Among the high cliffs, canyons and weathered features of the Ennedi Plateau is extensive evidence of human activity and habitation. Everywhere we went we found incredible pictographs, petroglyphs and pot shards. Our day began by exploring one of the more impressive sites for seeing these pictographs, the Terkei Barakatra caves.
Kelly’s thoughts…
Terkei Barakatra
We arrived at Terkei Barakatra and immediately could see the red pictographs painted under the walls of caves and overhangs along the cliff. Rock art in the Ennedi dates back about 8000 years with the earliest examples depicting people running and the wildlife of the area, elephants, giraffes, ostriches, lions and others. After this, about 5000 years ago, people became nomadic herders of cattle, goats and sheep and their art included depictions of these animals and also people hunting, fighting and even dancing. Then came the camel period, about 4000 years ago until today. In this period people were depicted riding horses and camels, often very diagramatically, along with their livestock. Different colors were used making very realistic looking cattle and decorations on people’s clothing.
Terkei Barakatra is mainly characteristic of the latter period, about 2000 years old, with large collections of cattle, goats and sheep, people riding horses, and people standing. The horses appear to be flying as they are painted in full gallop. The people on them are often carrying spears and shields and elaborately clothed.
A large cave tunnels entirely through at the site with several side passages and chambers. The largest room at one opening has an incredible view and on the ceiling many paintings, one of which is a huge cow, so the cave is called Big Cow Cave. We also found depressions in the stone, metates or quern-stones, where grains had clearly been ground.
Much of the surface of the inside of the cave was entirely covered by vast numbers of mud-dauber wasp nests. We learned that there is a lot of concern that the wasps may end up destroying or covering a lot of the rock art.
Rocas de Dégédèy
Our next stop was a cave at the base of an isolated monument, the Rocas de Dégédèy. This is a cave at the base of a huge cliff where people stay temporarily or store things, like camel saddles or woven mats. The face of the cave and outer area was covered with more pictographs including people riding camels, some that looked like families, and livestock. Also here was likely much older paintings of giraffes, probably the oldest rock art we saw, possibly 5000-6000 years old.
Across from the cave was a giant sand dune that “young guys” would sled down, according to Yves.
Whenever I’m at a site like these, whether in Ennedi or in an Ancient Pueblo site in Utah or an Inca site in Bolivia or others, I find myself wondering what it must have been like to be a child growing up there. Did they run along the cliffs, what games did they play with each other, were they expected to work? I wonder if, like me, they were fascinated by the scorpions, mantises, wasps and other critters. Did they bring them home to show their moms? Our understanding is that Terkei in particular was a defensible hiding place from slavers. I can only imagine what that fear may have entailed for the parents and kids.
Water
The Ennedi is in an area of alternating dry and wet (monsoon) seasons. It seems that during the wet season there really is so much water that it’s difficult even to get around. But, at the edge of the Sahara, it is exceptionaly dry when it’s dry. We were there about a month after the end of the wet season, and near the village there was still a large lake where the livestock and wild critters came to drink.
We also got water from a well near the village. We saw wells throughout our time in Chad everywhere we went usually surrounded by huge numbers of camels and other livestock. In some cases the people simply drop plastic buckets on rope and fill containers, but the well near the village had a gas pump that was evidently difficult to start. We filled containers to bring with us for cooking, washing, etc. But we drank bottled water.
Yves told us that camels can drink up to 200 liters at one time. People give camels large amounts of salt to get them really thirsty. They then drink until they are clearly sloshing, but they can then go more than a month without having to drink again.
Food
We returned to camp for lunch before our next excursion. Throughout the trip, Armando provided three meals a day, even when driving. Breakfast was a boiled egg, some bread (either fresh French bread, if available or a flatbread like pita) with cream cheese, Nescafe, and tea. That didn’t change through the trip. Lunch was a stop along the way or at main camp with a salad consisting of pasta, potatoes, couscous or other starch, fresh tomatoes, canned peas and carrots, and, often, canned fish or another boiled egg. It was… fine. Mostly. We always looked forward to dessert of fresh, amazing melon or citrus. Supper was at camp and started with a bowl of peanuts and fruit juice. Then we had a hot supper often with, again, a starch like potatoes or pasta, and some meat… usually chicken, beef or goat. Snacks were dates, which are delicious, and a spiced chai, which was amazing.
Oyo Labyrinth
Our late-day excursion was to the incredible Oyo Labyrinth. This fantastic wonderland is quite literally a giant maze made entirely of slot canyons… a perfect place for Riki and me to explore! Giant blocks of rock are narrowly separated from each other on all sides. As we arrived Yves said we should go explore as long as I had my GPS unit along with me. I marked his parking spot, and off we went. What an incredible experience! We clambored through dozens of slots, took abrupt turns here and there, only to pop out in a new, amazing area. We could have used more time and we explored only a small area, the whole places is acres and acres. We will definitely visit this place again if we go back.
