General Chat

Hey Miss Queen of the Camels You cant get out of this now - you have a special mission ;-)) xx

Right, well I've googled for 'how high is chgaga' and I've found at least 5 sites that say its 300m so I'm right. So there. lol

found this on 'the scotsman' it's a description of the trek we're doing by someone a couple of years ago... A long line in the sand Janet Watson Day One Arrive in Marrakesh to 19C. This is wonderful after leaving a dreich Edinburgh at 5am. On to a coach for a four-hour drive to Ouarzazate through Morocco’s Atlas mountains. All attempts at sleep are abandoned as our maniac driver takes hairpin bends at suicidal speed. At least it’s dark and we can’t see the steep drops. Arrive at the Hanane Club Hotel at 2am, so tired I could cry. En route to bed a waiter tries to entice a group of us into the bar. Now if this was a holiday ... Day Two Up after four hours sleep. There is a rush after breakfast to use loos, they’ll be the last proper toilets we’ll see for a week. More coach torture to the start of the walk, but this is tempered by wonder as the Draa Valley reveals its geological splendour, with mountains of sheer rock rising from a sandy desert floor. We finally start walking in the afternoon, platypuses filled with water, heads covered by traditional Shash head scarves, exposed limbs lathered with sun cream. Eventually we start to climb dunes and with the sun dropping from the sky, the colours and shadows make a magical landscape. I am tiring by the time we arrive at the camp where tents, luggage (carried by 15 camels) and grinning Berbers cooking dinner of soup, meaty tajine and tinned peaches, washed down with mint tea, await us. Walked 10km today. Day Three Jenny and I sleep out under the stars. The moon is so bright you could almost read by it. Morning is cold and dragging ourselves out of our sleeping bags takes willpower. Temperatures drop by about 20C at night, so bedtime means thermals, fleeces and woolly hats. Before walking we dismantle the camp and burn rubbish (including the toilet tent contents). Our first stretch of the walk is on firm stony sand ('reg'), then dunes ('urg') then we follow a dry river bed which features friendly bushes for vital toilet stops. Amazing how significant they become in a desert landscape in which everything is exposed and discretion is impossible. However, not all bushes are friendly. I am warned not to pick up a melon-like plant which causes immediate projectile vomiting. See only one, and pictures are taken from a respectful distance. Walked 18km today. Day Four Today I triumph over adversity as I answer call of nature behind a skimpy bush. Farcical trying to coordinate loo roll, matches, body and clothing in a stiff desert breeze while keeping out of site of passing cameleers. Don’t manage to set used paper alight so bury it instead. I suffer guilt pangs all day, imagining it blowing across the sterile desert and hitting an unsuspecting Berber in the face. Lunchtime, and it is very windy. Eat lunch very fast to avoid taking in too much sand. Overhear comment from Yorkshire contingent: 'I like roughage, but not this much.' The sand and wind combination is demoralising; we could do with light relief, or some hearty motivation. The soft sand and wind make walking difficult. We are all weary when we reach camp. The distant tent seems like a mirage for so long. But the campsite is amazing, surrounded by high dunes on all sides. Sunset is made even more beautiful by high alto-cumulus clouds which streak away into the distant sky and turn pink, orange and purple. Walked 19km today. Day Five Wake up very cold. The temperature has dropped to 2C. I disturbed a gerbil during the night. It was trapped in the loo tent and desperately trying to free itself. The smell in there affects me like that too. A long, flat stony walk this morning on 'hamada' with no bushes for toilets. My feet are holding up well and unlike others on the trek, Jenny and I are blister-free, thanks to the gaiters she made which keep the inside of our boots sand-free. However the hamada hurts my feet. Lunch is difficult, because of high winds. After eating, as much as possible sheltering behind a jeep, we doze against the lunch tent, our faces under wraps, until we are almost completely covered by sand. It is time to head off again. Some 19km later we arrive at camp to find … no camp. The guides have had to wait for us to help them put up tents in the wind. What ensues is pretty nightmarish. Call this a holiday? We fight with the tents for an hour. We have sand in our eyes, our ears, our mouths … everywhere. The trek doctor, James, affectionately known as Dr Jim, spends all night washing out eyes to prevent infections.

