# List of Saharan explorers

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Although human settlements around and in the [oases](/source/Oasis) of the [Sahara](/source/Sahara) have existed for millennia, a relatively small number of explorers have recording traversing the entire desert due to its inhospitable nature and vastness. According to Herodotus, the [Nasamones](/source/Nasamones), a nomadic Berber tribe living in what is now Libya, sent five sons of chieftains to explore the desert.[1] Below is a partial list of explorers whose travels across the Sahara are recorded and known in the present day.

## Notable explorers

- [Herodotus](/source/Herodotus) born c. 484 BC. Herodotus in his [*Histories*](/source/Histories_(Herodotus)) mentions the [Garamantes](/source/Garamantes) of Libya.
- [Al Idrisi](/source/Al_Idrisi) (1100–1166) born in [Ceuta](/source/Ceuta). Wrote a medieval geography *The Book of Roger*.
- [Ibn Battuta](/source/Ibn_Battuta) (1304–1369) [1349-53]. Born at [Tangier](/source/Tangier) in 1304.[2]
- [Leo Africanus](/source/Leo_Africanus) (1485–1554) born in [Granada](/source/Granada) and died in [Tunis](/source/Tunis). Educated in [Fez](/source/Fes), he travelled widely in Africa.
- Major [Daniel Houghton](/source/Daniel_Houghton) (1740–1791) [1790-91].
- [Mungo Park](/source/Mungo_Park_(explorer)) (1771–1806) [1795-96].
- [Friedrich Hornemann](/source/Friedrich_Hornemann) (1772–1801) [1798-1800].
- [William George Browne](/source/William_George_Browne)
- [Mungo Park](/source/Mungo_Park_(explorer)) (1771–1806) [1805-06].
- [Joseph Ritchie](/source/Joseph_Ritchie) (?-1818) & George Lyon (1795–1832) [1818]. Travelled from Tripoli to Murzuk.
- Major [Alexander Gordon Laing](/source/Alexander_Gordon_Laing) (1793–1826) [1825-26].
- [René Caillié](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Cailli%C3%A9) (1799–1838) [1827-28]. Left from [Sierra Leone](/source/Sierra_Leone) for Timbuktu.[3]
- [Dixon Denham](/source/Dixon_Denham) (1786–1828), Clapperton (1788–1827) & Walter Oudney (1786–1828) {+ Adolf Overweg (1813–1852)} [1822-25]. They became the first Europeans to see Lake Chad.
- [Hugh Clapperton](/source/Hugh_Clapperton) (1788–1827) & Richard Lander (1804–1834) [1825-27].
- [Richard Lander](/source/Richard_Lander) (1804–1834) & [John Lander](/source/John_Lander_(explorer)) (1807–1839) [1832-34].
- [John Davidson](/source/John_Davidson_(explorer)) (1797–1836) [1836].
- [James Richardson](/source/James_Richardson_(explorer_of_the_Sahara)) (?-1851) (with Barth & Overweg) [1845-51].
- [Heinrich Barth](/source/Heinrich_Barth) (1821–1865) [1850-55].
- [Eduard Vogel](/source/Eduard_Vogel) (1829–1856) [1853-54].
- [Henri Duveyrier](/source/Henri_Duveyrier) (1840–1892) [1859]. Travelled to [El Goléa](/source/El_Gol%C3%A9a) and then the [Tassili](/source/Tassili_n'Ajjer). Published *The Tuareg of the North*.
- [Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs](/source/Friedrich_Gerhard_Rohlfs) (1831–1896) [1862-65, 1867–81]. Travelled in Morocco. Went from [Tafilalt](/source/Tafilalt) to Ghadames and Tripoli. Finally crossed to [Lagos](/source/Lagos) via Murzuk and Lake Chad.
- [Alexine Tinne](/source/Alexine_Tinne) (1839–1869) [1869]. Travelled in [Algeria](/source/Algeria) and [Tunisia](/source/Tunisia).
- [Gustav Nachtigal](/source/Gustav_Nachtigal) (1834–1885) [1870-74].
- [Paul-Xavier Flatters](/source/Paul-Xavier_Flatters) (1832–1881) [1880–81].
- Pere [Charles de Foucauld](/source/Charles_de_Foucauld) (1858–1916) [1881]. Widely travelled in Morocco.
- [Oskar Lenz](/source/Oskar_Lenz) (1848–1925) [1879–80, 1885–87].
- [Fernand Foureau](/source/Fernand_Foureau) (1850–1914) [1898–1900].
- [Angus Buchanan](/source/Angus_Buchanan_(explorer)) (1886–1954) [1919–1923]. Among other travels, led two expeditions into the [Aïr Mountains](/source/A%C3%AFr_Mountains) of Niger, collecting birds and mammals for the museum of his then patron, [Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild](/source/Walter_Rothschild,_2nd_Baron_Rothschild). On the second expedition (1922–3), he was initially accompanied by [Francis Rodd, 2nd Baron Rennell](/source/Francis_Rodd,_2nd_Baron_Rennell) (1895–1978), then continued north across the Sahara to [Touggourt](/source/Touggourt) in northern Algeria. On his return produced a popular film, 'Crossing the Great Sahara', shot by companion, T A Glover, and went on to record the 3500-mile voyage in 'Sahara' (Murray, 1926).[4] In the same year Francis Rodd's 'The People of the Veil' was published (Macmillan, 1926), becoming the definitive study of the Aïr Tuareg in English.[5]
- [Ahmed Hassanein](/source/Ahmed_Hassanein) Egyptian courtier to [King Fouad of Egypt](/source/Fuad_I_of_Egypt) who travelled with his camel caravan 2200 miles deep into the [Libyan Desert](/source/Libyan_Desert). His 1923 expedition corrected Rohlfs map and added to scientific knowledge of the area and discovered the rock art of [Oweinat](/source/Jebel_Uweinat). His famous [article](http://www.saharasafaris.org/hassaneinbey/ngs1924article.htm) in the September 1924 issue of National Geographic Magazine featured many photos of the region's people and landscapes.
- [Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein](/source/Prince_Kamal_el_Dine_Hussein) (1874–1932). Discovered the unknown [Gilf Kebir](/source/Gilf_Kebir) plateau in 1925 using Citroen half-track vehicles.
- [Ralph Bagnold](/source/Ralph_Bagnold) (1896–1990). Led some of the earliest motor explorations of the [Libyan Desert](/source/Libyan_Desert) using Model-T Fords and other 2WD vehicles which helped establish many of the techniques of desert driving still used today.
- [László Almásy](/source/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Alm%C3%A1sy) (1895–1951). Hungarian-born contemporary of Bagnold's and friend of Kamal el Dine, who also explored the Libyan desert in the 1930s. Basis of the fictional titular character in [The English Patient](/source/The_English_Patient).
- [Georges Marie Haardt](/source/Georges_Marie_Haardt) (1884–1932) and [Louis Audouin-Dubreuil](/source/Louis_Audouin-Dubreuil) (1887–1960) [1921–1922; 1924–1925]. The first crossing of the Sahara by motor car ([Citroën](/source/Citro%C3%ABn) half-tracked vehicles). Followed by a crossing of the continent ending in [Madagascar](/source/Madagascar).
- [Théodore Monod](/source/Th%C3%A9odore_Monod) (1902–2000). French naturalist, humanist and scholar who completed several solo camel expeditions in the Majabat al Koubra, where he discovered the [Ma%27adin Ijafen](/source/Ma%2527adin_Ijafen) archaeological site.
- [Michael Asher](/source/Michael_Asher_(explorer)) (1953–) and Mariantonietta Peru (1956–) The first crossing of the Sahara from west to east by camel and on foot, from [Chinguetti, Mauritania](/source/Chinguetti) to [Abu Simbel, Egypt](/source/Abu_Simbel_temples) a total distance of 4500 miles. (1986–87)
- [Bill Kennedy Shaw](/source/Bill_Kennedy_Shaw) travelled on Bagnold's 1930s expeditions and later joined the [Long Range Desert Group](/source/Long_Range_Desert_Group)
- [Charles-Jacques Poncet](/source/Charles-Jacques_Poncet) - Wikidata Q6594681

