Our family adventure in Morocco

They are quite smelly. And their teeth look awfully menacing. When you are aboard one of them, and it stands up, there is a nasty moment,  as if you are on a fairground ride which is about to go terribly wrong. But believe me, riding through the Sahara on a camel is really one of those feelgood moments, even though – like me- you might be well out of your comfort zone while doing it.

Our four children, aged 14, 12, 9 and 6 were also rather scared about the idea of the camel ride,  which is a central part of Saharan Sands. Actually, they were the perfect age for it. Once they had all got up on their camels, and given them names, and realised that riding a camel is pretty comfy, it was only a matter of minutes before they were all yelling;. “Mummy, can you ask that man to get the camels racing?! Faster! Faster!”

The camel drivers who were leading our caravan took no notice of this, of course, and so we continued to plod through the Sahara for two hours. The terrain went from grey moonscape to golden, undulating dunes.

Eventually, we came upon our campsite, behind one of those dunes. An advance party had put up our tents; a big white one, which was the dining area, a small white one (the kitchen) and six or seven 2-man bell tents, which were our sleeping quarters. There was also a small square tent, which was the latrine. More on that later.

Our guide, Aziz, had remembered the all-important football. So all the kids played football in the dunes. We adults lazed around. Someone read a copy of Cosmo. Someone else read a book on a Kindle. You should probably pack something to read, whether on a screen or not. The Sahara is quite empty.

Night falls fast. We all watched the sunset, then dived for our sweatshirts as it immediatly became pitch black, and cold. A dozen stars came out. Then, a dozen dozen. Then, hundreds of thousands. If you know about stars, so much the better. The sky is more than a passing presence in the Sahara; it is giant, and glorious.

At supper time, we ate delicious Moroccan food, and drank beer (if you want booze, you have to buy it before coming to the desert), and sat around the fire. Shooting stars passed by overhead. The slumbering camels were a dark, smelly presence. Our tents were clean and welcome, the simple mattresses very comfortable and our sleeping bags deliciously warm.

Dawn, and I was the first person into the latrine. This was a good move. Two hours later and the thing was a buzzing nightmare of about 3000 flies. Never mind; after a brisk breakfast of delicious Moroccan bread, coffee and jam we were up, high on our camels again and striding towards the next stop on the schedule. The High Atlas and Marrakech, legendary city of souks and style beckoned.  But before then, a hot shower. Delicious.

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Me on the camel safari in the Sahara

From $495pp exc flights

4

(average rating, based on 6 reviews)

Trip type: 

Family & Cultural

Adventure level: 

3. Moderate

Max group size: 

16

Minimum age: 

5

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Saharan Sands - Family holiday

Africa, Morocco | 8 days

Trip code: 

FAS

Families only

Leave everyday life behind as you journey by camel across the sand dunes of the Sahara on this exciting and great value family holiday.

Departs in:

• J
• F
• M
• A
• M
• J
• J
• A
• S
• O
• N
• D