Chad (Tchad) is not the first country that comes to mind when considering a safari. But this remote central African country is home to some real treasures for wildlife, cultural and landscape experiences. The vast distances between the capital N’Djamena and the parks are realistically only covered by light aircraft where views of the Sahara Desert and Sahelian savanna are endless. Accommodation is in simple but comfortable mobile tented camps for safari aficionados only. The main drive of tourism in Chad is attracting travellers who take an interest in conservation projects aimed at restoring these prime habitats.
A 2-week private tour of Chad will encompass a superb wilderness experience with the exciting wildlife in Zakouma combined with the other-worldly escape into the desert sandstone structures, rock art, rare wildlife and silence of Ennedi Natural & Cultural Reserve.
Highlights
- Make Camp Nomade your new home for a week on the edge of wetland heaving with birds and amazing mammals in one of the most spectacular settings in Africa!Endless photographic opportunities of birds and mammals congregating in Zakouma
- Be a part of Zakouma’s success story as you track the now recovering elephant herds from below and thrillingly by air.
- Live the excitement of tracking down the lions and other carnivores of Zakouma
- Get low to the earth to hear and photograph the mind-blowing spectacle of the swirling birds at the quelea colonies with all the predators that come after them.
- Find immense solitude in the desert as you escape to a place like no other, remote, stark, beautiful and harsh.
- Be immersed in the Sahara, sleeping out under a million stars after a day exploring the ancient rock art and towering sandstone formations of Ennedi
Animals you’ll see
Linyanti and Selinda in Botswana offer very high densities of elephant in the dry winter months, an attraction all on its own. The diversity of antelope and predators is good here too, including species like the majestic Sable and Roan. The endangered African Wild Dog thrives offers incredible safari viewing in this habitat and denning season from July – Sept is a particular highlight. The now famed Selinda Canoe Trail is another great feature of this particularly wild part of Botswana.
“Zakouma is one of the finest wilderness areas in Africa. I was stunned by the passionate manner in which the African Parks team is restoring this amazing place. The volume of mammals and birds here is on a par with the best I’ve experienced on any safari.”
Alastair Kilpin, South Africa
Chad is an enigma in an otherwise volatile region
It is here that African Parks has set out on an ambitious project to secure two of Africa’s finest regions for future generations. Zakouma must be seen to be believed – it brims with life! Despite being on the ‘edge of the Sahara’ it is a flooded landscape for much of the year as rain flows down from the highlands and the Salamat River bursts its banks. It is only in the dry season from December to April that a window to visit presents itself. Within this time, only a handful of private, scheduled week-long stays are possible and accessible to those wanting to get involved in African conservation.
Come and immerse yourself in the one of the last intact Central African savannah ecosystems and the near-mythical wonderland that is the Sahara Desert.
Learn more about safaris in Chad
