Paranormal Holiday

Small Group Tours: minimum of one

Unlike most tour companies we have no minimum requirement to take part in our tours.

You can come along by yourself, with a friend, or with a group of friends. However, coming with a friend nearly halves the price of your tour. We believe committing to quality is good for you, for the environment and for the local culture as well.

You can also take part in a group tour if you prefer group tours and if there are groups matching your specifications (date, destinations, etc.) which you can join.

If you are just looking for an operator to put together an itinerary for your private group, then we will be delighted to design a program to suit your needs, regardless of the number of individuals in the group. Just let us know the number of visitors in your group and the kind of services required and we will do the rest.

Although Libya has a number of bizarre places that mystified the minds of locals, scholars and travellers, and is the home of jinn-related lore and stories going back thousands of years, somehow it failed to make it in Lonely Planet's list of paranormal travel sites, such as Area 51 in Nevada, Bermuda Triangle or the nearby Pyramids of Giza.

The alien-like rock art of Acacus illustrates a kind of mysterious mythology of strange creatures, including figures with no heads; others with round heads and wearing alien-like masks; some with one eye; an antelope with an elephant's body; tall and skinny figures, involved in some kind of strange ceremonies; and some bizarre rituals and compositions that led many writers to associate the area with ancient alien landings, just as they did with Area 51.

As a result we have decided to design this tour specifically for those who are interested in paranormal holidays. This tour includes a visit to the famous Mountain of Ghosts near the Acacus mountains in the far south of Libya - an area very much alien in both: appearance and atmosphere; as well as a visit to another site in Nafousah Mountain, where cars can move up the road (uphill) with the engine turned off. As many of the unexplained phenomenon turn out to have unknown scientific explanations, this one appears to involve some form of magnetism or an unknown earth force that works on objects like metal and even water, but has no effect on humans - that is if you stand still you will not be dragged uphill involuntarily! Imagine the thought?

13 Days Tour

 

Upon arrival in Tripoli you will be met by your guide from Temehu, who will complete the entry formalities for you, and escort you to your hotel. Depending on time of arrival, you will explore some of Tripoli's main sites of interest, like Assaraya Alhamra Museum (the National Museum), the Old City and its network of narrow, roofed-streets, arches and covered souks, and the Arch of Marcus Aurelius.

 

 

Site 1

Cars move uphill by themselves!

Today you will leave the capital and head for Nafousah Mountain, beginning with Yefren, a drive along its cliffs to see some of its ancient and mountain-top villages, then back to the main road again and continue towards your first paranormal stop, which we call " Earth-Force-1", where you can see for yourself how a car can go uphill with the engine turned off. If anyone heard of similar phenomena elsewhere or similar locations in another countries, please let us know.

Explore this strange landscape, take some photos or videos, then back to the main road.

The following video is the property of Temehu.com. It is taken in a location in Nafousah Mountain in Libya, in a area which appears to have some form of earth force or magnetic force capable of pulling metal objects, like cars and lorries, up the hill. The video is 100% real and shows the car moving by itself up the road with the engine turned off and without a driver. As soon as you remove the handbrake, the car will start speeding up, forcing you to jump in after a short distance and pull the handbrake to stop the car. The car seems to veer slightly and gradually to the left of the road, indicating that the force is coming more from the left side of the road than straight ahead.

 

 

 

 

This is a photo of the car while it is moving up the road. It is clearly visible behind the car that the road is actually coming up and not just an illusion. You would expect the car to reverse if you let the handbrake loose; but it moves up the road instead! Bizarre, to say the least. If you want to see this place, then book this tour.

Continue the drive towards Nalut for a quick visit of another Berber castle, before leaving the mountain for Ghadames, the Tuareg oasis at the edge of the Sahara.

 

After breakfast you will explore the oasis town of Ghadames for a few hours, and then head for Tkerkiba for the camp. In the following morning you will begin the drive towards the second mysterious site: the Mountain of the Jinn or the Fortress of the Ghosts.

