14 Feb 2019: Entering the Sahara

Sahara Desert Camp, M'hamid, Morocco

Morocco has been described as a cold country where the sunshine is hot. This is especially true of the Sahara in the winter, as I was still wearing my padded jacket at noon. We left the rented vehicle at the small village of M’hamid and were taken by 4x4 to our tented camp in the desert. A Bedouin tent was shared with Mohammed, which ended up in a night-long coughing competition as we both had picked up colds along the way.

Sahara Desert Camp, M'hamid, Morocco

The camp was filled with tourists from around the world, and at dinner the conversations were in French, Polish, Spanish, Arabic, Berber and English. I threw in an Afrikaans word every now and then just to keep the balance. Some Bedouin entertained us with drums and very off-key singing. It reminded me of a chaplain during the German South West African campaign in 1914/15, who, on hearing the Transvaal Scottish playing their bagpipes, said it sounded like a storm wind with a stomach ache.