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A Safari Tour Itinerary

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Let’s go to Chad in 2023 (with Zarek Cockar)

A Scheduled Trip to Chad

Ennedi Chad

Highlights

Chad: A Country of Marvels
● The Ennedi Cultural Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage site and protected by African Parks (AP). The one and only picture-book Sahara Desert & its incredible rock formations
● Prehistoric rock paintings and petroglyphs showing people dancing, herding, and hunting, and depicting the wildlife that flourished millenia ago
● Ouadi-Rimé Ouadi-Achim Game Reserve in Central Chad---base of the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) for the reintroduction of some of the rarest species of desert wildlife on earth!
● Scimitar-horned oryx, Addax, Dama gazelles, Dorcas gazelles and Barbary ostrich...some of which had been declared extinct in the wild.
● Rarest of rare antelope and bird species on the IUCN Red List
● Zakouma National Park. The park has been under the protection of AP for the last 10 years. Before that, it had been a place of carnage for elephants, poaching had ravaged its herds, but AP successfully locked it down. It's one of the great present day success stories in conservation when so much of the news is negative.
● The elephants of Zakouma National Park and their story of hope
● Flocks of birds that completely blanket the sky and earth


Scheduled group tour from
February 19, 2023 - March 6, 2023

Starting from
EUR 12,960
per person sharing

Duration
16 days / 15 nights

Transport
Fly-in Safari

Accommodation
Tented Camps

Exploring
Ennedi, Ouadi Rimé Ouadi-Achim, Zakouma National Park


About this Safari

Dear Adventurers and Explorers:

Chalo Africa is delighted to be sending yet another small-group expedition to the African nation of Chad in February 2023! This will be our fifth year of sending adventure-minded guests to Chad, and with each ensuing year, we get to know this little-known country a little bit better and make the safari a little bit better. We have solid infrastructure on the ground, and we have personally visited each of the places you will see on this trip.

For those of you looking for an adventure, few places could match the wonders of Chad.
 Firstly, almost no one, outside of hard-core safari enthusiasts even knows that Chad offers a first-class traditional wildlife safari experience. In fact, the number of people who visit Zakouma National Park are a few 1000 – compared to the few 100,000s who visit the popular safari parks of sub-Saharan Africa
 Chad offers an otherworldly combination of incredible wildlife with mind-boggling desert scenery – think of the US Southwest on steroids! When we were here in March 2022, we were a grand total of 12 visitors (guests + crew combined) in a park of 60,000 sq. kms! Is it possible to ask for a more privileged safari destination?

 Last but not least, we are living in a different era now, where people are more thoughtful, more curious, more informed – and the vast majority of you want us to design more experiential holidays, and you would like to know that your travel will contribute to the greater good of our planet. This safari does all that and so much more.

This trip will be led by our favorite Pan-African wildlife guide, Zarek Cockar. Zarek is an accomplished and erudite Kenyan guide, with deep experience in Zakouma. His insights into the flora and fauna of the park will raise your safari experience to another level altogether. Here are a few of his comments from his previous trips to the country that has him “smitten” (Zarek’s own words!):

– Every drive that continued after dark was absolutely superb, and we were able to find a wide variety of species from Greyish Eagle Owl to Striped Hyena, and so many Genets and Civets that we stopped counting.

– Tinga camp is the perfect base for an experiential, down-to-earth safari that focuses on unpretentious, high quality wildlife-viewing.

– African Parks’ operations in Zakouma are very impressive, and their conservation successes and community relations are to be highly commended.

– Our experience with the elephants, watching approx. 300 cross a river over the course of almost an hour, was nothing short of surreal. It was one of the most emotional, beautiful wildlife experiences I’ve ever had as a guide, as the elephants’ clear caution and anxiety slowly drifted away and turned to elation and joy as they played in the water. Even the old bulls couldn’t help but trumpet and spray water with complete abandon into the air. . . As we all watched, utterly rapt, not a word was spoken, and a few tears were shed as we thought of Chad’s tumultuous history and the extent of suffering these elephants had endured over the last 4 decades. Their behavior and social structure was not something we often see in the historical conservation fortress parks of East Africa, and I, for one, was completely absorbed in that moment. The buzz stayed with me for days afterward.”

We do hope that you decide to join Zarek on this extraordinary adventure.

Zarek, Sangeeta and Team Chalo Africa!

Price – 12,960 Euro per person.
Dates of Safari – 19 February to 6 March, 2023

Zarek with Zakouma Rangers
Zarek with Zakouma Rangers

We have negotiated the same rates for this safari in 2024 as well, so we encourage you to book early and make your plans well in time. The dates for this trip in 2024 are still TBD, but will be similar to the 2023 trip.