 

Five days to explore the next two sites in Acacus and Metkhendoush regions:

 

Site 2

Kaf Ajnoun (Cave of The Jinn)

The Jinn Mountain:

The haunted natural rock fortress of Idinen, also known as the legendary Fortress of Ghosts or the Cave of the Jinn, is located in the southern region of Libya, about 25 km north of Ghat. It is bordered by Wadi Tanezuft along the east and the Algerian border from the west. The Idinen summit is about 1280 metres high, and is an offshoot of the mountains nearby. The trail from the Algerian border side of the mountain, from Wadi Meggedet to Ghat, allows an excellent view of this strange mountain. In fact Wadi Meggedet itself is also the home of some bizarre rock formations of massive sculptures of strange heads and figures that can be easily associated with this mountain.

 

Wadi Meggedet

 

 

In some maps this is marked as Kaf Ejoul (example, Gizi Map), which it seems is a corruption of Kahf (cave) and Ajnoun (the jinn or genies), meaning the Cave of the Jinn, which Lonely Planet says it once was known to the local Berber Tuareg as the Devil's Hill. This means that the name Idinen, which is given by the EWP Acacus map and the Encyclopedia Britannica, is a Tuareg word for djunoun, which is also written in English as jinn, the plural of jinni; from French génie (spirit), from Latin genius (guardian spirit) and so is related to genius. In North African lore a jinni is an invisible spirit believed to inhabit the subterranean earth and can appear in the form of a human or any other animal. There are so many stories in Libyan folklore about humans whom you might meet during the course of life, talk to, and walk with but in reality they are not humans. So watch out who you talk to in Libya; your guide could be a jinni! According to the explorer Hugh Clapperton, who visited the area in 1822, some of the inhabitants of the mountain, apparently with red hair, were heard to beat their drums at night and fire their musquets; which some interpret as a reference to white men arriving with their gun power during the pre-colonial period. Musquet is a variant spelling of "musket", which is a smoothbore shoulder gun used from the late 16th through the 18th century.

 

The Devil's Hill

 
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The Legend:

Looking like a hunted citadel crowned with a magical fortress-like summit the mountain was thus assumed to be the abode of mythical beings. According to Berber Tuareg mythology the Devil's Hill was once a "Hall of Council" were genies met to discuss their affairs. Locals and travellers have reported hearing strange sounds coming from the mountain and there are various strange stories about encounters with other beings. Owing to stories like these and similar other strange tales, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to get the locals go up the mountain with tourists, and therefore you should be prepared to do the ascent without any local guide. The guide and the driver would set up camp at the base of the mountain and wait for your safe return. This tour includes a sightseeing tour of the sight and the surrounding area and does not include an adventure exploration to the summit, which requires more time.

In 1845 James Richardson, one of the late explorers of the sahara, became ill and confused after he attempted to climb the summit of the genies' mountain. While the great explorer Heinrich Barth was dehydrated and tired by the time he reached the top, and lost his way and collapsed in the way down. Feeling hungry and thirsty he slit one of his veins open and drank his own blood, but he was very lucky to be found by a local Tuareg feverish and close to death Herself.

Logic always teaches us to find rational explanation for unknown events and these two cases can be attributed to the fact that these brave explorers have attempted to scale the unknown alone and without any modern navigation equipment and thus were simply lost beneath the heat of the scorching sun. Regarding the sounds emanating from the mountains one can safely suggest that as the jinn were believed to inhabit the subterranean earth and the mountains, then it was natural for the locals to attribute any noises or sounds they hear to these unknown forces - after all, scientists still attribute the Big Bang to unknown singularity of which we know nothing at all. The question is then: what is the source of these sounds? One explanation is that there are some caves and tunnels inside the mountain system which echo back the sounds of wind as it travels through them. In conclusion it is entirely up to you what to believe, but rest assured that the local Tuareg inhabitants of the region will go no where near the forbidden fortress at the summit.

 

Site 3

From The Para-Normal To The Extra-Ordinary & Alien Gods

 

The third part of the holiday will introduce you to the paranormal activity recorded on the surface of rocks and dark caves by our prehistoric ancestors thousands of years ago, in what is known as anthropomorphic art. The subject of many of these prehistoric paintings is somewhat mysterious and strongly suggests a kind of strange mythology, rich in headless figures, one-eyed heads, round-headed aliens, fabulous animals (such as an antelope with an elephant's body), and some bizarre abstract formations that rival the natural basalt and sand-stone formation of the Acacus mountains; which some writers linked with alien visitors who allegedly visited the Sahara in the past.

