We wake excited by the prospect of our desert experience. After breakfast we sort out our cold weather gear in preparation for a night in the Saharan sands. Ibrahim brings us our head scarves, a black Berber one for Richard and a blue Tourag one for me. So, suitably dressed, we are introduced to our driver and our guide. They will take us by jeep out into the Saharan dunes.
We are not far into our journey, in fact only just across the river, when we discover that our driver is a sand virgin! This is his first time as driver, normally he works in the kitchen!! He neither knows the way nor how to operate anything other than the normal gear stick. Under the direction of the guide we venture into the desert. It is not long before Richard is giving him instructions into how to get the vehicle into four wheel drive and demonstrating high and low ratio!! They are pleasant chaps but in definite need of lessons from our Pakistani jeep driver - boy racer, Ischard and guide, Karim.
Desert terrain is not all sand and not sand is the same. We drive over stuff called "reg" it is hard, black stones. There is also areas of hard sand. Both these surfaces are little different to the usual dirt road conditions. Tracks go off in all directions, it is easy to see how a novice would quickly become lost. Then we come to the really soft sand...no surprise, our driver fluffs it! We are stuck, he gets out, runs round like a headless chicken and tries to scoop the sand away from the tyres with his bare hands! The guide also gets out to help. Richard calmly gets into the drivers seat, selects the correct gear and ratio and easily drives straight out of this mini dune! We pretend to drive off and leave them, "no charge for lessons," we laugh to them.
Without further ado, we reach the Berber camp where we are staying tonight. There in the distance before us, we see the highest dune of Erg Chegaga. The top is our next stop, by foot. Keeping our eyes set on our goal, we cross the softest sand our feet have ever enjoyed; up and down the smaller dunes and then the big climb. At the top we are breathless and not just due to the exertion of reaching the summit; the view is stunning, every bit the desert of our imaginings.
2014 has been an awesome year for us, it seems only right and proper to watch its last sunset in such an awesome way. The changing light playing on the sand, the atmosphere and the sheer enormity of our environment was more than fitting for a year we will never forget. As the sun goes down, out comes the first star. Time to hold hands and make a New Year wish and just for good measure, seal it with a kiss. What a pair of old romantics we are!
Back at the Berber camp our accommodation is surprisingly warm, a mud hut with no windows, brown hessian roof and outer walls bedecked in sequinned blankets. In the middle of the camp a fire burns warmly. We sit on comfy, cushioned bench seats and are brought thick blankets for our knees. Musicians, in traditional dress arrive and play their unfamiliar instruments, sing Berber folk
songs and dance. A dining area is set up in a nearby tent, the tables beautifully laid beneath large filigree lanterns. We are served soup followed by couscous with vegetables and an enormous plate of various meats which we guess are chicken, mutton, possibly goat and possibly camel? Not being a meat eater myself, this leaves Richard struggling to even make a dent in the amount put before us. Surprisingly, we are served Saharan wine to accompany our dinner! The meal concludes with fresh fruit and mint tea. We then return to the campfire and the entertainment. There we stay until 2015!
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