We are confident that Libyan visas will once again be issued for Americans in 2010, and stand poised and ready to move ahead with travel to Libya. We will call you as soon as our departures are confirmed.

Libya is a heart- and eye-ful of a country. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and Arabs did their bit for posterity, leaving Libya with five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all of which we visit on our 17-day trip. Beginning in the country’s capital, Tripoli, we’ll travel along the Mediterranean to the coastal site of Leptis Magna—undoubtedly among the finest Roman ruins in the world. We head a little way west along the sea to the Roman city of Sabratha and Jebel Nafusa, a center of Berber culture on the edge of the Sahara. Now into the great desert itself, to the adobe border town of Ghadames, long an important stop astride the trans-Saharan caravan routes, for a charming and intriguing glimpse of how traditional architecture effectively tamed the relentless heat of the desert. We drive onward to Sebha and the stunning striated limestone escarpments and cliffs of the Jebel Akakus. Here’s the highlight: a three-day, oasis-to-oasis drive deep into the Sahara, a dramatic experience of the ocean of stone and sand. We turn back to the coast, where overlooking the Mediterranean are the Greek-founded pentapolis cities of Apollonia and Cyrene – still magnificent in haunting ruin, and a fine end to a thrilling trip.

Day 1: arrive in Tripoli • Day 2: Tripoli • Day 3: excursion to Leptis Magna • Day 4: Sabratha, Jebel Nafusa • Day 5: Ruhaybat to Ghadames • Day 6: Ghadames • Day 7: drive to Sebha • Day 8: drive into the Ubari • Day 9: drive on to the Jebel Akakus • Days 10–12: the Sahara Day 13: return to Tripoli • Day 14: fly to Benghazi, Al Bayda Day 15: Cyrene, Apollonia • Day 16: back to Tripoli • Day 17: depart Tripoli.

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