CHAD…THE LAND OF REMOTE TRIBES, GEREWOL FESTIVAL
October 09 - October 24, 2025
Led by Local Guides

Thriving traditional cultures, renowned art forms, flamboyantly colorful festivals, and a dazzling ethnic mosaic are the golden gems of tribal Africa. This fantastic cultural odyssey takes you to the remote and seldom visited country of Chad.

Chad is one of the least visited of all the African countries by western tourists and therein lies its appeal. We are proud to offer a trip to this most pioneering of destinations - a land that is as wild as it is beautiful, as untamed as it is graceful. It is a land of rock arches, camel caravans traversing the sands, and where genuine encounters with local people are guaranteed. Each year, the semi-nomadic Wodaabe people gather for a week of incredible celebrations known as the Gerewol, a colorful ceremony that is one of Africa’s most spectacular. Few westerners are privileged to see this fascinating event, but over the years, we have built up excellent local contacts, allowing you to travel to a remote part of Chad and stay with these intensely traditional people to join them in celebration. Camping in the Sahel, you will stay with the Wodaabe for several days, gaining more than just a fleeting glimpse into their lives and immerse yourself in a culture that lives very much outside of mainstream society. Few tourists venture this far into Chad, so you can expect to have a very intimate experience.

Also this Chad tour will take you to the spectacular Ennedi Massif, a remote, breathtaking, and other-worldly landscape. The Ennedi is a vast collection of sandstone mountains and rock formations sculpted by the wind and sand over millennia. Here we enter the land of the Tubu, one of Africa’s most traditional and least-known people, and our excellent local connections ensure rare opportunities to meet these shy and secretive people. We will see rock art dating back thousands of years and walk into the Guelta d’Archei, where the Tubu bring vast herds of camels to drink at the only waterhole for miles around, in the company of one of the last populations of Saharan crocodiles, which we hope to see. 

Your accommodation will be at Warda Camp, a unique semi-permanent, comfortable, and pleasant camp established and nestled within the vast Ennedi. There are bathroom facilities, and the camp is fully catered and eco-friendly. Dine alfresco in the communal tent underneath the magnificence of the African night sky. You will best be able to explore the awe-inspiring and genuinely fascinating Ennedi.

Trip Grade:
III Challenging: Parts of the trip will be physically challenging, involving walking over in a hot climate and presence of insects. There will be long drives over rough roads. You will be camping and sleeping on thin mattress. Lunches may be simple, cold picnic lunches. Expect primitive or no bathroom facilities along the road and remoteness from modern towns or cities.

LODGING Level:
**Simple: Basic camping (individual tents with shared shower-tent and toilet-tent),
***Superior: Lodges and hotels with additional amenities, refined service and comfort level acceptable to western standards. (3 or 4 stars)

Tour Remarks:

Chad is our most pioneering destination that requires one to be fit, flexible, heat tolerant, love adventure and new experiences, and be willing to help staff with camp duties, including setting up tents, cleaning the camp, and supporting our hard-working team when needed. Tourist facilities are extremely limited in the remote regions and small villages you visit. 

There are few first-class hotels outside the cities, and hotel A/C does not cool a room to American standards of comfort. During the Gerewol Festival, you will be camping. However, we will do our best to ensure your comfort. Tents will be equipped with beds and a separate seated tent toilet. Also, we will do our best to accommodate our Western diet; however, because we will be refilling our food cache in remote desert towns, accommodating those with specific food needs will be nearly impossible. Therefore please understand that we cannot offer gluten- and lactose-free, vegetarian, vegan, or other specific diets. 

There are dangers inherent in any expedition traveling to remote regions, such as sickness and lack of modern medical facilities. If you have any chronic health problems (cardiac, bad back, diabetes, etc.), we recommend considering a different trip. It is highly advisable to purchase travel protection insurance.

There is always the possibility of sandstorms that can be very uncomfortable as the sand can get into our tents, our food while we eat, and any/everywhere else it can. As you can imagine, water is extremely scarce in the desert, so we will only have a few opportunities to shower during the trip. However, we will carry enough water for a daily "cat bath." We recommend the use of baby wipes!

We have the full right to make any necessary changes to the itinerary, to the sequence of visits, to the choices of hotels and sites or activities previously described in the itinerary without notice.

The festival's exact date is determined sometime in June every year by the Elder Wodaabe people. Please only book the flights once we confirm the exact dates.