Request for the Full Itinerary

or call our African safari specialists at
+1 703 220 6393 or +91 9717 275237


Day By Day Itinerary

Day 1: Sunday, February 19 2023 – Arrive in N'Djamena, Chad

Our team will meet you at N’Djamena’s Hassan Djamous International Airport (NDJ) and
transfer you to your lodging……..

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 2: February 20, 2023 – The Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve

After breakfast, you will be taken to the police HQ for registration formalities and then
transferred to the airport for the first of your 3 flights of the trip……

Contact us for full itinerary

Days 3 - 5: February 21-22-23, 2023 – The Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve

You will spend your time here exploring places with fantastical names – Guelta de Bachikélé,
Wimina, Abaiké, Arche d’Aloba…it is a breathtaking desert landscape, punctuated with…….

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 6: February 24, 2023 – Bichagara, Ennedi

On February 24, you will travel by car to Fada, and from there to Bichagara, a rocky
promontory that juts out towards the very frequented track that connects Fada’s oasis in Ennedi to the oasis of ……..

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 7: February 25, 2023 – Bichagara - Kalait

After spending the morning exploring the cave paintings of Bichagara, you will ride in your
desert caravan to Kalait, where you will spend the night in……….

Contact us for full itinerary

Days 8-9: February 26-27, 2023 – Ouadi Rimé Ouadi-Achim GR

On February 26, we will leave the rhythm of the desert behind and head south-west along an
unremarkable dirt and gravel track to the ……..

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 10: February 28, 2023 – Zakouma National Park

Enjoy a final morning at OROA, perhaps visit the bomas, chat with the rangers, drive in the park – and then in the late morning (timing TBD), you will…….

Contact us for full itinerary

Days 11-14: March 1-2-3-4, 2023 - Zakouma National Park

For lovers of wildlife, Zakouma is also one of the best conservation stories ever. From the
1980s, when Zakouma’s elephant and buffalo population had dwindled to near-zero until ………

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 15: March 5, 2023- Back to N'Djamena & onward flight home

This adventure will end with a last 2-hour flight from Zakouma to N’Djamena. Depending on the timing of ……..

Contact us for full itinerary

Day 16: Sunday, March 6, 2023 - Onward flight home

You will do a driving tour of the city today, perhaps stop for souvenirs, lunch etc.. before being transferred back to the airport for your international flight home.

Contact us for full itinerary


More

Details of Rates

The cost includes:
● 3 flights within Chad as indicated
● Transport by car in 3 Toyota 4×4 vehicles for the Ennedi portion
● 01 private vehicle for game drives in Zakouma
● Fuel, drivers, and English-speaking guides or interpreters
● Accommodation and meals as indicated
● Daily activities as indicated

The cost does not include:
● Return flights to N’Djamena
● Meals and drinks not specifically mentioned on the itinerary
● Any applicable visas
● Travel & medical insurance
● Gratuities

Notes

Note:
● The itinerary and activities are subject to change in accordance with local conditions
● This trip will be led by Zarek Cockar, one of Kenya’s few accredited gold-level guides, who will to provide a comprehensive understanding of the region’s ecology, in collaboration with our local guides.
● Please bring along a sleeping bag if you chill easily. While warm bedding will be provided, in the desert a sleeping bag may be useful.
● Please travel with a single ‘soft’ suitcase/duffle bag (not a ‘hard’ suitcase) and one backpack.
● It will not be possible to wash clothes or shower in the desert. Please bring sufficient changes and consider using Tinga for laundry.
● Compulsory vaccinations: yellow fever vaccination is needed only if you are coming from a country with risk of yellow fever. Please see CDC guidelines.
● Currently entry to Chad requires a valid Covid 19 vaccination certificate (double dose).


Gallery

  • Ennedi
    Ennedi
  • Elephant Arch Ennedi
    Elephant Arch Ennedi
  • Lion Chad Joel Gunter
    Lion Chad Joel Gunter
  • Sahara Desert
    Sahara Desert

Let’s go to Chad in 2023 Map

Ennedi, Chad

Zakouma, Chad

Ouadi Rime, Chad


Best Time to Visit

January

Closed

February

Best

March

Best

April

Closed

May

Closed

June

Closed

July

Closed

August

Closed

September

Closed

October

Closed

November

Closed

December

Closed

The safari begins and ends in Chad.


Enquire Now

You can add any other comments about your trip here. If you are travelling with children, please let us know how old they are.

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Chalo Africa provides luxury African safari tours and holidays from the United States (Washington DC), United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and India.


We plan safaris to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Uganda, Rwanda, Gabon, Chad, Ethiopia and elsewhere.
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