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Herodotus born
c. 484 BC Herodotus in his Histories mentions for example
the Garamantes of Libya. Click for Quotations
Al Idrisi (1100-1166) born
in Cueta. Wrote a medieval geography The Book of Roger.
Created a map of the world in 70 sections.
Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
[1349-53] Born at Tangier in 1304, Battuta
was to travel the world including Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Iran,
Somalia, Tanzania, Crimea, Balkans, Russia, Central Asia, India,
Maldives, Sri Lanka, Assam, Bengal,Malaya, Indonesia, China,
Spain and the West African states. Wrote The Travels of Ibn
Battuta. Click for Quotations
Leo Africanus (
1485- 1554) Born in Granada and died in Tunis . Educated
in Fez, he travelled widely in Africa. Has a wonderful description
of Timbuctoo. Wrote A Geographical Historie of Africa containing
much information on things like Timbuctoo. Click
for Description
Major Daniel Houghton
(1740-1791) [1790-91] He was commissioned
by The African Association to find Timbuctoo. He travelled up
the Gambia across the Senegal and disappeared around Simbing.
Mungo
Park (1771-1806) [1795-96] A Scot, commissioned
by the African Association to explore the River Niger. Set out
from the River Gambia and got to the River Niger. Imprisoned
and escaped.
Friedrich Hornemann
(1772- 1801) [1798-1800] From Tripoli to
Muszuk in 1799. Then disguised as a Muslim, he travelled with
a caravan from Cairo to Siwa and Murzuk
then down to Lake Chad and Kano.
Mungo Park (1771-1806)
[1805-06]
Returned to the Niger. Attacked at Bussa and drowned whilst
trying to escape.
Joseph Ritchie
(?-1818) & George Lyon (1795-1832) [1818] Travelled
from Tripoli to Murzuk.
Major Alexander
Gordon Laing (1793-1826) [1825-26] Left Tripoli
to explore the Niger. . Crossed the Sahara and reached Timbuctoo.
René Callié
(1799- 1838) [1827-28] Left from Sierra Leone
for Timbuctoo. After a long illness he became the first Frenchman
to reach Timbuctoo. Returned north via Morocco to Tangier.
Dixon Denham (1786-1828),
Clapperton (1788-1827) & Walter Oudney (1786-1828) {+ Adolf
Overweg (1813-1852)} [1822-25] From
Tripoli they became the first Europeans to
see lake Chad. Joined a caravan for Kano, but were prevented
from reaching the Niger.
Hugh Clapperton
(1788-1827) & Richard Lander (1804-1834) [1825-27] Crossed
the Niger at Bussa where Clapperton died. Click
for Drawings
Richard Lander
(1804-1834) & John Lander (1807-1839) [1832-34]
Richard and his brother John sailed down the river to discover
the position of the river's mouth.
John Davidson
(1797-1836) [1836] Attempted to get to Timbuctoo
but was murdered six weeks out from Morocco.
James Richardson
(?-1851) (with Barth & Overweg) [1845-51] Travelled
from Tripoli to Ghadames then Ghat. In 1850 led an expedition
with Barth and Overweg from Tripoli to lake Chad.
Heinrich Barth
(1821-1865) [1850-55] With the British expedition
above travelled from Tripoli to Lake Chad. Became the leader
on the death of Richardson. Continued to Timbuctoo and returned
via Lake Chad to Tripoli. Published Travels and Discoveries
in North and Central Africa 3 Vols. 1857. Click
for Drawings
Edward Vogel (1829-1856)
[1853-54] Was sent to Lake Chad to find Barth
and Overweg. Continued alone to Zinder and was murdered whilst
travelling on the Niger.
Henri Duveyrier
(1840-1892) [1859] Travelled to El Golea
and then the Tassili. Published The Tuareg of the North.
Friedrich Gerhard
Rohlfs (1831-1896) [1862-65, 1867-81] Travelled
in Morocco. Went from Tafilalt to Ghadames and Tripoli. Finally
crossed to Lagos via Murzuk and lake Chad.
Alexandrine Tinné
(1839-1869) [1869] Travelled in Algeria and
Tunisia. Set out to cross the Sahara but was murdered after
leaving Murzuk.
Gustav Nachtigal
(1834-1885) [1870-74] Travelled to Fezzan
and explored the Tibesti. Crossed the Sahara to Lake Chad and
continued to Darfur and Kordofan.
Colonel Paul-Xavier
Flatters (1832-1881) [1880-81] Explored the
Sahara north east of The Hoggar mountains. Expedition wiped
out by Tuareg attack. Flatters killed.
Pere Charles de
Foucauld (1858-1916) [1881] Widely travelled
in Morocco. Became a monk living in a hermitage near Tamanrasset.
Oscar Lenz (1848-1925)
[1879-80, 1885-87] Crossed from Morocco to
Timbuctoo then went west to the coast at the mouth of the Senegal.
Then set out from the mouth of the Congo to and arrived at lake
Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa.
Fernand Foureau
(1850-1914) [1898-1900] Led an expedition
accompanied by a military escort led by Major
Lamy (?-1900), through the Sahara to Sudan. Continued
to lake Chad.
Georges Marie
Haardt (1884-1932) and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil (1887-1960)
[1921-1922; 1924-1925] The first crossing of the Sahara by motor
car (Citroën half-tracked vehicles) was followed by a crossing
of the continent ending in Madagascar.
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