General Chat

nudge for Karen

Thanks Penny :-) Karen

Why are they blaming me for taking them to the BAR? Like i held a shotgun to their heads!! LOL!! xx

Well done you guys and gals! Thanks for sharing! Lindy ;-)))

Day 1 my day 1 went much the same as everyone elses, travelling etc. When we finally arrived at Hotel Le Zat i shared a room with Daisy and after a bit of faffing we settled down to sleep. Next thing i knew Daisy was telling me it was time to get up - surely id only been asleep for half an hour!! Day 2 We stumbled down for breakfast of coffee and croissants and then back up to our rooms to sort out bags etc and then met Ken and our trek guide Lahcen (who was very cute btw). After being briefed on details about our first day into the desert we boarded 2 mini buses for quite a hairaising journey through the mountains much of which i spent with my eyes shut making strange little noises to the amusement of Paul who was sat next to me. We arrived at a small town called Zagora which was the last stop before the desert where traditional headscarves where bought - i missed out on getting one because i spent so much time trying to find somewhere to get a drink (non alcoholic) and later regretted this very much! Finally we were in the desert - hadnt Diana said it wouldnt be that hot at this time of the year? It was scorching and somewhat of a shock after leaving cold, snowy Newcastle the day before. No rest for the wicked, Ken had us trekking through some sand and dunes before we finally arrived at our camp for the first time. There were 2 large tents for us to sleep in, a large mess tent to eat and chill out, 2 small tents with holes dug inside them (our toilets) and a cook tent which we were to be amazed at the marvels that managed to be produced out of. It got dark quite early and we settled into our tents for the night. I was sharing with Diana, Jack, Clare, Suzy Silhouette and Anna and after chatting for a while we all went to sleep. After a little while Anna and I decided to make one of what would be many nocturnal toilet visits (side effect of all the water you take in through the day) and as i was dropping off i thought i saw the shadow of an arm snaking into the tent next to my head. I told Anna and assumed i was dreaming and drifted off only to wake suddenly a short while later to see a real arm reaching for my back pack. I sat up and looked straight into a mans face and shrieked like a banshee, scaring him off. After waking Diana we crept outside but couldnt see anyone but noticed one of the big bags outside the other tent - i was sure it hadnt been there when i went to the toilet earlier. We decided we had better wake them up to check if anything was missing and now i will leave it to Paul and Yvette to tell the rest of the tale.

Come on Paul and Yvette, where are you??? I hate cliff hangers :-( Karen x

Great reading, Ooerr!, now wondering who that arm belonged to! :))

Come on guys, we are still waiting!! M

come on hurry up more more more please xxhugxx

DAY 2 continued... OK, the day had gone as described by Sheila above. We all went to bed reasonably early.. 9pm ish for our first proper night in the desert. I'd not found it easy getting to sleep and had tossed and turned for a while... after what seemed like wuite a short sleep, I woke to sounds of a commotion outside. I head Diana and Sheila talking, I'm sure I heard Diana say 'oh no'... then I saw three people walk past the tent. Can't all be off to the loo together, I thought. Then they went back... somethings amiss. I was straining to hear what was being said outside and then Diana asked if anyone was awake.. someone had tried to get in their tent but been disturbed by Sheila... could we check whether anything was missing. Well, as soon as she said that, it dawned on me that my bag was on top of the pile of bags that we'd piled up just inside the tent entrance (not the cleverest move in retrospect). Sure enough, it was gone. Yvette came and looked, and sure enough hers was gone too. Andy's 'big bag' was outside, they (?) hadn't taken anything though, just looked through the smaller pockets. Traceys 'big bag' was outside too, but they would have needed a camel to take it away, it was THAT heavy... Anyway... it quickly dawned on us that this could be quite serious when we started thinking what was in the bags... wallets (cash and credit cards) Passports return tickets phones camera's ipod water carriers (platypus etc) plus other misellaneous bits Strangely we also found that a pair of Daisy's tousers had also disappeared. The berbers and Ken (I think) went off to see if they could see anyone/anything while we got more and more annoyed/upset. Yvette was upset, I was just angry, and already realising that we'd end up spending a couple of days arranging new passports etc. Went back to bed after half an hour or so... lay there making a mental list of what was in the bag - suddenly dawned on me that there was one thing in/on mine that was irreplaceable - the 'cheeky monkey' that Gaynor had given me. That annoyed me even more. Was exchausted, so eventually dropped off to sleep. DAY THREE Woke up with everyone else, wandered outside and... what a relief ! some of the berbers had found our bags in the dunes. We went through the contents and all that was missing was the cash from both (I reckon about £200 between us) and my phone. Huge relief. Even though the loss of the money wasn't good, it could have been much worse. Had breakfast (yucky gloopy watery porridge) and then set off for our mornings walk, floowing Mohammed with the camels rather than Ken and Lahcen, as they'd gone off to the nearest town to report the theft. Fairly uneventful mornings walking... to be honest I can't remember that morning that well, but I think it was fairly flat and stoney rather than sandy. Mid morning we were stopped by a well (yes, a well) when Ken and Lahcen turned up in the landrover. They hadn't had much success with the local authorities. Basically they threatened to lock up Lahcen for 3 months for not doing his job (which is odd, as he was a guide, not a security guard), and really didn't seem to want to help. However, if we wanted to take it further, Yvette and I would have had to go back with them to the town and spend the rest of the day filling in forms and giving statements, with very little possibility of it helping. So we decided against it. We set off to walk, and Ken and Lahcen went off to tell them we weren't going to take it further. They joined us later, around lunchtime I think, and Ken said the police seemed to understand the word 'b*stards' when he left... I'll let someone else finish the rest of the day.

