Tenere is a dessert region in the southern central part of the Sahara region. It goes along with a vast plain that stretches its sands from northeastern part of Niger into the western part of Chad. The area of the Tenere dessert region is over 154,440 square miles or 400,000 square kilometers.
Tenere dessert is surrounded by mountains and other wonders like Air Mountain in its west direction and Hoggar Mountains in the northern part, Tibesti Mountains in the east, Djado Plateu in the north eastern part and the basin of Lake Chadin its southern direction. Tenere’s location is 500 kilometers north of the town Agadez and approximately 300 kilometer north of the Air Mountains.
Tenere is an incredible desert compared in other deserts in Africa. The magnificent sand dune is a must see for every tourists. The dessert is merely an isolated area so exploring the dessert will take a tourist about a week and the exploration is only possible by a rented or owned vehicle.
The origin name of the desert came from the Tuareg Language (a dialect used in some countries in Africa like Niger, Mali, Algeria and others) that literally means “desert”.
Tenere’s climate is very hot and dry and obviously impossible to grow plants. Temperature may take up to 42 degrees Celsius in its summer with an inch of annual rainfall. The water supply is rare and very poor. The underground water may take hundreds of miles to find.
The Tenere Desert is notable for its Tree of Tenere which is the most remote tree in the world and is used by travelers as a landmark but now the tree is gone because it was knocked down by a drunk driver way back 1973. The dead tree is preserved in the Niamey Museum and is said to be replaced by a metal sculpture as a remembrance.