el djouf | Sahara Overland

Reports by Peter Reif
Photos by Peter Reif and Arike Mijnlieff

Part Three of Peter Reif’s report and maps recalling ÖSEWO: an Atlantic-to-Red Sea crossing of the Sahara in 1983-4. The VWs load up and tackle the big 1500-km dune crossing of the Majabat al Koubra or Empty Quarter from Atar to Timbuktu.
For other parts, click the Index Page.

Next stage

Part or the Sahara A to Z series

Also interesting
Old Saharan Trade Routes Map
‘V’ is for Vintage Sahara Maps
Maps of the Sahara
I is for IGN and their Sahara Maps

Below, a series of French 1:200,000 maps of the Sahara – from Mauritania to the western frontier of Chad. Though the maps date from the 1950s, it’s very unlikely that Google Earth would reveal any more detail today. A couple of sheets from the central Mauritanian plateau and an eastern Algerian erg are included to show the mapmakers weren’t just being lazy – there really was nothing to show.
Each map covers one square degree of the Earth’s surface, which in Saharan latitudes adds up to over 12,000 km². Just two of these maps would cover Wales (right).