Here's my day 2 - better get typing the rest up! Day 2 The alarm clock goes off at 6.30 – it’s far too early. I feel like I haven’t been asleep for very long at all. Well actually I haven’t, probably got about 4 hours and now OMG it’s time to get up and go. The view from the hotel window is stunning – I can’t believe we will be trekking through the desert in a few hours time. I take a photo and decide to get what I think will be my last shower for over a week. We have a breakfast of orange juice, croissants, fresh bread with Jam and coffee or tea. There are also Pain au chocolat but it’s too early for chocolate. After breakfast we get our kit bags on to the mini buses and off we go! We travel for a good few hours and admire the scenery. I can’t believe how much greenery we see. We stop a couple of times to stretch our legs and because someone is feeling sick. Susie nips over the road and a little by poses for a picture with her and all he asks for is a pen. Bless him. I can’t imagine life without a pen in every drawer! We stop in Zagora briefly to use the loo and to buy a shash (native headscarf). We each pay 150 Dirhams (that’s about a tenner) and feel that we have been robbed. Back on the bus and Susie and Andy take loads of photo’s. Andy can’t quite manage to get one of a donkey! We head further and further into the desert and off the main road stopping under the shade of a big tree. There is a big tent set up where the cooks have been busy preparing our lunch. There is a mat on the floor for us to sit on and a little way away is the toilet tent. The ‘toilet’ is simply a freshly dug hole in the ground. With a mound of earth ‘to flush’ and a roll of toilet roll and a bin. I head off for my first go. I am not used to squatting and I can certainly feel it in my legs! I now wish that I was a man!! We eat salad, bread, cheese and fish (tinned sardines) and drink coffee or mint tea. We top up our water bottles or platypus’s and then several of us have another trip to the tent in the hope that we avoid getting caught short whilst walking through the desert. When everyone has put on there rucksacks (which feel rather heavy now that our water supplies have been topped up) we are ready to go. It’s time to make our first steps across the Sahara Desert – 100 Kilometers to go! My first thought is ‘boy is it hot’. We’d had windows open on the buses and a lovely breeze, now the breeze had gone and there was only the heat. We only had to walk for 3 hours but after so little sleep and in the heat of the day it seemed like such hard work. We finally see camp in the distance – what a sight. I don’t know if I was happier seeing the camp because the day’s walking was almost over or if I was just relieved that we didn’t have to put up our own tents. With camp in sight the walking seems that bit easier. We arrive in what seems like no time at all. There are 2 tents for sleeping in one is larger than the other so we decide that the smokers should go in the smaller tent so the non-smokers don’t have to smell us. So that’s me, Clare, Diana, Susie C, Anna and Shiela. Everyone else (Paul, Andy, Tracey, Gemma, Susie B, Cliff, Daisy & Yvette) goes into the larger tent. Our kit bags were waiting for us at camp so we drag them over to our tents and dig out our mattresses and sleeping bags. All my stuff is brand new and has never been out of it’s packaging so I keep my fingers crossed that everything is ok. Once the tent looks lived in we head outside for the first of many sociable cigs. We sit about chatting while our dinner is prepared. I have already decided that I like everybody and feel happy to be in a group of such lovely people. We eat at about 7pm. There is plenty of food and oh does it taste good. We have soup and bread to begin with, followed by beef, potatoes and carrots. No complaints at all. All fed and watered people soon start to get tired. It’s been a long day and we decide to hit the sack around 9pm. It takes me ages to get to sleep. I’m far from my own bed and after paying out so much money for a sleeping bag that would keep me warm in the North Pole (I was told that the desert would get very cold at night) I am disappointed to find myself roasting! A little nervous about unzipping my sleeping bag (what could crawl in with me?) I finally kick off my liner and am so exhausted I finally doze off. I wake up about midnight. Oh no I need a wee. I try to ignore it and go back to sleep but I can’t – I’m bursting. I start to put on my shoes (after shaking them out just in case) and Shiela wakes up too so we go together. I am so pleased as I was really rather nervous about going on my own. It is pretty light as the moon is almost full. I also have my head torch – can’t imagine how daft I look. Everything is so quiet and still. There are 2 toilet tents at camp so we do our wees (already I am wondering how many wee’s my thighs can stand) and head back to our tent. I feel cooler now so hope I will be able to drop off again pretty quickly. I can’t have been gone long when I wake in a panic to Shiela’s voice shouting ‘Diana’. Sheila had seen a hand come in the tent and try to grab her bag. It’s about 2am and everyone is awake now. Two of the bags have been taken from the tent next door, Paul and Yvette’s. I feel so bad for them as so much has been taken and I can’t imagine how they must be feeling. Ken is up and involved. There is nothing we can do at this moment. It’s the middle of the night so after a group fag we get settled back in our tents. I make sure my rings are still there (I put then on top of my kit bag) and am so pleased that they are. They belonged to my Mum and My Grandma and are irreplaceable. I so hope Paul and Yvette had nothing like that in their bags. It takes me a while as I am a little on edge now but I do manage to fall back to sleep. Jack xx

