THE TRANS-SAHARA EXPEDITION, 6300 Km of pure sand and adrenaline. Looking for new adventures, Gunnar followed an old dream: knowing Sahara trough an incredible trip. Feel free, since now, in the desert with him, following each moment closely. Tunisia to Benin!

Tamanrasset is a big town. It's the gateway to the Hoggar Mountains, the most visited place in central Sahara.

The Hoggars are old volcanoes. The famous Father Foucauld is buried atop the highest one, at 2,800 metres above sea level. That evening we climbed to the top of tha mountain and saw the most incredible sunset along with 30 French tourists. We slept in rock huts after having an Arab dinner and tea with the local jeep drivers.

As we approached the border with Niger, our truck got stuck in the san several times. We all had to work very hard to help get it out each time. There were hundreds of kilometers of sand flats and dunes in all directions.

Even with all the technology avaliable today, it's easy to get lost in this huge desert. Our dirve discussed directions with the local guide, and even then they made a 300-km mistake. We had to turn back and take another direction. All we saw in the sand to either side were car tracks, dead camels, and teh aforementioned car and truck wrecks.

After passing the 30-km noman's land around the border between Algeria and Niger, we were in black Africa, and in one of the poorest countries in the world.

At every stop we surrounded by hundreds children begging and molesting us all the time. It's very difficult to handle this kind of sityuation because you cannot please them all. I gave away lots of pens to a group of little children, and other members of our group gave clothing and money. But at onde point one of the children got mad and threw a stone at our bus, breaking a windows. When large groups of peoples get mad, things can get out of control, so we had to leave town immediately.

We arrived in Agadez, an important town where everything comes together in central Niger. We were fascinated by a big camel market, where hundreds of camels where being sold and traded. A good camel goes for 600 euros, and even 1,000 euros if it is a young, strong working animal.

Donkeys, goats and caller with big horns that I had never seen before were also on sale in the market. There were also fossilized dinosaur bones.

IN Agadez there is a beautiful mud mosque that bristles with wooden stick. Ther are only two mosques like this in Africa. The other on is in Timbuctoo, Mali.

We walked around on the narrow paths in between the mud walls of teh houses -- an amazing sight.

Continuing south, we reached the border between Niger and Benin. Crossing the Niger River, the third largest in Africa, we entered teh real tropics, surrounded by banana and mango trees, sugarcane and many flowers.

Benin has 7 million inhabitants who live along the only road that crosses the country from north to south. It's like driving thurough a big market. Thousands of peoples sell everything you can imagine along that road. It was very interesting to see the women and men dressed in their colourful African outfits. The local markets were fascinating to see.

Abmey is a big town. Here we visited the 18th-century palace of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The palace had many quarters in which the king kept his 900 wives.

We spent a whole day on a motorboat excursion around Ganvie, a town that escaped slaves built on pilings in the middle of Lake Nokouesee to avoit recapteure by slavers.

It has a mosque, restaurants, a hotel, souvenir shops and floating markets. Ganvie's location bolsters its claim to begin the "Venice of Africa" . Today, thousands of people make a living off fishing in teh lake -- a water world that contrasts sharply with the Sahara desert.

We visited teh market of Cotonou, teh bigges city in Benin, and spend the last day at teh Grand Popo beach, a beautiful, quiet resort in the Gulf of Guinea on the Altantic Ocean.

The sun was bright and hot, we all got sunburned, and we danced that night to the sound of African drums, drinking a good, cold Benin beer.

A while later, we learned thar this farewell party had been the most dangerous part of our Sahara adventure. The expedition leader and two other members of the group caom down with malaria acquired from mosquito bites that night in Cotonou.

Photo: Cortesia Sven Sabrowski

INEMA Team