Leaving Ouarzazate early morning in our 4x4's we made our way southeast into the Moroccan Sahara to begin our 5 day camel trek in the little visited area of the desert between Zagora and Mazouga.
It took us 5hrs driving through the Draa Valley before turning off road and time for some 4x4 driving into the desert to meet up with our camels and nomad guides.
It tooks us some time to locate our camels, finally meeting up at the only large scrub land for miles.
On arrival we set up camp and waved good bye to our 4x4's, from now on we would traveling by foot and camel travelling as the nomadic tribes of Sahara have done for centuries, completely self sufficient and one with the desert.
Our first nights camp under the endless canopy of stars passed peacefully, we woke early morning to fresh mint tea Moroccan style loaded with sugar. After breakfast with the camels all loaded up with our kit and a good supply of water it was time to hit the desert as we crossed the first of many dune belts, after eating lunch in the shade of a small tree the afternoon trek was to take us a across a huge salt flats with the mountains of Ait Tamgharte ahead of us and our planned camp for night.
The crossing of any large expanse of open land such as the salt flats in the Sahara your camp always looks very close, however the camp never seems to get any closer even after hours of walking and it begins to feel like your in some kind of Monty Python sketch that when you finally arrive at camp you discover it's a miniature model.
We finally reached the other side of the salt flats just on sunset where a nomadic family had settled for the winter months to graze their goats, on arrival at the camp the head of the family very kindly invited us for mint tea before offering us a place to sleep for the night in their spare tent which was used to store rice and bedding for passing travellers.
Unable to turn down our hosts plus the opportunity to spend the night with a Berber nomadic family was an offer we couldn't turn down and felt very honoured to be invited into the families home for night.
The following days route was through the Ait Tamgharte mountains a total of 24km was a tough day with really rocky terrain underfoot and very little shade, although we made good time and managed to arrive into camp late afternoon, camp was situated in a beautiful oasis at the entrance to a gorge, our reward for a long tough day trekking was a shower and old drinks from the local auberge.
Deciding to spend a night under stars rather than the tent is always one my highlights to being in the Sahara with the night skies glittered with stars to the horizon and waking to a spectacular sunrise all from your sleeping is must if you ever visit the Sahara.
We had 5 camels with us to carry all equipment for the entire group but as the days passed one of the young camels began to slow down due to the pace and distance we where covering, so we needed an extra camel to help out, some how out of know where one of our camel guides returned in the morning with a new camel, we where told his name was Columbus, we were saved.
The following two days trekking took us across the Hamada and through a huge dune belt before finally arriving at a small village which farmed huge amounts Henna, walking through the village and seeing how people live in such an arid place where in the summer months temperatures can reach up to 50c was fascinating.
Our final night in the desert was spent relaxing under the stars with a well deserved glass of wine and olives complete desert decadence.
The following morning we said farewell to our camels and guides before making the 4x4 journey through the Dades Valley also known as the Valley of a Thousand Kasbars and onto Ouarzazate for a hot shower and cold beer.
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