OOh Jack, what happened, did you get writers cramp?? Eagerly awaiting further instalments!! M

Jack, will wait for you to finish before adding my 5 pence worth....

OOps - sorry. I seem to have lost the ability to copy and paste!! Look what happens after a week without technology lol. Here is the rest: can’t imagine how daft I look. Everything is so quiet and still. There are 2 toilet tents at camp so we do our wees (already I am wondering how many wee’s my thighs can stand) and head back to our tent. I feel cooler now so hope I will be able to drop off again pretty quickly. I can’t have been gone long when I wake in a panic to Shiela’s voice shouting ‘Diana’. Sheila had seen a hand come in the tent and try to grab her bag. It’s about 2am and everyone is awake now. Two of the bags have been taken from the tent next door, Paul and Yvette’s. I feel so bad for them as so much has been taken and I can’t imagine how they must be feeling. Ken is up and involved. There is nothing we can do at this moment. It’s the middle of the night so after a group fag we get settled back in our tents. I make sure my rings are still there (I put then on top of my kit bag) and am so pleased that they are. They belonged to my Mum and My Grandma and are irreplaceable. I so hope Paul and Yvette had nothing like that in their bags. It takes me a while as I am a little on edge now but I do manage to fall back to sleep.

Day 2: We all made our way down to breakfast and afterwards made our way to the swimming pool for a briefing session from Ken, our tour leader. We got the lowdown on what problems/situations we would likely to face whilst out in the desert, for example, sunburn, dehydration and blisters. We also got given some general medical advice from the doc. Most of us left a holdall style bag at the hotel containing a fresh change of clothes for the final evening to celebrate having completed the trek. We then climbed into the buses that 5 hours later would eventually get us to our start point. Pretty much from this point on, we had been strongly recommended to drink about 5 litres of water each day. Whenever we needed one, we would be given a 1.5 litre plastic bottle of water, from where we could fill our water bottles or platypuses. Whilst the prospect of a long road trip in a warm mini-bus did not seem that appealing after the previous day's arduous travelling to and from airports, the journey proved to be a pleasant one. We travelled through some wonderful scenery (think it's called the Draa Valley) on a snaky mountain road. At one point we stopped at a roadside pull-in for a comfort break. A couple of Moroccan guys were already there with lizards on their shoulders. Being in tourist mode, I naturally made the 'mistake' of taking their photo, only for one of them to wander over towards me. My first thoughts were that he didn't want me photographing them - for a brief second I contemplated that he wanted to seize the camera - so I indicated that I would delete it, but he made it clear that he wanted some money for me having taken a photo. At this point I didn't have any actual Dirham coins on me, only about £2 in English coins and whilst he initially seemed a bit disgruntled, he eventually seemed satisfied and wandered away from me. We travelled on through what I would normally consider to be extremely remote territory, however we would regularly pass people walking along the roadside, or riding donkeys or selling boxes of dates. It feels like a well-worn cliché but it truly feels like another world. We eventually reached the town of Zagora and although we travelled through it, we soon stopped at a shop where we could buy a desert scarf. We had exchanged a twenty pound note with Ken before we left who had given us 300 Dirham in notes and used some of the local currency to buy a scarf. If we hadn't been careful, Paul and I would have ended up coming away with a rug or a carpet as well! Again we had to encounter the locals - this time children - hanging round by the buses, hawking small hand-crafted items in exchange for money or other such items about our person. There was only about an hours more travelling and then we finally reached