Chad

Getting to Chad was yet another logistical nightmare, a common occurrence while traveling across Africa. After Ethiopian Airlines canceled my original itinerary for the umpteenth time, I ended up rerouting from Eritrea to Chad via Istanbul, nearly in the opposite direction. The unexpectedly long layover at least gave me the chance to catch up with my friend Claire, whom I had met while traveling in Yemen and who happened to be spending a few days in Istanbul herself.

Chad wasn’t an easy country to explore. The visa took a while to obtain, and after arriving in the capital, N’Djamena, I had to go to a government office to fill out paperwork required for foreign visitors. The country was also in the middle of a tense presidential election, and the heightened security was noticeable throughout the city. While I spent some time exploring N’Djamena, I quickly realized that Chad’s true highlights lie far beyond the capital. The country’s spectacular deserts, canyons, and oases typically require days of driving and a much larger budget than I had available.

There was one exception: Elephant Rock, a massive sandstone formation naturally shaped like an elephant, located about three hours from the capital. Getting there, however, carried some risk, as the surrounding region had once been heavily terrorized by Boko Haram, one of Africa’s deadliest extremist groups. Although the security situation had improved considerably, traveling with armed security was still strongly recommended. Through a fixer I found on Facebook, I arranged both a driver and a military escort. For the next several hours, I drove through remote desert villages with a soldier carrying a machine gun sitting behind me. It wasn’t exactly the type of road trip most people imagine. When we finally arrived, I climbed up Elephant Rock with a few local kids from the nearby village. Looking out across the endless desert stretching to the horizon, I realized I had only experienced a small glimpse of one of Africa’s largest and most mysterious countries.