Faya-Largeau

Faya is the largest town in the Chadian Sahara and lives off a palm oasis of perhaps a hundred thousand trees watered by groundwater lying close under the sand. The French built a garrison here and the town was fought over repeatedly during the wars with Libya. Salt flats, dune fields and eroded sandstone begin immediately outside it. Nothing here is arranged for visitors and the interest is atmospheric rather than architectural. What matters to an expedition is the airstrip, because a charter in or out of Faya saves several days of driving at either end of a northern trip.