The Sahara...

Before I attempt to tell you about our desert experience there is an incident that occured in Tarouddant, a small city between Agadir and Marrakech. (Ellie has also just asked me to inform you all that we did go out dancing, got very drunk and requested Beyonce a number of times so we are not massive losers, just so you know).

We read in our trusty Lonely Planet about a Sunday morning 'souk' - market - just outside Tarouddant and in open air. Our previous experience of Souks had been mixed, they are simultaneously enchanting, confusing and the sight of most harrassment. But with renewed faith we set off for this souk and brainstormed about the beautiful silver Berber jewellry we were going to buy. It was going to be lush. We were dropped off by our taxi driver who proceeded to rip us off. Not a good start. We started to walk through the souk and was reminded of the Kassam stadium car boot sale, wierdly. No jewellry in sight.

We turned a corner and quickly realised we had misunderstood. The clue being when I turned to Kate and said "Kate, dont look over there, there is a pile of dead goats...oh and there, and also over there..."

Death was everywhere. We backed away, turned and fled. Jumping back in the taxi we careered away from the sound of bleeting and snapping necks. If Morocco didnt have a non drinking culture, now would be the time for a strong one.

We went back to Marrakech excited about our next trip, the Sahara in our sights. We had decided to go on an organised tour for this part as the last thing we wanted was to get stranded in the desert which we agreed was a real possibility.

Having travelled round Morroco on our own for the past two weeks the organised tour did not sit well with us. We found stopping and being sheperded around various places more tiresome than doing it ourselves. The fossil museum was a particular highlight. We fell out with our guide after he berated us for not buying a Saharan scarf - cue Kate "Youre being very unprofessional" - and our driver had taken a particular shine to me, constantly glancing in his rear view mirror and attempting to grab me at any moment. This culminated in an unsavoury incident in a pool resulting in Kate digging her nails into him. He walked away confused by what had just happened, rubbing his arm and with his tail between his legs.

Then we saw the desert. The sand dunes rise out of nowhere and you can see why it is known as the ocean of sand. Then we were introduced to our camels. Sorry, I mean mutant camels. They were huge. But we managed to straddle them and ride off into the Saharan desert, surrounded by golden dunes and cloudy skies. Stunning. Half an hour in we realised what people had meant when they called them "ships of the desert". You rock back and forth, bouncing up and down and there is nothing you can do about it (I attempted side saddle but got too scared and had to straddle once more). You are supposed to "dance with the camel" but this is as hard as it sounds. Ellies camel had diaretic issues and all of them had very loose bowels. The silence of the desert was hard to appreciate through the giggles.

We eventually arrived at our camp and took a night time walk through the dunes with local Berber men who entertained us with riddles and drumming. We settled down in our tent and began to fall asleep after a long days drive and camel ride until...

Ellie: "Oh my god guys, there was something on me, something little and black and it gripped me with its claws..."
Kate: "Well where is it now?"
Ellie: "I lobbed it onto our stuff, over there..."
Grace: "(sigh) someone find a light"

After thorough riffling and shaking of our things the bug remained elusive resulting in a nervous nights sleep.

We were woken before dawn and rode the camels back across the silent desert as the sun rose. Very special. The pain got a bit much for me towards the end and I had to alight my camel and walk. I thought I saw a slight smile on its face. The down side of being tall and lanky? A boney bum.

We were dropped off at Erfoud to get a bus to Fes. I asked the ticket seller how long it would take. "7 hours, inshallah." Inshallah indeed. 10 hours later we arrived at Fes, restless, with numb bums and walking like John Wayne for the forseeable future.