Desert

Algeria

Mediterranean beaches, Sahara desert and ancient monuments

February to October, from Algiers’s normals

Egypt

The Nile, the pharaohs and the Red Sea

Jan–Apr, Oct–Dec

Libya

Sahara desert, ancient monuments and cultures

September to July, from Tripoli’s normals

Morocco

Medinas, Atlas, Atlantic and Sahara

Mar–May, Sept–Nov

Sudan

Ancient pyramids, Sahara desert, the Nile and culture

December to February, from Khartoum’s normals

Tunisia

Mediterranean beaches, Sahara desert and historic cities

September to June, from Tunis’s normals

Mali

Rivers, desert, forest, waterfalls, nature reserves and culture

December to January, from Bamako’s normals

Mauritania

Magnificent beaches, mountains, Sahara desert and cultures

November to May, from Nouakchott’s normals

Niger

Sahara desert, Niger River, nature reserves and culture

December to January, from Niamey’s normals

Angola

Paradise beaches, Namib desert and waterfalls

May to February, from Luanda’s normals

Chad

Lake Chad, Sahara desert, green oases, nature reserve and culture

December to January, from N'Djamena’s normals

Djibouti

Red Sea, paradise beaches, salt lakes and desert

October to April, from Djibouti’s normals

Ethiopia

Monuments, volcanoes, mountains, lakes, deserts and culture

October to January, and September

Botswana

Okavango Delta, Kalahari desert and lush savannah

May to October

Namibia

Wild beaches, Namib desert, nature reserves and culture

May to September

A night in the Erg Chebbi desert

Near Merzouga, the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise up to 150 metres above the hamada and stretch for about 28 km from north to south.

The White Desert from Farafra

In the Farafra depression, the White Desert lines up large white chalk rocks shaped by wind and sand.

The Lompoul desert

Halfway between Dakar and Saint-Louis, the Lompoul desert lines up orange sand dunes up to 50 m high over 18 km².

The beaches and dunes of Boa Vista

Cape Verde’s third island at 631 km², Boa Vista is known for its large beaches such as Santa Mónica, Chaves or Varandinha, its turtles and its music.

Douz, the gateway to the Sahara

Known as the “gateway to the Sahara”, Douz was an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes.

Tozeur and its palm grove

With hundreds of thousands of palm trees, Tozeur is a large oasis between Chott el Djerid and Chott el Gharsa.

Sossusvlei and Deadvlei

In the southern Namib Desert, Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan ringed by high red dunes; its name roughly means “dead-end marsh”.

The Skeleton Coast

On the northern Atlantic coast of Namibia, the Skeleton Coast runs from the Kunene River to the Swakop River, shrouded in fog by the cold Benguela current.

The ghost town of Kolmanskop

10 km inland from Lüderitz, Kolmanskop was a rich mining village born of a diamond find in 1908.