Hoggar Mountains

This extraordinary mountain area sits in the south of Algeria, in the heart of the Sahara desert, 1,500km of the Mediterranean coast.

With its greater altitude (900m – 2,908m), the climate here is not quite as hot as the surrounding Sahara, with some sporadic rain and therefore some vegetation and richly varied animal life, including relic species from wetter times.

The Hogger are formed from ancient, heavily eroded rock, but with the remains of more recent volcanic plugs producing dramatic buttes, towers and spires.

This landscape makes for some magnificent walking: dry landscape with huge views.

The area has seen human inhabitants since before 6,000BC. Assekrem Hermitage, built in 1911 by Charles De Foucauld, is well worth a walk.

Tamanrasset is the local town. With boiling summers and surprisingly cold winters, spring and autumn are the best times to walk here.

Have a look at TripAdvisor – there are tens of millions of reviews, so you may get good, current views on this walk.

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