Travel with AGADEZ-EXPEDITIONS
Introduction to the Travel Company
Launched five years ago, Agadez-Expéditions is the fruit of extensive experience and familiarity with the desert. Akly is a Touareg who grew up in the Agadez-Expéditions of Agadez. In organizing these expeditions, he draws on his years of experience in the north of Niger, including his stay of more than ten years in Arlit, where he worked as a geologist in the uranium mines, and his many crossings of the Air and the Tenere throughout his professional career. His French wife, Celine, who has lived and worked in Niger since 1986, shares his passion for the desert and lends her expertise to the organization and creation of the expeditions. She often accompanies groups on foot, camelback or in four wheel drive vehicles.
Agadez-Expéditions relies on a team of Touaregs who are available as needed to lead expeditions in the desert. All expedition leaders are originally from the Air and have multiple talents and skills: training as guides, experience with camels, and the ability to prepare delicious meals as well as repair cars if needed. All Agadez-Expeditions team members share the same desire to help others discover and appreciate their unique region and its inhabitants.
Agadez-Expéditions, builds its journeys a la carte. Most groups are composed of two to fifteen people so we are able to accommodate the interests of our travelers. Travelers with Agadez-Expéditions have the opportunity to:
- Meet nomads or villagers throughout the journey;
- Enjoy the environment and take the time to experience the desert and its landscapes;
- Take advantage of unexpected encounters such as: nomadic celebrations, weddings, camel races, artisans at work, gardeners irrigating their crops or pirogues on the river;
- Make connections with local residents in schools, villages, gardens, and camel caravans;
- Travel on well-worn footpaths: the department of Agadez is bigger than the country of France;
- Access the geology, archaeology, fauna, flora, art and paleontology of the region;
- Walk through the desert with complete autonomy;
- Feel secure with well-equipped vehicles and knowledgeable guides able to respond to the questions of the curious traveler;
- Sleep soundly under the stars (tents provided) on a good mattress in carefully selected locations;
- Eat well-prepared healthy dishes, made from local produce such as vegetables cultivated in the Air Mountains, meat purchased from nomadic shepherds, and fruits gathered from oasis gardens;
- Relax with a cold beer or a glass of wine and enjoy time with friends and fellow travelers at campsites surrounded by sumptuous landscapes.
Agadez-Expéditions is dedicated to the following:
- Respect for the natural and cultural environment of the desert;
- Security and comfort of travelers in a difficult natural environment;
- An emphasis on tourism of quality, not of mass;
- Ensuring that such tourism benefits a maximum of residents of the desert region by encouraging them to organize, produce and supply goods and services to tourists such as developing gardens for camping, providing experienced camel guides, raising healthy camels, establishing museums and lodges, and welcoming visitors to traditional celebrations during the rainy season.