If harsh travelling conditions, long distances and excessive heat don’t bother you then Chad can be a rewarding place to visit. The best sight is probably the Tibesti Mountains in Northern Chad, they are extremely beautiful but can be a challenge to get to. The capital Ndjamena is the travel hub of the country, it’s a friendly and laidback city with a wonderful Central Market, where the whole experience of haggling for African produce is exceptionally good fun. Lake Chad, once one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, is still a serene sight to behold, despite its gradual shrinkage due to climate change and increased demands. Chad can also be part of a crossing the Sahara experience, but it’s a bit off the beaten track. It’s accessible from Libya.

Understanding the Geography

Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is listed by Foreign Policy as one of the world's top 10 failed states. It borders Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "dead heart of Africa". In the north, it contains the Tibesti Mountains, the largest mountain chain in the Sahara desert.

Climate Conditions

Chad has four climatic zones: it has broad, arid plains in the centre, desert in the north, dry mountains in the northwest, and tropical lowlands in the south. Only 3% of Chad is arable land and none of it has permanent crops. Environmental hazards in Chad include hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds in the north, periodic droughts, and locust plagues. Lake Chad, which is in Chad and Cameroon, was once the second-largest lake in Africa but has shrunk dramatically during the last few decades and is now down to less than 10% of its former size.

Understanding the Culture

Chad is a very culturally diverse nation. Among the manifestations of this diversity is the extremely large number of languages spoken there. Although the only official languages in Chad are Arabic and French, there are also more than 100 tribal languages spoken and a dialect of Arabic known as Chadian Arabic is the closest thing the country has to a national trade language. Chadian Arabic is a mix of "literary" Arabic, French and local dialects. It differs from the country's official language, literary Arabic, and, while literary Arabic speakers can often understand Chad Arabic, the inverse is not true.