Tour Guide, Djanet, Algeria
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The Tassili n'Ajjer National Park is located in the south-east of Algeria in the Tassili n'Ajjer massif, it is bordered on the east by Libya and on the south by Niger. The main town around is the town of Djanet.
Because of the great wealth of the park (including its famous engravings and cave paintings), the Tassili was declared a national park in 1972. The park was then listed as a World Heritage Site in 1982 by UNESCO and classified as a reserve of man and the biosphere in 1986.
With an area of 100,000 hectares, the park has an archaeological character with a multitude of engravings and rock paintings and the last cypresses of Duprez or Tarout. Tassili Park is also called the largest prehistoric museum in the world because of its 15,000 recorded cave works.
Among the fauna present in the rock drawings, we discover that 230 animal species are still alive and are found in particular in the high part of the plateau-like the big mammals: the sheep with a cuff which is maintained well in the steepest regions, numerous gazelles in the big wadis of Tassili and fish in gueltas.
We note the presence of the cheetah, which is endangered, the fennec, the fox, the cat of the sands, the goundi of the Sahara. As for the avifauna, it is represented by the owl, the fierce buzzard and the golden eagle.
The Tassili flora includes species typical of the Saharan region such as Tassili cypress, acacia, Tamarix and medicinal plants.
The climate of the Tassili National Park is hyperarid and desert type, the amount of annual rainfall is very low with an annual average of 25mm. Nevertheless, due to the altitude of the plateau (1100m), there are some more sheltered and humid areas or some vegetation and where the fauna can flourish. The average annual temperature is 20 to 21 °C with a peak of 50 °C in summer and 1 °C in winter.
In this park are the three ksours built on the banks of the wadi, El Mihane in the south is a typical Saharan ksar with its houses of clay and stones and winding streets that climb the steep slopes of a peak.
Adjahil is glued against the cliff and overlooks gardens and springs. These ksours are in ruins but are of great interest by their organization and their architecture.
The Tassili n'Ajjer National Park is home to an invaluable cultural, historical and landscape heritage that man must protect.