Of course, this not-out-of-Africa view negatively assumes local Africans to have been incapable of such advanced art in such a distant past and instead attributes the culture to some aliens from outer space. But the fact remains that these drawings are human-made, drawn by our early African ancestors, probably in relation to some visions they had in their dreams, in relation to some sightings of alien landings, or in relation to some religious rituals and tasks. No one can tell us what went-on on their minds at such a distant point in the past, but the subject is more likely to have been based on mythical expressions and ritualistic dance masks, rather than Von Däniken's extraterrestrial space crafts and chariots of the gods.

In this third part of the tour, you will get to see some of this eerie art and come face to face with the supernatural imagination of dead ancestors whose dreams and fears withstood time in dark, solitary caves.

This part of the tour involves camping for one night along the route.

 

Flying day: today you will head for Sabha and take the flight back to Tripoli, and then an evening flight from Tripoli to Benghazi, transfer to the hotel after an evening meal in one of Benghazi's restaurants.

 

 

Site 4

The Ancient Cyrenaican Slontah Grotto:

the site of somewhat hideous disembodied heads.

 

Slontah Grotto is an ancient Libyan temple dating to the pagan period before the Greek occupation of Cyrenaica, and located high in the Green Mountain's groves among many other caves, totally hidden for thousands of years.

The temple is rich in carvings of strange faces, unusual human figures and animals, disembodied heads, and bizarre and deformed bodies engraved directly onto the rocks. From the images presented it is probably safe to assume that the sculptures were carved in association with the worship of the dead and more probably in relation to the Snake-goddess. See our Slontah webpage for full details.

 

Continue to Cyrene for the night.

 

 

A quick tour of the Greek site of Cyrene, then continue towards the final site in this tour.

Site 5


The Cyrenaican Big Hole

The Big Hole or the Crater of Cyrene is located about 10 km east of Cyrene, in a private farm, and therefore access to it requires a permission from the owner, who kindly guided us through a little jungle to reach the edge of the hole. Nothing is known about this massive hole in the ground. No one has attempted to go down and there are no records or information of anyone doing so in the past - to the best of our knowledge. There are those who say the hole was used as an ammunition dump during the wars. The hole looks very ancient and probably is full of all sorts of things.

A view of the Big Hole in relation to the nearby landscape, to indicate the size of the hole:
gigantic hole to say the least. Of course, only about a quarter of the hole is showing in the photo.

 

The hole or the place is locally known as Haw Hajyre, which could mean a hole (or depression) in the rocks. The name is spelt in various ways including Hawa Ihjeyry or Hawa Al-H'ajer. The area is not fenced and it is possible the hole is full of skeletons of stray animals and the like. As far as we know, the hole is a total mystery, and requires a proper expedition of scientists and photographers to study and photographs its hidden dark base. The depth of the hole is not known, but one visitor had reported in Youtube that throwing a stone in the hole returned a splash 30 seconds later. Is it a gate to the underworld? Or is it just an ordinary hole of some sort? Was it full of water right to the top (a spring)? Please let us know if you know anything at all.

 

 

Morning drive to Benghazi for the flight to Tripoli, transfer to the hotel, and leisure time in Tripoli.

 

Departure & farewell.

It is well recommended to book your holiday by as many months in advance as possible in order to guarantee a place in one of our group tours. If you cannot find a suitable date to match your holiday from the list below, then you can specify a preferred date in the booking form. Your name will be added to another list, and if we complete the minimum required of four then we will confirm your tour. If not, then you can go for an individual tour.

Independent travellers are always welcome to book their tours with us at any time. You can nearly halve the cost of your tour if you can convince a friend to come along with you.

 

Hotels are optional. They will be included in the price if requested. Independent travellers can pick and choose their hotels as they go.

 

 

Hotels in Libya:

Hotel standards and management in Libya can differ, greatly, from those of western Europe, and as a result we will do our best to choose good, convenient and quite hotels wherever we can. We also expect your understanding if any problems occur during your stay in any of these hotels and kindly request from you to let your guide know and deal with the matter politely.

