Chad Travel Tips

Meals

• Budget: US$0.35-$1.50
• Mid-range: US$1.50-$3
• High: US$3-5
• Deluxe: US$5+

Lodging

• Budget: US$9-$15
• Mid-range: US$15-$20
• High: US$20-25
• Deluxe: US$25+

Roughing it in Chad is really roughing it. You can live in N'Djamena for very little money, but you'll be lowering pretty much every standard you possess. The mid-range hotels are often bordellos that charge hourly rates. This gives a fair indication of what the bottom end joints are going to be like. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, so keep your eyes open and you might get lucky. Sleeping in a dorm and eating cheap street food will set you back less than US$15 a day. Less than US$10 a day extra will get you a room with a ceiling fan and a private bathroom, and dinner in a restaurant. Car hire is ridiculously expensive throughout Africa and hire cars aren't permitted across national borders. Taxis and buses are inevitably a better option, but if you really want your own personal road transport, you could pay up to $50 a day. Add this to a top-end room and oodles of pricey food, and you could plough through US$130 a day if you tried.

If you're arriving with euros or West African Francs, Air Afrique staff will often change your money for you if the bank is closed at the airport. Credit cards are only accepted at the two top hotels in N'Djamena, while travellers' cheques can only be changed at the BIAT bank.

Tipping is a difficult issue throughout Africa. Basically, if you look like a hitchhiker, take buses or shared taxis and eat at African restaurants, you won't be expected to tip. If you're clean-cut, you'll look rich; 10% in restaurants, hotels and taxis is considered appropriate. The same rule applies whether you're a westerner or a wealthy African. back to top

These hunters began raising cattle in settlements which later became walled cities. These Sao people developed the 'lost wax' method of bronze sculpture and were experts at pottery. Before the 9th century, people moved to the region from the Nile Valley, intermarrying with the Sao and eventually overwhelming them. The state of Kanem was founded in the region and lasted 1000 years. Over the next 300 years, increased trade in salt, slaves, copper and gold brought traders from the Mediterranean and the lower Nile. By 1200, Islam was the dominant religion. The kingdom expanded on the backs of slaves, becoming known as Kanem-Bornu, and held the mantle of 'empire' by the 17th century. In 1812 the empire collapsed when the Fulani people raided the capital.

At the same time, two other slave-trading Arab kingdoms had sprung up, controlling the trade routes and raiding the southern people for slaves. The Black Africans in the south were the focus of slave raids until the early 20th century, selling for the price of a horse; even poor Arab fishermen by Lac Chad owned a couple of slaves. About one in every five slaves captured died of cold, hunger, or disease en route to the Muslim trading areas. When the dregs of the French colonial system arrived in Chad at the end of the 19th century and abolished the slave trade, they became, not surprisingly, heroes of the beleagured southern population.

As soon as the French arrived, they began leaving, making Chad the most neglected of all French colonial outposts. France concentrated their efforts in the fertile south, establishing cotton farms, taking a head tax and imposing quotas. They soon lost their popularity in the south, having never had it in the north. The northerners weren't offered the same educational opportunities as those in the south. Northerners also lost the Aouzou Strip on the northern border to Libya during WWII. When independence came in 1960, southerners took charge, displeasing the northerners, who viewed the Black Africans as either subjects or slaves; certainly not leaders. Poor and unstable at independence, things only got worse with the onset of cyclical droughts from the late 1960s, and unrest turned into civil war. The Black African government banned opposition parties and carried out mass killings. Like its neighbours, Chad fell into a pattern of military crackdowns and attempted coups.

In 1968 French troops were called in to settle the fighting between the government and a guerilla group called Frolinat. Nothing was settled and in 1971 Libya weighed in, supplying arms to the rebels. The government released political prisoners and accepted Libyan leader Gaddafi's offer to stop supporting the guerillas if Chad renounced claims to the Aouzou border strip. Then Chad's leader, Tombalbaye, began to lose his grip on reality in a frenzy of voodoo and nationalistic fervour, forcing the entire population to change their names to traditional African ones and making the civil service and the military undergo the yondo initiation rites of Tombalbaye's own tribe. Anyone who refused was summarily executed.

Tombalbaye had often claimed that he'd survived more plots on his life than any other African leader. Luck ran out in 1975, however, when he was assassinated in an army coup. At this point, things got really complicated. Gaddafi recommenced supplying arms to Frolinat, which splintered into three or four groups, with one led by Hissène Habré, expelled from Frolinat and fighting with his 500-strong army. Libya increased aid and Frolinat made headway, getting within 250km (155mi) of N'Djamena. France again stepped in, defeating Frolinat and installing a dual leadership with Habré as president and another tribal leader, Malloum, as head of state. France again stepped out, creating a political vacuum. Thousands of people were killed in the ensuing power struggle in 1979. France forced the resignations of both leaders and for a few months, peace was restored. With five armies occupying the capital, however, it wasn't long before itchy trigger fingers were scratched. Many people fled this second 'Battle of N'Djamena' as Libya again weighed in with 2000 Libyan-trained Chadian troops. A Libyan-sponsored government lasted about six months before Habré's troops marched again victorious into the city in 1982.

