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The Ennedi Range of Chad is a beautiful part of the Sahara Desert in the northeastern section of the country of Chad. Travel to this area is difficult due to the country's poverty, lack of tourist facilities, political unrest, and highway banditry. The Ennedi contains many hundreds of natural arches, very few of which are documented. If anyone has more information about natural arches in this area, please contact us. The locations of many of these arches can be found in this Google Earth KMZ file courtesy of Pedro (requires installing the free Google Earth program). For larger photos, GPS locations when available, and sometimes additional photos, click on the thumbnail images on the right. |
| ALOBA ARCH is one of the most magnificent natural arches in the world. See the Big 10 section of the website for more information (use the back button to return to this page). | |
| ANOA ARCH is located in the Anoa region of the Ennedi, about 90 kilometers northwest of Fada. The largest of the three openings is 55 feet high. The second largest opening is 40 feet high. Notice the person in the photo for scale. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH located in the Anoa region of the Ennedi, about 90 kilometers northwest of Fada. The larger opening is 16 feet high and has a span of 7 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| DJOULA OUED ARCH is a fine example of an abandoned natural arch. In the first photo it looks more delicate than Delicate Arch, but in the second photo, taken from a different angle, it can be seen to be a much sturdier formation. The arch is located near Djoula Oued ("oued" is the Arabic word for "wash") in the Djoula region of the Ennedi area of Chad. It has a measured span of 46 feet and a measured height of 107 feet. Top two photos (copyright retained) courtesy of Hauser Excursions, who conduct tours to the Ennedi (see their tour web page in the original German or in English translation by Google). Bottom two photos by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |
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| ELEPHANT ARCH is located on the Tokou massif south of Ouadi Nohi. The span was measured at 59 feet and the height was measured at 75 feet. Notice the smaller opening in the upper left (the "eye" of the elephant). Photo by Gunter Welz. Aerial photo by Pedro. |
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| ELEPHANT ARCH II is in the Ba Chikele region of the Ennedi. It has a measured height of 94 feet and an estimated span of 15 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |
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| THE EYE OF TOKOU is located in the middle of the Tokou massif south of Ouadi Nohi. The estimated span is 45 feet and the estimated height is 66 feet. Notice the person inside the opening for scale. Photo courtesy of Dr. Rolf Windheim. Aerial photo by Pedro. |
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| FIVE ARCH ROCK: We do not know if this arch has a local name, but for lack of a better term we are referring to it as "Five Arch Rock" because it has five openings . It is located in the Sombora region of Ennedi, in a side valley of Oued Sini on the west side of Anoko Mountain, about 10 miles southwest of Aloba Arch. The largest opening, pictured in the top photo, has a span of 67 feet and a height of 45 feet. The bottom photo (taken from the other side) shows four of the five openings. The opening on the left has a span of 21 feet and a height of 26 feet. The opening to the right of the large opening has a span of 15 feet and a height of 18 feet. The smallest opening shown has a span of 13 feet and a height of 12 feet. Top photo by Dr. Rolf Windheim; second photo by Gunter Welz. Aerial photo by Pedro. Arrow in aerial photo points to the next arch in this Portfolio. |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH very close to Five Arch Rock in the Sombora region of Ennedi. It has a span of 35 feet and a height of 72 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| LITTLE ALOBA ARCH is located in the Bichagara area about 36 kilometers west of Fada. It has a measured height of 128 feet and a span of 30 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| MASK ROCK is located in the Ouadi Archei region of Ennedi about 39 kilometers SSE of Fada. The left opening has a span of 36 feet and a height of 57 feet. The right opening has a span of 27 feet and a height of 50 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH located in the Korokou region of the Ennedi about 24 kilometers southwest of Fada. It has a span of 33 feet and a height of 35 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH. This large arch is located in the Korokou region of the Ennedi about 32 kilometers southwest of Fada. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH located in the Terkei region of Ennedi. It has a span of 39 feet and a height of 67 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH located in the Labyrinth region of Ennedi about 46 kilometers southeast of Fada. There are two arches in this photo. The one in the foreground has a measured height of 54 feet. The one in the background has a measured height of 26 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH located in the Labyrinth region of Ennedi about 46 kilometers southeast of Fada. It is located about 300 meters north of the previous arch. It has a span of 32 feet and a height of 24 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNNAMED ARCH located in the Cheghela region of the Ennedi, about 13 kilometers SE of Aloba Arch. The height is 21 feet. Photo by Gunter Welz. |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH. A particularly nice example of an abandoned natural arch in Chad is shown here. Photo (copyright retained) by Sian Pritchard-Jones of www.expeditionworld.com. |  |
| THE CYCLOPS is the guardian of the entrance to the Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| DENTELLES ARCHES in Oued Aloba (Aloba Wash), Ennedi, Chad. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH about 44 kilometers due west of Fada, Ennedi, Chad. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH in Bamena Massif, Ennedi, Chad. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED DOUBLE ARCH in Terkei Massif, Ennedi, Chad. The larger opening has an estimated height of 42 feet. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED DOUBLE ARCH in Bamena Massif, Ennedi, Chad. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH in Vers Anoko area near Five Arch Rock, Ennedi, Chad. Photo by Jacques Taberlet (Fouderg - view his Ennedi slide show.) |  |
| UNNAMED ARCHES (called "The Bridge and The Ring" by the photographer), Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| THREE ARCH ROCK in the Tokou region, Ennedi, Chad. Another arch to the right (arrow) looks like a small lonely elephant lying on the ground, looking toward the triple arch. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| MONOU'S DOOR, Monou area, Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| UNNAMED ARCH in Bamena Massif, Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| "THE AFRICAN WOMAN" carrying something on her head, Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. |  |
| ELEPHANT ARCH III, Ennedi, Chad. Aerial photo by Pedro. Pedro found this one while looking for Elephant Arch II and thought this was it. However, it is clearly a different arch, presumably located somewhere near Elephant Arch II, but we don't know exactly where. |  |
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