If 3-star hotels were requested then we normally use the best ones available, like Zahrat Alkhaleej or Adoha in Tripoli,  Apollo Tourist Village in Cyrene, Almanara Hotel in Apollonia, and Dar Germa in Germa.

If 4-star hotels were requested then we must inform you that these hotels can be found only in Tripoli, Benghazi and one in Ghadames. For example, in Tripoli, we can use any hotel of your choice, like the Grand hotel (Alkabir), or the Blue Ship, which is located on the seafront, very quite,  near the centre, and well suited for visitors who prefer quite and comfortable hotels with a good sea view. Also we use the unique and excellent Zumit hotel in Tripoli and the grand Dar Ghadames in Ghadames for their traditional styles that reflect the local culture as well as for their high standards.

We are not affiliated with any of these hotels, but we do like the traditional style and Berber designs employed in the construction of these last two hotels and as a result we would like our visitors to experience something different to the usual hotels.  However, you are always welcome to suggest any other hotel you like, and where there are no bookings requested or confirmed,  we also do allow our  visitors to pick and choose their hotels as they go.

 

Camping Sites in Libya:

Camping sites wherever to be found are also locally managed and provide basic services. Where camping sites cannot be found, your guide can either find a suitable and safe place for you to camp, or take you to the nearest hotel that provides camping places for a small fee. Desert camping site can be very expensive, up to 250 Libyan dinar per a tent, and therefore these are often not included in our budget tours.

We do however provide our own tents (small and large) and other camping equipment like mats, mattresses and blankets; but, like we said elsewhere, we do not recommend sharing nor do we provide sleeping bags.

Hostels in Libya:

If hostels were requested in the program, then the quality of the service expected is provided as is. We cannot reserve rooms in hostels. Please refer to our guide to hostels in Libya for more information.

Single Supplements:

The rooms we book are normally twin or double rooms and the prices are charged accordingly. If you require a single room, then the extra price for the single supplement would have to be added to the price of your itinerary. If single rooms are available in some hotels, then we will charge you only for that room. But if no single rooms are available, and you still want a single room, then we will allocate you a double room for yourself. This is where the single supplement price would have to be added.

Set Your Own Price:

As we allow our visitors to choose the exact services they want to include in the tour, it is not possible to set a fixed price for any of our tours, particularly group tours and tailored itineraries. But, unlike other companies, our prices are neither high nor low, just fair. We are committed to providing good services and reasonable prices without compromising on quality. In fact our system allows you the freedom to pay for the quality level you require.

There are various factors that can affect the price. For example, some visitors want 4-star hotels, others want 3-star hotels, while there are those who prefer to use hostels or camp in the open beneath the desert's stars. Some tourists want food included in the price, while others prefer to travel light. The time chosen to visit Libya will also influence the costs, as heavy demand on scarce services tends to increase the price.

Travel companies that offer fixed price tours tend to impose the same services on the whole group, regardless of personal preferences. We are dedicated to offering good-quality services based on personal needs. Once you get in touch with us regarding a particular tour or itinerary, we will contact you to discuss the exact services you require and then set a price for your tour based on those preferences.

This means that it is you who decides the price and not us, simply by choosing to pay only for the services you require.

The Basic Required Services:

• Libyan visa on arrival
• Airport/border formalities & transfers
• Passport registration
• Temehu escort (guide)
• Tourism Police (for groups of 5 or more)
• Advertised or agreed itinerary
• Private transport (including desert transport where applicable)
• Internal flights (where shown in program)

Extra Services (as required):

• Accommodation in 3-star or 4-star or 5-star hotels
• Accommodation in hostels
• Camping fees and camping sites charges
• Food (full board or half board. Breakfast is included in all hotel prices by law)
• Museum & archaeological sites entrance fees
• Museum & archaeological guides
• Desert sites entrance fees (like Acacus)
• Internal flights (where shown in program)
• Any other request not listed in the above basic required services list

Price does not include any of the following services:

• Vehicle costs (cars, bikes, lorries, etc.).
• Travel insurance.
• Photography fees.
• Personal expenditure & souvenirs.
• Anything else not specified in the above services list.

