Crossing Sahara Desert

Crossing Sahara Desert

The beauty and tranquillity …of the Sahara is unsurpassed, and the scale and sight of a clear 360° horizon is awesome. The landscape changes constantly and is anything but bare and barren, with high dunes, low dunes, wells and dry oases. In certain places there warm springs feeding into a warm lake, abandoned villages and an ancient ruined palace at Ksar Guilane. 2. Sunrise and sunset …simply defies description, spectacular over that wide horizon. 3. Sky at Night Sleeping under the stars, the desert sky at night is an evocative and awe inspiring visual phenomenon.

Many times I have lain on the sand looking up at the night sky and sometimes, when my gaze returned to earth, it seemed as though the entire horizon was shrouded in mist. Impossible to distinguish between earth and sky, it looked as if the stars had come down to earth and were hanging in the bushes all around. Another night the sky was masked by one large black cloud leaving just the stars around the horizon showing. They looked like large, bold lettering. Later, the cloud had gone and the half moon was so bright and high, it seemed as if its light had scattered the stars to the edge of the universe. Every night is breathtakingly beautiful. 4. Food …always tastes good in the open air and Bedouin men are excellent cooks. The food is organic and natural, freshly prepared on an open fire in the traditional way.

The diet consists of fresh fruit, salads tossed in oil and a variety of dishes made from meat, vegetables, pasta and spices, and of course, cous cous. Bread is freshly baked in the embers of the fire each day. Delicious. 5. Close companionship …develops quickly, fostered by living the Bedouin lifestyle and the sharing of the daily chores such as collecting wood, finding and rounding up the camels and eating from a communal bowl. It is a life with laughter and evenings talking round the fire, often with traditional music and singing.