggar Mountains, went through Tanezrouft, the desert of deserts, and the home of the Tuareg in the Adrar of the Ifoghas....And I don't go on because I'm getting really envious just thinking about the incredible adventure they lived. The fact is that three months later they reached Timbuktu, where they embarked on the Niger towards Gao.

Audoubon, Dubreui and many other adventurers are my dead poets, those who taught me the way and I learn from their past experiences, that the time will come for me to start my own adventures, although for now, these exploits feed the little birds in my head with a certain degree of anxiety because I have not yet done anything special and I am already in discount time.

That's why I'm reassured to know that Desertando exists, because that's our goal, to go on our own adventures (what an art I have to put in a commercial...).

Unfortunately this photo is not mine, as one is old but not that old, although I once crossed some deserts in a truck that looked like it was from the same era.

Going back to the expedition, I was going to say that it seems easy compared to the adventure that my friends are having, especially Javier in the Touggourt area, who are transforming a pasture, in the most pejorative sense, into a turnip field, in the most literal sense, well, turnips, courgettes and whatever else is needed, a miracle nursery that will provide employment and food for the population of the entire Wilaya.

And before I finish, I have to introduce you to my new love, who has me so stunned that I don't even know when it's day or when it's night.

The bad tongues say, (that there is a lot of evil in the world), that it is not the first slut that I have in my arms, but I have to say that it is completely false, it was my first time. Well, this one is ready to eat her.

Apart from enjoying remembering the history of the area and cuddling the cuddly toy in the photo, I have enjoyed other things, such as those sunsets in the palm grove, on the shores of Lake Fatima, the walk through the Touggourt market, the view of the Temacine madrasa or simply sharing a few beers and broken eggs with friends at the Oasis Hotel, which is all you need, because when you are away from home and in good company, the demands diminish or everything is more enjoyable.

And since we are beings of passion and most of the adventures that are worthwhile emerge from the bottom of several mugs of beer, it was during that dinner at the Oasis Hotel that the need for a new adventure arose, the Tassili Najjer, one of the most unusual and amazing deserts in the world. As Walt Whitmann said (and some will think I made up the name of this chicken), life is desert and oasis, and that, literally, is how I want my life to be, desert and oasis.

Thank you very much friends for being willing to share this with me.