Cash: full payment is required on arrival, in cash, in Euro currency. If you cannot pay in Euro, then the next preferred currency is US Dollar. The amount shown in Libyan Dinars is the amount to pay on arrival, converted to Euro currency according to the rates of exchange current at the time of paying - that is on arrival. Please note that small notes, like 5, 10 and 20, will not be accepted for large amounts, and will be accepted only to complete the amounts that are less than 50.

ATMs: if for any reason you cannot bring cash with you, then you can use your credit card(s) on arrival; but ATMs are found only in the major airports and cities, like Tripoli and Benghazi and a few other towns; and if you find one then there is no guarantee that it will have cash.

Travellers cheques are becoming part of the past in Libya and can be very hard to find a bank that accepts them. However, when you do find a bank that accepts them, then you need to provide a document showing your name(s) and the list of the cheques' serial numbers, normally obtained from the bank that issued the cheques. If you are bringing any travellers cheques with you, please make sure you obtain this document from your bank.

 

 

The amount to pay differs from one case to another. You will be notified via email during negotiations of how much deposit you need to pay, if any.

 

No deposit or advance payment is required from independent and private travellers as long as there are no hotel bookings required. Hotels in Libya will not confirm bookings without payment. Hostels in Libya do not accept bookings.

For groups arriving together as part of one group organised by another tour operator or a travel agent, then there will be no deposit to pay. Full payment must be made on arrival by the tour leader. If hotel bookings are required, then a deposit to cover the hotel reservation may be necessary.

No deposit is required from individuals booking a place in one of our group tours if booking is made six months or more before arrival; but if booking is made within six months of travel, then we require a deposit payment to guarantee the tour for the other members of the group. See below for details.

 

 

Independent & private travellers:

No cancellation fees will be applied to independent and private travellers if they cancel their tours at any time before the start of the visa procedure and where no hotel booking is required. Otherwise the cancellation fees will apply.

 

Group tours organised by other tour operators & travel agents:

No cancellation fees will be applied to group tours organised by other tour operators and travel agents. If deposit was made for hotel bookings and for processing large number of visas, then the deposit paid to the hotel and the fees paid to the immigration department may not be recoverable if cancellation occurs within the period specified in the cancellation fees table.

 

Individuals booking in a group tour:

If you cancel your place in a group tour before 12 weeks before departure, then we will refund all money paid to us. If you cancel within the 12 weeks period before travel, please read our terms & conditions for details on how much you will be charged. This measure is necessary to protect the itinerary of the group so that if one member decides not to turn up the tour will continue as planned.

 

Why do we charge cancellation fees for those who cancel their places in group tours?

• Hotel rooms: the rooms we book are normally twin or double rooms and the prices are charged accordingly. But, if we book a double or twin room for two visitors, then one visitor cancels his or her tour after the arrangements were made, especially near the time of arrival, then the remaining visitor will have to take the room for him/herself, which means we have to pay the remaining balance to the hotel. Because we cannot ask the remaining visitor to pay more after we have agreed a price, the cancellation fee will be used to offset the balance.
  
  
• Processing visas also requires paying money to the immigration department in Tripoli, and requires administration work to collect and check the documents, drive 110 km to the capital Tripoli, hand over the documents, return to the office (in Zuwarah), then return to Tripoli ten days later to collect the visas, and then visit the Tourism Police department for the special permit required, and so on. If you cancel after this process has started, then the cancellation fee will help towards covering these costs.
• Guides need to be booked for each tour. If the guide receives an offer from another Libyan company after confirming his assignment with us, and he refuses this offer because we promised him a contract, then he will loose both contracts and end up with nothing if you cancel your tour after the arrangements have been made. The cancellation fee will be used to compensate the guide. This is not a scenario, and it does actually happen now and then.

 

To book your place in this tour, please use the following booking form. Your booking will be confirmed as soon as the number of participants for any one tour has reached the required minimum of four.

If you have your own group and would like to design your own private group itinerary, or you are an independent traveller, then please use the Tailored Tours form.