4

Camel Trek in the Sahara

When you pictured dashing into the sunset on your trusty steed, you probably didn’t imagine
there’d be quite so much lurching involved. Don’t worry: no one is exactly graceful
clambering onto a saddled hump, and the side-to-side sway of a dromedary in motion only
comes naturally to Saharawis, belly dancers and genies. The rest of us novices cling on
comically, knock-kneed and white-knuckled, until safely over the first dune. But as rose-gold
sands of Erg Chebbi rise to meet fading violet-blue Saharan skies, grips on the reins go slack
with wonder – and by moonrise, Timbuktu seems totally doable.