Camel Trek in the Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert is an incredible sight. One of the best experiences to enjoy is a camel trek led by local Bedouin guides. This family-friendly activity offers a glimpse into how the local people live.
The Plan
Our team loves to travel and explore, especially in Tunisia, where our office is based. With international borders still closed but local Covid-19 restrictions easing, we thought it would be a perfect time to enjoy a trip to the desert and highlight the safe environment our tours operate in.
Two of our families and their kids headed to the desert-edge town of Sabria where we met our guides. Our children loved the camels and the desert ‘uncles’ as we call them. Between the ten of us traveling, they provided 11 camels and 4 guides (all who wore face masks as advised by the Ministry of Tourism). After the guides outfitted us with local-style headscarves, called ‘shash,’ to protect our heads and faces from the sun, sand, and wind we departed for a late afternoon trek into the desert
The Trek
After a 90-minute ride full of beautiful desert scenery and family fun, the guides chose the perfect place for our overnight campout. Camels were unpacked and let loose to graze on desert plants. Our Bedouin friends set up tents, a fire, and began preparing for dinner. We went exploring on the white Saharan desert dunes, jumping into the fine, soft sand of our outdoor paradise.
Dinner
Once night fell, we dug into our guides’ open-fire cooked meal of couscous and ‘chorba‘ (Tunisian soup). We engaged with our guides, asking about their childhood and families. We learned that during the Coronavirus lockdown, they and their families withdrew to the desert for 15-days to enjoy family and their traditional sand-filled backdrop they call home.
The moon and stars were absolutely breathtaking as night fell! The Big Dipper and Orion were easily identified, sadly that is the extent of my constellation knowledge! We turned into our tents for a cool, breezy evening.
Breakfast
As we awoke, we heard our guides chatting away as they prepared breakfast for us. Coffee, tea, and hot milk accompanied by ‘sand bread’ hit the spot. What is ‘sand bread’ you ask? Flour, salt, and water mixed perfectly by hand and cooked under heated sand! Delicious crispiness on the outside, chewiness on the inside, and not a crunch of sand to be found!
After breakfast, we packed up camp. Climbed onto our furry four-legged friends and headed back to town. All of us were longing for more, especially the children.
Interested in exploring the desert on a camel trek excursion of your own? Contact us for your custom tour to the land of Star Wars (Tunisia)!
