Algeria’s Djanet Oasis Captivates Visitors with Unique Charm

Men perform a traditional dance during the Sebeiba Festival, a
yearly celebration of Tuareg culture, in the oasis town of Djanet in
southeastern Algeria, July 29, 2023. (AFP Photo)
Men perform a traditional dance during the Sebeiba Festival, a yearly celebration of Tuareg culture, in the oasis town of Djanet in southeastern Algeria, July 29, 2023. (AFP Photo)
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Algeria’s Djanet Oasis Captivates Visitors with Unique Charm

Men perform a traditional dance during the Sebeiba Festival, a
yearly celebration of Tuareg culture, in the oasis town of Djanet in
southeastern Algeria, July 29, 2023. (AFP Photo)
Men perform a traditional dance during the Sebeiba Festival, a yearly celebration of Tuareg culture, in the oasis town of Djanet in southeastern Algeria, July 29, 2023. (AFP Photo)

The Algerian oasis of Djanet has attracted an increasing number of foreign tourists who have come to explore a unique desert landscape that brings inner peace and ultimate relaxation.

According to local media, since the authorities started granting visas on arrival in 2021, over 4,000 foreign tourists visited Djanet, 2,300 kilometers by road southeast of Algiers, and the Tassili n’Ajjer, a charming landmark enlisted as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Known for its lunar-like landscape with eroded sandstone and orange and black rock forests, the Tassili n’Ajjer National Park has become a photographers’ favorite at sunset.

“Once you come to Djanet, you have to return... I’m here with two friends, and all they want is to come back as soon as possible,” 57-year-old French tourist Karim Benacine, who works for Universal Music Group, told AFP.

Another visitor from Paris, Antonine De Saint Pierre, 49, said: “I want to come here regularly so I can recharge. I will need that. Now that I know this place, I think I’m going to do this regularly.”

According to UNESCO’s website, the region of Tassili, a vast plateau of more than 70,000 square kilometers, houses “one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world with over 15,000 drawings and sculptures from 6000 B.C. to the first centuries of the present era.”

These “record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara.”

Last year, over 2,900 foreigners of 35 different nationalities, mostly Westerners, stayed in Djanet, compared with 1,200 in 2021. Algerians also find solace in their own national treasure, with 17,000 local visitors recorded last year.

Samira Ramouni, a 41-year-old psychologist from Algiers, believes that Djanet provides “inner peace and complete relaxation,” and helps to “disconnect, seek calm, learn new things, and rejuvenate, so you can recover the strength you need to face life challenges.”

Abdelkader Regagda, who runs a travel agency in Tamanrasset in southern Algeria, around 700 kilometers west of Djanet, sees that the authorities had opened “a great tourism route from Europe to the south of Algeria.”

The guide, who now organizes excursions in the Djanet area, says that “the trails are many and diverse” in the region.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”