The Guelta d'Archei is one of the most famous
gueltas
Gueltas (; br, Gweltaz) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.
Gueltas is twinned with Altarnun, Cornwall. Inhabitants of Gueltas are called in French ''Gueltasiens''.
See also
*Communes of the Morbiha ...
in the
Sahara
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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. It is located in the
Ennedi Plateau, in north-eastern
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, south-east of the town of
Fada. The Guelta d'Archei is inhabited by several kinds of
animals, most notably the
West African crocodile (''Crocodylus suchus''; until recently thought to be a synonym for the
Nile crocodile, ''Crocodylus niloticus'' Laurenti). Middle
Holocene remains, as well as rock paintings, indicate that this
species once thrived across most of today's Sahara
Desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
and in
swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and
rivers along South
Mediterranean shores. The small group of surviving
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
s in the Guelta d'Archei represents one of the last colonies known in the Sahara today; the
Tagant Plateau colony in
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
has likely been extinct since 1996.
Travel to the Guelta d'Archei is very difficult, as it is not serviced by paved roads. It is an approximately four-day's
4x4 drive from the Chadian capital of
N'Djamena.
References
Landforms of Chad
Landforms of Africa
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