Air Mountains

The Air Mountains rise out of the Sahara in a knot of dark volcanic peaks that were, until the security collapse of the last two decades, one of the great overland circuits of the region, reached on camel and four wheel drive through oasis villages tucked into the folds of the rock. Iferouane and Timia still keep palm groves and waterfalls that only run after the rains. Inscribed as world heritage together with the Tenere in 1991, the reserve has been on the danger list since the following year and its northern half has been unreachable to conservation staff since around 2007. Travel here is not possible under present conditions.