Arlit (DRZL) - Agadez / Manu Dayak (DRZA).
Niger.
Flight No. 028.
Note: To comply with my concept as an “Air Trucker” I changed our plane from our trusty Bonanza to a more fitting Grand Caravan. I didn’t do it just for the aesthetics, though, but due to a simple fact the GC is much more useful for such a “roadbound WT” - it has a shorter nose and a larger front screen! I don’t have to break my neck and/or my immersion any longer by sticking my head out of the cockpit (fyi I’m using a headtracking gear) to see the road in front of me. Now I can comfortably look over the nose down onto the land in front of our plane!
Roads Used: Route Nationale 25 / RN25 (Arlit - Agadez).
1. Arlit - Anoumakaram: We started on the airfield next to the Uranium Mine of Arlit (1) and crossed the town itself (2) to rejoin RN25 (3). The face of the desert has changed again - instead of sand dunes and flat surfaces we came across sharp ridges and fields of rocks and stones (4 & 5). The oueds got wider and greener, too (6) - we are about to leave the Sahara and enter the Sahel Zone!
2. Anoumakaram - Tchirozérine: We’ve crossed oueds nearly every five minutes from Anoumakaram onwards (7 - 12). Each one greener and lusher than the one before. And then we saw it - we found the first actual river since leaving Tunisia near Tchirozérine (13)!
3. Tchirozérine - Agadez: Another change happened - it got foggy all out of a sudden as we passed Ouagadi and Ekazan Hills (14) and turned towards Agadez (15). We’ve successfully crossed the Sahara!
