Sounds unlikely? Well, it’s true: the Palace in the Desert outside El Oued boasts a beautiful English garden, and in the nearby sand dunes there are fields of potatoes. Meanwhile Ali has been tending his garden in the furthest reaches of the Sahara – not far from Tamanrasset – for over thirty years. Read more here here.

“Few travellers visit Algeria these days but the country’s capital – famous for its brilliant light – has a beauty that belies its recent violent history” – a rare thing: an English-speaking newspaper is taking an interest in Algeria, and has just published a very positive article on Algiers. We re-print the article in its entirety here.

The rock arches, gueltas and immense dunes of the Tadrart occupy the deep, deep south of Algeria, not far from the border with Libya; the kingdom of the M’Zab, with the town of Ghardaia at its heart, is hundreds and hundreds of miles further to the north… yet both belong to the great undiscovered Algerian Sahara – what is it that makes these vast expanses so special?

Algeria now has seven sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, all of which can be visited on tours operated by Expert Algeria: Beni Hammad, Djemila, the M’Zab Valley, the Tassili, Timgad, Tipasa and the casbah of Algiers.