Sun, Sand & Camels.

I recently wrote about the amazing time I had exploring the streets of Marrakech, but we didn’t stick to the city during our time in Morocco. Nope, we ventured out – right out into the Sahara Desert in fact. Even in my wildest dreams I never considered I would end up spending a night camping under the stars, in the Sahara with a nomadic tribe.

We awoke before the sun had risen for the day and stumbled about our room preparing for our departure, scoffed down a breakfast mainly consisting of pastries (the benefits of the French influence in Marrakech) and before I knew it our driver had arrived to drive us the eight or so hours it was going to take to get to our camping spot. I’m not one to shy away from a long journey, but that did seem a little daunting (despite the fact I have endured longer, and on far worse roads, in India!). But there was plenty of space in the jeep for our group of four (plus a driver) so we were all able to stretch out and enjoy the scenery as we drove along, and such beautiful scenery it was!

Our driver made sure we had plenty of stops along the way so it didn’t actually feel like a full day of travelling. I still can’t believe how beautiful the landscape of Morocco is, I wasn’t quite expecting it! We made our way through the Atlas Mountains and marvelled as the lush lowlands full of stunning cacti and succulents turned into rocky, desert lands as far as the eye could see. It was quite spectacular to watch it change the further we got along.

After a beautiful day of driving we finally pulled up next to a herd of camels and the next leg of the journey was about to begin, we would be riding those camels off into the sunset. There had been a few warnings from friends that riding a camel wasn’t the most enjoyable, or comfortable, experience but we had been assured that there would only be about 30 minutes spent on the camels. Unfortunately it seems there was a bit of confusion about how long half an hour actually is and it was more like triple that by the time we made it to the end! It really was a wonderful experience and as I said before, not something I ever expected to happen but I must say after the first 15 minutes I could not wait to get off the thing. I could of kissed that camel when the tents (our home for the night) finally appeared in the distance, my poor behind certainly paid for that little ride.

I was pleasantly surprised at our humble abodes which turned out to be slightly more ‘glamping’ than regular camping. Each group that was staying had there own host, our camel leader was actually our host for the evening as well. He was from the Berber Tribe and had lots of interesting stories to tell us, Moroccan mint tea was on hand and it was great to sit down (recover from camel riding…) and chat with our new friend!

The shining moment of the evening had to be once the sun began to set, the colours that filled the entire sky were like nothing I have seen. Then the night sky opened up and the stars appeared and I was almost knocked off my feet! I can honestly say I have never seen anything so beautiful, standing there looking up at the stars was one of the most wonderful moments I’ve experienced so far and probably will be quite hard to beat! Coming from New Zealand I’ve seen my fair share of night skies and it’s something I miss terribly in London where you’d be lucky to spot a single star amongst the cities light pollution. But this was something else entirely, I was truly thrown by just how stunning it was. I got to see Northern Hemisphere constellations, shooting stars and could even make out the milky way in all it’s glory. Not a night I will forget that’s for sure, my camera couldn’t capture it’s true beauty so this one will be a memory I keep stored away in my mind.

After we had finished ogling over the sky it was time for a traditional tagine dinner and, as seems to be the running theme of this trip, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had the honour of eating! I will most likely spend the rest of my days dreaming about how darn good it was, just looking at the photo below makes me hungry!

After dinner our wonderful hosts treated us to some traditional Berber music until it was time for bed, camel riding definitely tires you out. Sleeping was the part I was slightly worried about, or shall we say there was concerns a scorpion would decide to make itself at home in my tent. But thankfully it seems all the scorpions and whatever else is lurking out there in the Saharan Desert had other homes that night and didn’t feel the need to bother me.

Morning came and once again we rose before the sun so that we could watch an extraordinary sunrise, then it was back on the camels (my poor, poor behind!) and off to meet up with our driver for the ride home. Thankfully this camel journey was a bit shorter, although I will admit I had to get off and walk toward the end!

So that was the tale of one my greatest adventures, not something I expected I would be doing but I would surely do it again in a heartbeat! Growing up I dreamed of becoming a ‘World Explorer’, someone who travelled to new lands and got to see unseen parts of the world. I may not quite be discovering new lands but I am travelling on the path less travelled and at only 23 years old I feel extremely lucky to be able to call myself a ‘World Explorer’. I’m not stopping here though, plenty more world to journey to yet!

Emma x

If anyone is interested in taking a similar trip, we used a company called Marrakech Desert Tours. I was really happy with our experience and would highly recommend checking them out! There are definitely a lot of similar companies out there though so hunt around and see what you like.