Explore the natural wonders of Tindouf
Tindouf is a city in the western part of Algeria with a population of about 30 000 residents. It was built in 1852 by members of the Sahrawi Tajakant tribe, near an isolated Saharan oasis, but got sacked and destroyed by Reguibat Sahrawis in 1895. Tindouf remained abandoned until 1934, which was when the French troops arrived in the area. Since Algeria's independence in 1962 the town has been built up significantly - mainly because of its importance as a last outpost before the Moroccan, Sahrawi and Mauritanian borders and partly because of the influx of large numbers of refugees from the Western Sahara.
There are four large refugee camps for Sahrawi refugees from the Western Sahara in this area. These refugees have a total population of about 165 000 residents and so the camps are quite crowded.
Tindouf is situated on the Hammada, a large desert plain of the Sahara desert that is historically known as "The Devil's Garden". The city also has a very unpleasant climate, with summer temperatures reaching up to 50ºC and frequent sand storms disrupt normal life. The Tindouf area has very little vegetation and if residents need fire wood, they have to get in their car and drive more than ten kilometers away from the city before they can start to gather it. Not all the camps have access to water and the drinking sources are neither clean nor sufficient for the entire population of all the camps.
The tasks that are performed on a daily basis become quite difficult in this area and the camps are completely dependant on foreign aids. Food, water and materials are brought in by car by international aid agencies. The refugee population is also plagued by the lack of vegetables, nutritious food and medicines. Social services, such as basic hospital care and schooling, are organized by the refugees themselves.
Tindouf itself does not have much to offer to tourists, except the interesting sights of the life in refugee camps and the Sahara plains.
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