Speaking of food… the goat
We finished up at Oyo late in the day, and it was dark before we got out into the valley. During the day, Yves had been complaining about something having to do with a “young guy” not getting him the “mutton.” We couldn’t quite make out what that meant, but that evening we pulled into the front yard of someone’s set of nomadic huts and stopped. Yves and his companion (the gentleman in charge of tending our main camp) jumped out and disappeared into the dark. After a few minute, Yves friend came back, explained something to us in French, and got in to drive the vehicle (which he clearly didn’t know how to do very well). As we contemplated our kidnapping, he only went a short distance to shine the lights on a family with a small herd of goats. He ran over and he and Yves tackled a small goat to the ground. It seemed clear they were going to to dispatch the goat right there in the yard, but no!, instead they carried it tied up and alive to the back of the vehicle and threw it in. Such a cute little goat! As we drove back to camp, of course Riki fell in love with it, petting it and talking to it. Once we got back to camp, the goat was promptly dispatched and processed, and that was our supper for the next few nights. Flavorful, but tough, Nubian goat is some good eats!
Riki’s thoughts…
Coming up on the first site was amazing. Someone had moved a rock to make it easier for us to scramble up to the ledge where someone about 2000 years ago had painted pictures of camels, men on horseback, men on camels, and livestock, in red and white onto the flat places on the walls and ceilings of the system of caves. There were several ways to get into the area where the Big Cow was painted on the ceiling. It was an amazing formation, tunnels, little places where people had ground grain, paintings, ledges. It was like an ancient apartment complex. My imagination was launched as I wandered through the caves. Who lived here? For how long? How many families called this place home? I found a spot where there was a metate right by a hole in the rock. As I stood in that place, I imagined myself grinding grain for my family, looking out over the landscape. It was just like the window over so many of our kitchen sinks. For a moment, I was connected to women who had stood where I was standing 2000 years ago. It was a moment that taught me that people share a common need to escape the mundane, even if it is just a view of something beyond. I was looking at a landscape that may have looked very much like it looked centuries ago, when families inhabited the cave system.
Of all the food that Armondo made for us, the part I enjoyed the most was the soup he made for us each night. After we had eaten the peanuts and drank the juice he brought us as we were playing cribbage (I usually lost. . .) Armondo would bring us soup and bread. Each night, the soup was a bit different – different broths, different ingredients, but always so satisfying. At night in the Sahara, after the sun went down, the temperature would drop and the wind would often begin to blow. A bowl of soup was just perfect. The first night, after a long, hard day of travel, Kelly and I finished off a bowl of tasty soup and were rising to head to our tent, when Armondo cleared our soup bowls and brought the main course. Honestly, we would have both been happy with just the soup. Kelly makes wonderful soups for our main course. But in Chad, the soup came before the main dish. It was one of the rare times on our trip when Chad outdid United States in decorum, thanks to Armondo, our tireless trip chef.
The trip out to the Oyo Maze took us up and down some steep, sandy hills and through some narrow, sandy corridors at a high rate of speed. I have never been super fond of four-wheeling because of my active imagination. On the trip, I was nervous, imagining the vehicle rolling or smashing into the rock formations through which we were rapidly threading. I was grateful when we finally stopped, but dreading the return trip. Before we left for Chad, Kelly advised me to try to stay in the moment. After many international trips, he told me that the biggest mistake you can make is to let anxiety rob you of the enjoyment of the moment. He reminded me of this as we started to explore Oyo. I admitted that I was nervous about the drive back to the camp, especially if we were going to do the same path in reverse in the dark. It took me a while to get my mindset from one of worry about our upcoming trip to one of enjoying the amazing formations we were exploring. Now, I regret the time wasted in worry. I eventually settled in, and thoroughly reveled in exploring the maze. But I can never get those first minutes back. It has become for me a life lesson. I do not want my old frienemy anxiety to rob me of the beauty and joy of the moment.
When we got back from the Big Cow Cave, my curiosity and manic energy were reading at full bars, so Kelly and I started exploring the formations around our camp. I found a cave about five feet up a cliff face, and scrambled into it. I found the cave system to be tall enough to sit up in it, and fairly deep back into the formation. I also noticed several paintings on the walls and ceiling of the cave. Kelly was soon up in the cave with me, enjoying our discovery. On the way back through the main tunnel, we noticed that there were white paintings of camels pretty far up above a ledge in the tunnel. We were excitedly discussing our find, when Yves joined us in the tunnel. We showed him the painting in the tunnel and then the cave. He said that he had been guiding tours from this spot for ten years and had never noticed the paintings or the cave. It made us feel like top-notch explorers. After that, we found paintings in several caves in the formation. It was geologically and archaeologically rich in sites. I am still recovering from the physical and mental exhaustion of the trip, but even in my tired state, I am excited for our next trip to the Oyo Maze and back to that superb camp site. But on trip number two to Chad, I will definitely worry less and enjoy more!
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