Fourth Dimension Tours

The Libyan Sahara. an ancient giant: at times aggressive, indomitable, impetuous and then suddenly friendly, impertinent.
As ancient as the earth, this giant has a smile ready to flicker across a face etched in red sandstone, as with swift gestures he opens the casket cunningly hidden among the thousand folds of an immense cloak of sand and proudly reveals his treasures, delighting at the stunned amazement in the eyes of those who find themselves suddenly regaled with such wonders.

Fezzan, a region in the south west of Great Jamahiriya, is the secret casket in which the ancient giant has preserved all that he has loved throughout the ages, and it is here, together with a thousand other resplendent wonders, that he keeps the unique and mesmerizing Ghat, the most precious of the treasures in the fascinating world of the casket.
This concealed tourist wonder is found in Great Jamahiriya.

A Topaz with an emerald heart

The lid of the casket rises and the sun's rays illuminate with amber agate the ancient city, silhouetted against the magnificent backdrop of a turquoise sky.

Set in the heart of Fezzan, a region crossed by caravans that from Sudan headed towards the Mediterranean, Ghat was favoured by its strategic position and iin an ancient time of over a thousand years ago, was a vibrant city, flourishing on trade and blessed with a kind and clement nature, which with its ample lakes, and savannah like vegetation, was a haven for hunters and farmers.

The old mosque is rarely used nowadays, but looks towards its new successor painting its minaret into infinity.

Set in the lunar diadem of the Akakus mountains that stand guard over the city, Ghat - with its heart of an emerald oasis, bright green with palms, lemon trees and acacias - sparkles like a solitary jewel against luxurious satin cushions gilded by the sun.
Ghat has grown around its oasis and enwraps it in an intricate web of alleys and houses tightly intertwined to ensure a long, cool, uninterrupted shadow.

A necklace of incredible wonders

But the topaz with emerald heart is, in reality, the central pendant of beautiful necklace which is revealed in all its magnificence when the casket opens and the sun's rays weave gold and silver filigree in which the bright colors of the traditional costumes shine like precious stones. The women's clothes glint with every hue of the colors of the air: the light blue of the clear and calm early morning; every shade of green is reflected in the waters of the garden fountains and the shawls with their opalescent radiance are highlighted by the black onyx of their hair.

The highly refined craftwork of Ghat is today a point of interest for the tourists.

The casket has even more splendors in store for us and with eyes bewitched we follow enchanted the explosion of colors that ancient memories have passed on through generations recreate in the handwork objects of extraordinary beauty.
Resplendent as rainbows.
The multi-colored fabrics brighten the paths that intersect the market.

Baskets, carpets, plates … and more... silver bracelets, veil clasps and pendants slip out of the casket where they have been preserved over the centures in jealous safekeeping.
They are memories of thousand different cultures through which the Tuareg have passed.

Throughout the ages, tradition has handed down delicate beauty of the silver jewelry to enhance the loveliness of the women.

The Nomads - cobalt and lapislazzuli
Wonder turns to amazement and from the caket - like ancient toys plucked from the wear of time to delight an enchanted child emerge the Tuareg: slender figures of lapislazzuli and cobalt on their ivory Mehari pedestals, those white, enchanted, comes that come to life when the sun lights up the golden satin of the dunes.

The proud Nomads: the essence of the desert and its timeless traditions.
Delicately inlaid with the myriad hues of enamel, the elegant figures are animated by thje sound of an invisible musical box which, during the festival that is held in Ghat towards the end of December, accompanies the ritual dances and the complex figurative movements of this people that has become legendary presence - silent and austere - in the immensity of the desert. Evanescent mirages of mystery and magic, their faces veiled by the "al-lithame" the customary turban carefully draped to protect against the desert sun- the Tuareg seem to belong to a realm of air and sky, the colors of which they have borrowed for the deep blue and bright azure of their costumes.

And surely it is in the air and the sky that these cavaliers - known and respected as awesome warriors - have always found that mysterious guide to lead them in the immense expanse of dunes or through the labyrinth of paths that cross the Akakus.

In the night as blue and clear as glinting sapphire, the mother of pearl white of the cloaks worn by the people gathered in a tight circle for their celebration dances, illuminates and traditional costumes which seem sculptured in coral, obsidian and jasper.

The moon observes with pride this people who have made the inhospitable desert their home.

The Sapphire Night.

Beautiful little girls have always raced joyously through the streets during the festivals and in the shadows of the magical sapphire night; they seem graceful little dolls of ivory, ebony and onyx, adorned in their multicolored clothes and fine silver necklaces.

Kaf El djenoun, a Starry opal.

Midway between Ghat and al Aywanat, silhouetted against the clea blue sky, the massif of Kal El Djenoun gleams in the sunshine. Standing alone in the midst of the rocky plateau, Kaf El Djeanoun - the mountain of the spirits - unexpectedly looms up to puncture the infinite desert horizon. The majestic spires that stand like sentinels and guard over the valley, have struck the hea4rts of all men who catch sight of their mighty presence from afar.
Kaf El Djenanoun - a point of reference, a sure guide, but also a mysterious entity: the people of the desert believe it to be the realm of spirits and genies and have always revered this mountain as being inviolable.

The magic stones

We continue to dip our hands into the treasures of the open casket.
The heart rapidly follows the eyes, accelerating in rhythm when perceiving the stunning Athat, amazing red sandstone sculptures that the Ghibli, impetuous engraver of unique jewels, has left behind in the area of Akakus, like precious milestones of its journey. The Akakus!

Messak Settafet, Drops of prehistoric amber

As if transported by the flood water of a sudden rainfall, the engraving at Wadi Mathendush tuble out of the casket like drops of prehistoric amber. Crocodiles, giraffes, hippopotami, buffaloes, lions and gazelles gaze down from the ancient rock and remind us of the skilful prehistoric artist that painstakingly engraved them thousands of years ago.
Testament too a civilization that moved its first steps right here between the limestone plateaux and the vast sea of sand, the engravings are tempered by the light of the melting shadows cast b the blocks of stone that time has left behind. Figures from a mythical book whose pages carved in stone have been preserved in the casket of Fezzan, so that the book can be read for time ever more.