Gulliver's Travels 03/16/2026

Gulliver's Travels 

 Algeria  November-December 2025

  Algeria is the largest country in Africa and is about 14 times larger than Wisconsin.  It has a population of 48 million, which is surprising seeing that it is largely a desert, the mighty Sahara.  After touring the coast along the Mediterranean Sea, I first flew southwest to the interior to the oasis town of Taghit, near the border with Morocco.  Next, I flew to the far south into the heart of the Sahara to the city of Djanet, where I was absolutely overwhelmed by the stunning beauty of the massive black rocks scattered amongst the red dunes.  This was the fourth time I'd been to the Sahara, and it is my favorite of all my visits there.
​

An ancient Berber leader

The capital of Algiers has many beautiful buildings.

Monument to the rebels who led the revolution from 1954 to 1962, when the French colonists were overthrown

The Roman city of Cherchell

Cherchell Museum, with Roman mosaics and sculptures

Royal Masoleum of Maueretania, built in 3 B.C. for King Juba II

On the road from Algiers to Constantine

Djemila, UNESCO site of the Roman town of Cuicul, built in the 1st Century A.D.

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go...but no toilet paper!

Palace of Ahmed Bey, built in 1826

Emir Abdelkader Mosque, built in 1994

Taghit Oasis near Morocco

Ancient petroglyphs

And here is the Sahara.

Paintings from some 10,000 years ago

My shadow appears at sunrise where I camped out for two nights.

And here, after standing for a few moments, with huge dunes 15 miles in the distance, I broke down in tears, just overwhelmed. You had to be there to get that feeling. I would have paid the $3000 trip cost just to be there.

Lots of tiny shops in the town of Djanet, this one a knife maker.

Epilogue

The Sahara, from a distance, seems as though it has been dead forever. But the many petroglyphs I saw mean people must have lived there in the past.  And they did.  The Sahara began about seven million years ago when the ancient Tethys Sea dried up.  But it has fluctuated between dry and wet periods for the last 2.5 million years, the wet periods called North African Humid Periods.  The last one occurred from 5,500 to 11,000 years ago, after which its current state of desert began.  But many scientists believe another humid period is on its way.  So, if you don't want to visit Algeria because it is largely a desert, stick around and go when it greens up again.

Next up: Argentina and Uruguay
​Dale