Frolinat, beaten back to the north, was still active when its leader was placed under arrest by Libya for attempting to swap sides in 1985. Gradually, all the rebels began fighting the Libyans, turning a civil war into an international conflict. With French and US support, the Chadians drove Libya into the Tibesti mountains. Gaddafi signed an agreement relinquishing the mineral-rich Aouzou strip and, it seemed, the war was over. When a plane from N'Djamena was blown up, carrying, among others, the US ambassador's wife, many believed the Libyans were responsible.

While great in battle, Habré wasn't so hot as a national leader. His key advisors plotted his overthrow. In late 1990 he was run out of office by Idris Déby, a military advisor. The day before leaving the country, the volatile Habré went on a killing spree, ordering the execution of 300 political prisoners. He is now in exile in Senegal, but in early 1992 made a foray back into Chad, capturing two towns near Lac Chad before government troops and French paratroopers drove him back.

In 1992 and 1993 there were five attempted coups and numerous crackdowns. In one of these, 15,000 civilians fled to the Central African Republic following massacres allegedly by government troops. Now, under pragmatic president Déby, something resembling order exists throughout Chad. Numerous border hot-spots remain, and human rights groups still deplore the unofficial police shoot-to-kill policy on criminals and voice concern over the number of disappearances and summary executions.

Although Chad has enjoyed a period of relative peace and close relations with Libya over the past few years, conflict is never far away. Guerrilla raids are still common in the Tibesti region of northern Chad (despite accords signed in 2002 and 2003 with rebel groups) and armed clashes with Nigerian forces occur occasionally around Lake Chad over ongoing demarcation issues. Politically, little has changed: Déby won the May 2001 presidential elections by a comfortable margin, despite reports of 'irregularities'.

After NGO objections and environmental concerns, Doba Basin oil began flowing in 2003; over its lifetime the project is expected to net over 2000000000.00 for Chad's economy, 80% of which is required by law to be spent on development projects. In 2003 and 2004, up to 200,000 Sudanese poured into northern Chad, escaping the humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Darfur. back to top

With over 100 languages spoken, three major religions, three climatic zones and an ancient history, the culture of Chad is rich, diverse and complex. This complexity makes it extremely difficult to make general statements about the nation's culture as what is important for one group or region may not hold for another.

In the northern third of the country, in the heart of the Sahara, the Toubou people are in the majority. They are descendents of Berber migrants and are, like the Arabs to the south, Muslim. They are herders and nomads, fiercely independent, strong in battle and extremely clan-oriented. Each clan has access to specific wells, pastures and oases. Despite only numbering 150,000 people, the Toubou have controlled Chad since 1982.

Another broad grouping with a distinct cultural influence is the Arabs, concentrated in the middle third of Chad and making up a third of Chad's population. Chadian Arabs are mostly seminomads, grazing their herds over the Sahel. There are many diverse ethnic subgroups under the 'Arab' banner. The Maba people have a unique form of social structure originating in pre-Islamic times, based on four age grades. Cutting across kin and class divisions, people born within a certain time-frame move from one grade to another, bound by friendships and obligations for mutual aid. In the capital, you might be lucky enough to hear Arabic musicians playing traditional music. These people are usually from the griot caste and are professional musicians. They are the living archive of the Arab people's traditions, performing songs and epic narrations.

In the far south, another distinct set of cultural practices dominate. The people here are mostly Black African and non-Muslim. About a sixth of these people are Catholic, with most practicing traditional faiths. About 30% of Chad's population is made up of the Sara from this region. Over the past 500 years, these people have been subjected to some of the most inhumane treatment of any Africans on the continent. Many traditional cultural systems broke down over centuries of forced labour, mono-crop cotton farming and tax collection that undermined village chiefs. Yet the Sara have exhibited fierce survival skills - the women used to artificially elongate their lips to make themselves unattractive to slave raiders, and the Saran people enthusiastically grasped the meagre educational opportunities offered by the French - and now occupy most positions in the civil service. back to top

Chad contains three climatic regions. At times, it might be 40°C (102°F) in the capital, and as low as -8°C (15°F) in the northern Saharan mountains. The central region of Chad is part of the Sahel and is covered by sand which occasionally gives way to scrub. Rainfall is very light. As you move further south, the dryness gives way to a more tropical climate; it's here that you will find Chad's only two permanent rivers. This is the most fertile region in Chad and it effectively feeds the whole country. It is also the only area with significant fauna, mainly birds and antelope. back to top