Top Things to Do in Chad

Chad is the Sahara’s best-kept secret. 3,000-year-old rock art sits a morning’s drive from elephant herds that have learned to outrun poachers and drought. First-timers expect sand. They leave talking about sunrise over the Chari River, sesame-spiced daraba drifting from a N’Djamena courtyard, and the silence of Zakouma’s grasslands broken only by antelope hooves. Come ready for heat that peaks at 45 °C in April, Harmattan dust that turns the air amber, and hospitality that won’t let you leave before three cups of sweet tea. N’Djamena is less a city than a meeting point. Sahelian herders push cattle past French-style cafés. River taxis shuttle passengers between Chad and Cameroon in full view of the national palace. Outside the capital, sealed roads dissolve into laterite tracks that lead to the Ennedi’s sandstone cathedrals and to Zakouma, the poster child for African conservation success. Allow extra days for bureaucracy—tourist permits are handwritten—and bring cash. Chadian banks still count money on the counter, and CFA francs are the only language most hotels accept.