Ténéré
The Ténéré is a sandy desert in the southern Sahara in the north of Niger and is also called the desert of deserts.
Description
The name Ténéré comes from the Tuareg language and meaning land out there ( simply translated as: desert ). Within the desert region, close to the ground level Tiguidit is a large archaeological site of dinosaur fossils.
The Ténéré is located in the northwestern part of the Chad basin. The northern part of the Ténéré Desert is a virtually flat board gravel desert. The southern part, however, consists mainly of more or less high sand dunes trains, some of which are over a hundred kilometers long. In the eastern part of the Ténéré Kaouar Valley is with the oases Seguedine, Aney, Dirkou and Bilma. In a north-south direction, this section has an area of approximately 160 km. In the West, the Ténéré is limited by the Aïr Mountains and the North East from the plateau of Djado. From the Aïr Mountains to the Kaouar Valley, the distance about 500 km.
North of the road Agadez Fachi extends the Aïr and Ténéré since 1988 nature reserve, which together with the northern parts of the mountain Aïr is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1991. In this part of the desert, there are sand dunes from 300 m to 400 m height. It is equipped with 7.7 million hectares, the largest reserve in Africa. Since the uprisings of 1992, the Tuareg territory is on the red list of endangered world heritage.
Flora and Fauna
The desert is characterized by a relatively sparse vegetation. Especially after rains can cause short-term plant growth. Then especially the Burzeldorngewächs Tribulus longipetalus, the Geknäulte Cyprus grass and sweet grass Stipagrostis acutiflora grow. However, once numerous ungulates and even large predators such as lions and wild dogs came before. The latter have disappeared due to heavy hunting since the beginning of the 20th century. Today, living in the vast arid areas still gazelles and antelopes.
In the southeast the desert is home to a population of about 100 Addax. This population had declined sharply since 1979 and was temporarily only 15 animals.
Population
The inhabitants of the desert are mainly Tuareg. The three tribes Tuareg Kel Aïr, Iwillimidan Kel Kel Gres Denneg and dominated the area until the occupation by the French. Other ethnic groups ( also called Bororo Fulani ) and Tubu Hausa, Songhai, Wodaabe. The Tuaregkarawanen transport within the trans-Saharan trade, especially salt, which is obtained in the oases.
Cities
The biggest cities of the desert are:
Climate
In the Ténéré prevails an arid desert climate. However, it is divided by the residents in three seasons. From March to June takes the hot season, temperatures of over 50 ° C during the day in this season reached while the daily mean temperature in July of 25 ° -44 ° C reached. The average annual temperature is approximately 28 ° C. The hot season closes the rainy season from July to August, however, your only an average of 20 to 50 mm of rainfall per year in the Ténéré. The rainfall in the Ténéré depend on the intensity of the West African monsoon. In years with low monsoon intensity of the cloud belts no longer reaches the Ténéré. The rainy season is followed by the cool season from September to March, in her daily mean temperatures between 10-29 ° C are reached, the temperature differences between day and night can be extreme. In the community Iférouane were measured on a day between -1 ° C and 52 ° C. During this season, the dry north - east trade Harmattan dominates the weather of the Ténéré.
Prehistory
In the early and middle Holocene, the climate of Ténéré was completely different than it is today. The region was rich in water and had a diverse flora and fauna. In Gobero on the western edge of the desert 2008, the oldest graves of the Sahara have been found by archaeologists, some 200 burials of hunters, fishermen and early breeders, who settled in the region between 7700-6200 BC and again 5200-2500 BC.
Motorsport
By Ténéré led several editions of the Dakar Rally. After successes there various motorcycle models were named after the Yamaha Ténéré (see Yamaha Ténéré ), whereby the name of the desert in Europe was known. The reserve must not be crossed since its establishment.
Ténérépiste
F1 map with all coordinates of the section Ténérépiste: OSM, Google and Bing
The so-called Ténérépiste begins in Agadez and ends in Bilma. It begins in Agadez at kilometer 016.9787.9933333333333. First, the route leads towards the east at the Cemetery of Agadez over by a new housing estate. At kilometer 416.9721666666678.0295 there is a police station. On the south side of the runway, the Falaise de Tiguidit is. At kilometer 80, there are several timber yards. At kilometer 135 is the fountain Tazole17.2103333333339.1443333333333. At kilometer 160, a vertical standing stone marks a slope facing south (towards Termit Massif ) turns. At kilometer 20317.5999.7246666666667 the Ténérépiste branched. The northern slopes leads to the fountain of Achegour. The southern road leads to the Arbre du Ténéré ( "Tree of Ténéré "). At kilometer 49419.02683333333311.695333333333 is the fountain of Achegour.
At the well of Achegour the runway branched again. The northern slope is referred to as a truck door, the southern as car - piste. The car -piste is marked at a distance of about one kilometer, with beacons (steel rods with mile post ). The car track ends in Bilma18.69683333333312.900166666667.
The southern runway (truck road) runs from Achegour Fountain by a terrain incision northeast. The slopes of a hill, first the east. Later she turns to the east. The Tenérépiste runs along the northern edge of the Kafra mountains. At kilometer 56019.03966666666712.332833333333 is a striking acacia. At kilometer 61718.98016666666712.871333333333 the slope reaches the administrative center Dirkou. From Dirkou The road continues south along the 32 kms away after Bilma.
During the rainy season (June to September) the Ténérépiste between Agadez and the fountain is difficult to navigate Tazolé.
The Tree of Ténéré
In the middle of the desert was when a single tree in a radius of several hundred kilometers, the Arbre du Ténéré. He is considered a single tree specimen that is explicitly marked on a map at a scale of 1:4 000 000 and was.
This tree, an acacia tree that served caravans and truck drivers as a landmark, was knocked down by a truck driver in 1973. As of the nomads (mostly Tuareg ) are particularly respected copy he had previously survived despite the general lack of firewood centuries.
Later, the Arbre du Ténéré was taken to the National Museum of Niger, where he received a place of honor in its own pavilion. He was initially replaced by one, now by two tree-like metal sculptures.
There are at this point still a waterhole, but which has very poor water quality.