## See also

- [Desert exploration](/source/Desert_exploration)
- [European exploration of Africa](/source/European_exploration_of_Africa)
- [Trans-Saharan trade](/source/Trans-Saharan_trade)

## References

1. ["Explorers of Libya & the Sahara, Libya's discoverers and travellers in search of Timbuktu:"](https://www.temehu.com/Explorers-of-Libya.htm). *www.temehu.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-13.

1. ["The Great Explorers of Islam"](https://worldbulletin.dunyabulteni.net/history/the-great-explorers-of-islam-h177915.html) (in Turkish). *World Bulletin*. Retrieved 2022-06-13.

1. ["Sahara - Study and exploration | Britannica"](https://www.britannica.com/place/Sahara-desert-Africa/Study-and-exploration). *www.britannica.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-13.

1. ["Sahara | Murray, 1926"](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70525). *www.gutenberg.org*. Retrieved 2025-05-03.

1. ["The People of the Veil | Macmillan, 1926"](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74774). *www.gutenberg.org*. Retrieved 2025-05-03.

## Further reading

- [Eamonn Gearon](/source/Eamonn_Gearon). *The Sahara: A Cultural History*. Signal Books, UK, 2011. Oxford University Press, USA, 2011.
- [David W. Ball](/source/David_W._Ball) *Empires of Sand,* Bantam Dell, 1999. The second half of this novel details the [Flatters expedition](/source/Flatters_expedition) of 1881 that ended in grisly fashion for the expedition and put an end to French plans for a trans-Saharan railway
- [Michael Asher](/source/Michael_Asher_(explorer)) *Impossible Journey - Two Against The Sahara* Penguin Books, UK 1988
- [Michael Asher](/source/Michael_Asher_(explorer)) *Sands of Death - An Epic Tale of Massacre & Survival in the Sahara* (on the Flatters expedition) Orion Books, 2007
- Chris Scott. *Sahara Overland*. Trailblazer Guides, UK, 2005.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [List of Saharan explorers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saharan_explorers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saharan_explorers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.