The longest day

 A fresh morning today. We didn’t manage to sleep out the whole night, the mosquitoes and the cold put an end to it. We headed back to our tents to try and get some sleep.

The temperature dropped quite a bit during the night. We find we all wake up around 3 am and need to put on more layers. It’s so bizarre how the temperature changes so quickly once the sun goes down.

We started to get up around 6:30, a wet wipe wash and brush your teeth. Sam showed us some morning yoga as we all watched on and felt exhausted for her ha ha .

Breakfast this morning was fresh pancakes and jams. Coffee from a bowl and some fruit. Our bags packed and loaded on to the camels, we then set off on our trek. 

Today was a different type of trekking, we started by climbing a massive sand dune and then we had to climb a mountain face to the first ridge. Walking along the ridge to a high point that resembled Roseberry Topping. The views where amazing, looking back at how far we had travelled. Off we went across the rocky terrain and down on to the desert plane. The vast expanse that just rolled on forever. This really is a desolate place. We crossed across the sand and Abdul showed us a namad cemetery and prehistoric tombs with skeletons over 260K years old. A little stick hut nearby with the watcher of the tombs keeping an eye on us as we passed through.

In the distance we could see the ruins from an 11th century kasbah. This once vibrant place now a skeleton on the landscape. 

Looking around, all you could see was dunes and vast space. Nothing, no civilisation, no sign of anyone else. No birds, no sounds. Just us. We truly felt for the first time today, we are actually trekking the Sahara. It’s been an emotional day for most of us at different points. We’ve had some quiet times to reflect as this is what it’s all been about. 

The temperatures today have been so high, we’ve reapplied lotion so many times and still got burnt. 

We managed to stop for lunch around 1:30 today. 

Pasta, rice, courgette, olives and sardines. Washed down with hot tea. A great time to relax in the shade away from the midday sun. As the temperature increased, our energy levels decreased. We’ve laughed at, and with each other. Sometimes being a bit delirious. 

After lunch we set off for the last stretch of todays trek. The sun was at its highest and we’ve been in vast open space all afternoon. The temperature was well in to the 30’s. Today the Chech came in handy to cover from the sun and to try to keep away the flies. After an hour of walking, we needed to shade from the sun, have some snacks and water before heading off to camp.

Back out in the heat, out minds reflected on what we had achieved so far and how far (literally) we had all come in life. The last push to get to camp. Seeing the white tents and camels in the distance raised our spirits. Shouting out Pam’s name to see if she’d turn her head and look for us. 

Time to deboot and check the blisters. Some comfy footwear and hot tea and biscuits. Just as we thought we could settle down for the night, we get told the camels are ready and we can go for a ride on them. The excitement on all our faces showed. 

If you’ve ever been on a camel, you’ll know the struggle we went through. Our sides are still hurting with laughing so much. This really was an amazing experience for us all to try together. 

After the camel ride, Sam decided it would be a good idea to climb the big dune out the back of camp (because we hadn’t climbed enough this week lol). How glad we all are that she suggested this. As we all climbed to the summit and sat down on the ridge. We could look across the Sahara and say “we’ve done that”. An achievement by us all, one big team and the Sahara family. The not so successful idea Sam had was to sledge down the dune. This didn’t go to plan. No injuries apart from hurt pride and a lot of belly laughs. As we sat for the last time in the desert and watched the sun set in the distance. A big up yours to the doubters and naysayers. Well we did it (nearly as we’ve got the morning to finish the walk). 

We headed back to camp as we baked bread in the sand and sat around the camp fire singing songs with the Berbers. They sang traditional songs for us and had us join in. We sang the McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut song for them and showed them the actions ha ha ha 

Our last dinner in the Sahara this evening was chicken, veg and chips. Followed by a fresh fruit salad. 

Early to bed for us tonight as we need to leave camp for 7am for our last stretch before a 9 hour drive back to Marrakesh. 

P.S. We can all say we’ve had a poo in a hole in the Sahara!! (T-shirt slogan pending)