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the Degree Confluence Project
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Chad : Guéra

5.4 km (3.4 miles) W of Mataya, Guéra, Chad
Approx. altitude: 381 m (1249 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 12°S 162°W

Accuracy: 3 m (9 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: North view #3: East view #4: South view #5: West view #6: GPS receiver screen #7: Breakfast in Mongo #8: Flat tire in Bitkine #9: Heavy traffic on the Bitkine road #10: New paved road under construction #11: Landscape on the road to Bitkine #12: "The Father" (altitude 675 meters)

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  12°N 18°E (visit #2)  

#1: Panoramic view shot from the confluence

(visited by Philippe Burtin)

21-Feb-2013 -- Back in Chad for a new mission on behalf of IIFARMU. The objectives of that mission were very different of those I had during my former stays. I had to visit 4 provincial hospitals in wich my students were sent for a 5-months traineeship. The visits were scheduled in the hospitals of Bongor, Moundou, Sarh, and Abéché. This would be a perfect occasion to try a few visits on yet undescribed confluence points.

After studying the (quite untrusty) french road map and the Google earth pictures, I choose to make a try on 9N 18E and 10N 16E during the first week, then a second visit on 12N 18E on our way to Abéché during the second week. For each of these points I would evaluate the possibility of a visit during the first trip and make the try on the return trip.

After the Abéché hospital visit I would have the opportunity to keep the rented car and the driver for one more day on my own. So I planned to make a 1-day stage in Mongo on the return trip from Abéché and try to visit 12N 19E in the remote and mountainous area of the Guéra province.

The whole 2-weeks trip was done with Issakha, the local coordinator of the IIFARMU program, and Yayah our driver. Now let’s see what happened!

This point is certainly the easiest point in Chad to date; it has already been visited 10 years ago and this is the second visit. After a light breakfast in Mongo and one more flat tire fixed in Bitkine we reached our targeted starting line around 9 a.m. The CP lies 775 meters north of the dirt track between Arboutchatak and Bitkine. A paved road is currently under construction 300 meters north of the actual track and will soon be open to traffic.

I had no difficulty to reach the point on foot after parking our car on the road side. The CP is located in a low forest of “red tallah” trees and thorny bushes. A couple of wood harvesters were at work some 150 meters north of the point at the time of my visit; I guess they saw me but showed absolutely no concerns about my confluence dance under the morning sun!

The Bitkine area offers a wonderful landscape centered on the extraordinary shape of a mountain called “The Father”.

This ended my tries on Chadian CP during this stay. I hope that I will be able to come again and succeed in visiting the points that I previously failed. Be patient, I will let you know!


 All pictures
#1: Panoramic view shot from the confluence
#2: North view
#3: East view
#4: South view
#5: West view
#6: GPS receiver screen
#7: Breakfast in Mongo
#8: Flat tire in Bitkine
#9: Heavy traffic on the Bitkine road
#10: New paved road under construction
#11: Landscape on the road to Bitkine
#12: "The Father" (altitude 675 meters)
ALL: All pictures on one page