Best places to visit in Chad

Being a landlocked country, Chad has no sandy beach destinations most travelers love. But this is compensated by numerous attractions of historical and cultural sites, fascinating grottos, mountains and national parks. The country boasts of Lake Chad in the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert whose fresh water extends over Chad and three of its neighbor countries. The lake is the 4th largest in Africa and has important part in the trans-Saharan trade. Home to 44 species of algae or seaweeds, the lake is shallow at 1.5 meters (4.9 ft.) in normal times.

N’Djamena, the country’s capital, is formerly known as Fort Lamy. Before the civil war in 1979-1982, it was one of Sahel region’s nicest cities. About 210 kilometers from N’Djamena is the fascinating old town of Abeche that features not only mosques and old markets but also dilapidated buildings and narrow streets. Farther away from the capital city is Moundou, the country’s 3rd largest city, which is the site of Gala Brewery, the maker of the best beer in the Sahel region, and which never stopped operations despite the civil war that has hit the country for long years. In Fada, 1100 kilometers from the capital, one can find weird rock formations and several grottos containing cave paintings dating back to 5,000 years. If you want to see a group of inactive volcanoes, you can visit the vicinity of the Tibesti Mountains in the central Sahara Desert in the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region in north Chad, which are also known for ancient cave paintings that date back to the 5th to 3rd millennium BC.