OMG you lot ~ you are brill xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Paul that was omg to read!!

oops, hadn't realised the last bit had been cut off... here's the end... Day Six Wake to a beautiful, calm morning. Climb more than 200ft to the top of Chgaga dune - a tough climb in 30C but my reward is the breathtaking view, sand peaks and ridges in every direction. We collect bags of 'Genuine Sahara Sand' to bring home. Getting down Chgaga means a scramble down a near-vertical wall of sand. Exhilarating. It is blistering hot today. Very tough walking, on both body and mind. Conscious of having to drink lots of water, but we still feel giddy with the heat. I arrive at camp with a swollen left leg, burned despite layers of factor 25 and inflamed by sand irritation. I crawl into my sleeping bag early, utterly exhausted. Watch shooting stars and a full moon so bright it’s like having a light on overhead. Walked another 19 km today. Day Seven I awake at 5am and listen to the Berbers in their tent praying with the muezzin on the radio. It is the middle of Ramadan. Last full day of trek - at last. Mirages are all around as we walk for seven hours - 22 km - in 32C across flat salt pans. We see the lunch tent miles before reaching it and it appears to be set up in the middle of a huge lake. Many trekkers fall ill today from dehydration and tummy bugs, which Jenny and I have avoided. In the afternoon we finally glimpse our last camp, but the walk towards it seems endless. As we near the end of the walk, the sun falls in the sky, the trek party spreads out in a line across the salt pans and we walk into camp together, across a finish line festooned with balloons, to cheers and clapping. I am relieved rather than jubilant, and many of us are close to tears. A subdued evening, but we all feel fulfilled and know we have experienced something we will never forget, with hardship and exhilaration in equal measure. I feel a real sense of achievement. Bed at last. Fall asleep to the sounds of revelry and much clinking of glasses. Is someone out there on holiday?

Thanks for that fantastic read Paul..........now well and truly put off .............lol The only plus is that Ramadam is either late November, early December.......so I guess it wont be as cold at night in March. Looking forward to seeing the stars so bright at night, something we don't get in London. Speak in a week..............Suzy :o) x

OMG Paul - Thanks, shouldn't have read that!!! LOL All I can say is they did it and survived so can we - can't we???? Jxx (now regretting her decision of 12 months ago..lol) p.s. Glad your passport arrived Yvette!!

Sorry Yvette. Apparently your company is required and the sick note is not valid. I will return the 50p paid to me for writing the sick note as obviously my attempt is not up to my usual standard. So..... I hope you have a great time! Jacky :-) :-)

OMG. Thanks for that Paul - just about everything I was expecting it to be but was hoping to be wrong! Adding eye cream and optrex to my list and doubling the immodium and dioralyte requirements! Daisy

Well that sounds like fun! lol Only kidding, I think you are all very brave - if I was 15 years younger when I was still fit and walking miles would have liked to have a go myself but will be with you all in spirit. Just a thought, would some of those protective work goggles help keep the sand from your eyes if it gets really windy or would they just scare the camels?

I must admit I posted it before I read it lol I still think it'll be fun, I think we were all expecting a little hardship along the way ? Unlike some who think we'll be making sandcastles... lol

You all sound so excited, it is lovely reading your messages. Daisy, not too much immodium, you'll give yourself great troubles!! Deanna X

Just incase i dont get a chance to say it.....good luck all of you, im very proud of you and everything your doing for CRUK xxx

Yvette youve got no excuses now lol Paul, cheers :-) im going to worry even more about the toilet carry on now Sheila xx

OK STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF!!!! I especially like the description of the coach journey there - I don't DO roads and drivers like those and will apologise now as I shall be unbearable! Deanna - what problems? Daisy

Well I haven't looked in on the boards for ages - now I wish I hadn't. OMG - My slight nerves have now turned to dread and I am going out at lunch time gaitor shopping! This trek is certainly going to be an experience! Diana - if you haven't walked anywhere since china you will be about as fit as me lol. At least when we get to the top of this 300m dune we can throw ourselves off the vertical drop if we can't take anymore!!! Love Jack x

Daisy, you will get so constipated.... you'll need a 'whatsitsname'.... you know? What princess Di used to have done!! Ugh :-P( deanna X

Thanks for the clarification Deanna - I'll be as sparing as possible with them then! Jack - stop panicking!!! It's my turn! lol Daisy

Hopefully our trek will be exciting, exhillarating and FUN!! Whatever happens I can assure you NO-ONE will die and NO-ONE will be hurt (unless they do something stoopid) We will have FUN guys even if we do get terrified at times!! xx

Oh I'm alright then cos I never do anything stoooopid. Apart from signing up for this trek that is!! Daisy