The splendor of nature and the challenge of conditions in the oasis of Taghit in western Algeria

In the western part of Algeria not far from the borders of Morocco, there is a jewel unknown to many, the Sahara Oasis of Taghit, which is known as a natural wonder of Algeria, but a place that few foreigners have heard about.

But the real pleasure is not only in going to famous places ...

Taghit is a charming natural place where the rocky desert of Hamada meets the great western race, where there are bends between them Wadi Zozfana with palm trees, Taghit surrounded by huge sand dunes that look like sand mountains and some of them reach a height of 180 meters. Taghit Oasis is one of the best places in Algeria for tourists to go to to ski on sandboarding or skiing on the huge desert dunes that stretch for more than 600 kilometers from here, and it is also an ideal place to drive four-wheel drive or camel rides in the desert.

But if you get enough fun with the sand, you can pay attention to the historical places of the Taghit oasis, the ancient ruins of a fortified ancient city called "Kassar" from the ninth century, some ancient stone inscriptions from the Neolithic region are located in this region of Algeria, and there are also many interesting caves around Taghit that are worth visiting and adventuring.

But know that Taghit is one of the warmest places in the entire desert, which says a lot about the place. Don't underestimate the heat, my sole has melted after just a few minutes of standing outside!

The best things to do in Taghit.

Visit the ancient rock carvings and stone delicacies in the Tahtanian corner that is located in an area ranging from 5 kilometers to 18 kilometers south of Taghit, there is an area full of ancient stone inscriptions that are believed to be one of the oldest rock paintings that can be found anywhere in the desert and North Africa, some scholars have even argued that some of those stone inscriptions in the Taghit oasis are more than 20 thousand years old, and that the most recent is 5000 years old, they are really Very old and dating back to the Neolithic period known as the New Stone Age.

Sunken stone inscriptions in Taghit

The stone inscriptions here symbolize the wild animals that lived in this part of Africa, and some stone paintings contain elephants, antelopes, ostriches, gazelles, snakes, horses, jackals and birds.While all the ancient stone faces and inscriptions around Taghit are a challenge to find without local evidence as knowledge of the region and local history is necessary to find those ancient monuments. There are no signs, fences, or tourist facilities, so without a local guide you will never be able to find stone carvings on your own.

A visit to one of the caves of Taghit

There are many caves in the hills in the Taghit oasis and surrounding areas, some of which people used to live in, others that were used by locals for hunting. These days, only hundreds of bats live in caves here, but they are still worth a visit.

But the most interesting cave is the cave that looks like an animal! Can you guess which animal looks like? I'll leave you a picture of the cave.

Yes it looks like a mouse, it is really a strange cave.

The old Taghit Palace in the fortified city "Kassar"

All the old villages in the Taghit oasis belonged to the old capital that was called "Kassar", an ancient walled city built for protection, most of which were long abandoned and left to decompose, but recently, the Algerian government has allocated a lot of money to restore these ancient cities in and around the Taghit oasis.

The fortified city had a small walkway leading into a maze of narrow alleys that sloped down the hill with carved wooden entrances dotted through mud-brick walkways, revealing a small scattering of shops and the local family-run guesthouse. Some parts of the fortified city are still in very poor condition, but fortunately the entire Kassar will soon be restored.