Libya, isolated by much of the international community over the 1988 bombing of a Pan-Am plane above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, is opening up to the outside world, including tourism. That's great news, because North Africa's second largest country has much to offer for the adventurous traveller. The great sights of the Libyan desert are waiting to be explored.

In 2003, in the Christmas holidays, I travelled trough the Fezzan, a vast desert province covering Libya's south-western quarter. To make yourself familiar with the area, check out an illustrated Satellite Image of Libya and its neighbouring countries. Starting point for the four-wheel drive trip was the legendary oasis town of Ghadamès.

A major attraction of the Fezzan are the great sand seas, where off-road vehicles can race, dip and plunge across endless rolling dunes, some as much as 300m high. Hidden in the Ubari dunes are postcard-perfect desert oases with pools of clear water, surrounded by green palm trees. One of the most picturesque of all the Ubari lakes, Um el Ma, has to be seen to be believed.

"The newest of nomad tribes, the Saharan tourist group, has arrived", James Azema (Libya Handbook)

Another big draw of the Fezzan are the rock art sites of the Jabal Akakus (aka Tadrart Akakus). The Akakus chain of mountains runs north-south for 250 km, starting from the area just west of Serdeles (Awinat) and finishing down at the Takharkhouri Pass. The Jabal Akakus is a National Park, and a visitor's permit is required.

The rock paintings and carvings of the Jabal Akakus provide a unique record of life in the Sahara thousands of years ago. The empty, pebbly plateaux were once grassy savannah, grazed by elephants, giraffes and curvy-horned cattle. Some of the finest examples of prehistoric rock art can be found in the Wadi Teshuinat area.

Not to be missed either are the rock carvings of the Messak Settafet (the 'Black Plateau'), especially in the Wadi Matkhandush. On a stretch of broken rock face you'll find samples of all the main fauna of the savannah lands, including one of the most famous of all the rock carvings: the 'Fighting Cats'

This tour was organised by Hauser Exkursionen, Germany, and led by German tour guide Uwe Weimer and Libyan tour guide Jalal Azzabi. Both guides did an excellent job and are highly recommended. For the statistics: In nine days we covered 3540 km in our 4WDs (1410 km off-road, 2130 km on asphalt).