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Travel report Sahara Tour 2017, from February 15 to 27, 2017

The idea of a trip to the lake on the border with the restricted area in southern Tunisia arose in the short term. We were 3 vehicles, 1 Defender, 1 LandCruiser 60 and a LandCruiser 150.

Starting point was Douz, the desert station on the northern edge of the Sahara. From there Ali traveled our guide. The route took Ksar Gilane, il Meda to the lake, and from there directly back north via Timbaine back to Douz. During the last few weeks, a strong wind was blowing, so access to the southern route was impassable, so the northern entry into the dunes was a better choice.

We crossed about 12,000 sand dunes and 50 dune fields (in between is a few meters of solid ground or Fesch-Fesch also known as "bulldust"). The average speed of the convoy was 28 km / h over 1400 km. During the whole journey over the 6 days we moved in 2nd gear (Lowrange). It took some time until we had found the optimum tire pressure. The dunes constantly change and the speed, as these are to be crossed, must be adjusted again and again. Optimal was, if the vehicle still just with little engine speed over the dune tilts. Often the right swing must be tried with several starts. The following vehicles had to fight a lot more regularly because the sand was already agitated.

The destination Tunisia is today a safe country to travel, but the tourism is broken under 10%. At the Desert Club Camping in Douz, where there is very much going on, there are no more descents.