our start point for the trek. We had lunch firstly, which consisted of bread, cheese, spam n'olive, salad and sardines. This would turn out to be the staple lunchtime meal for us during the week. The food was good, the only problem being flies hanging round while you ate, but there isn't really anything you can do about it other than shoo them away, so it was a case of just accepting it. After lunch, the fun and games were to start. This was it, the walking was to finally get underway. One thing that I've probably glossed over has been the weather. Although I had apprehensions about the heat that stretched back to when Diana first asked me if I wanted to do the trek, I think all of us felt that there would be some cool air during the daytime and Diana had talked about how it had rain when she did it 10 years previous. In the end it was incredibly hot - Cliff had a thermometer with him that consistently was registering close to 40 degrees C. We set off and the terrain to start of with was completely flat and hard in surface, akin somewhat to walking across a giant car park. However the terrain changes quickly in the desert and you can soon be walking on pebbles/much stonier ground or the sand dunes themselves. On this afternooon, we faced the challenge of some early dunes. It presented an awkward challenge so early on in the trek as our legs weren't properly worn in for climbing and we were still probably suffering a bit from travel fatigue. We managed OK in the end but it was a relief to know that it was only a short days walking. Still we got some nice photos of the sun casting shadows onto the dunes and we eventually got to camp for the night, where the tents were already set up as had a couple of 'portaloos'. Dinner was served and we had soup (a regular course each night), followed by some meat, mixed veg and sauce, and tinned fruit for dessert. We sat and talked for a while but everyone was understandably feeling somewhat cream-crackered, and were wanting their beds as early as about 8pm.

We settled in for the night, with 7-8 of us in a tent, hoping to get a good nights sleep. However what happened next was something nobody could have expected; as Paul has already outlined what happened, there isn't really anything I can add to that, it was a sickening feeling that thankfully had a successful ending the following morning with the bags being found, save for the money and Paul's phone being taken.

Day 2 Couldn't believe it when the alarm went off and it was time to get up! Sheila looked even more stunned than me! After a rather dry breakfast, washed down with something resembling tea it was time for the team briefing. 8am and already hot and as we listened to Ken and Tor we lathered on the sun screen and filled our platypuses with bottled water. Then off to the minibuses for the long drive to M'Hamid and the official start of the trek. The journey was 'interesting' taking us through hours of hairpin bends, most without crash barriers of any description, and oncoming vehicles for whom the game 'chicken' was clearly a favourite past-time. I was so glad I'd chosen to sit in the middle of the bus so that I couldn't see the sheer drops. Normally such roads have me screaming to be let out of the car whilst my kids roar with laughter, but I managed to hold it together and Yvette kindly drew the curtain so that we couldn't see anything! First stop en route was at an observation point with lots of rocks on the other side of the road for a little privacy for those needing a pitstop. Our first taste of outdoor 'facilities' and boy was I grateful for the bizarre present my brother sent me. Let's just say it helped me 'become' a man for such matters and if you want to know more then google SheWee. Next stop Zagora where we were inundated by small boys giving us straw camels for good luck. Obviously we were expected to pay for such good fortune but none of us had any suitable coinage except £1 coins which they weren't too happy with. Notes yes, coins no. Then off to the shop for our special headscarves at a rip off price. Mine stayed on my head for about 30 seconds after we got back into the bus. It felt like an oven clamped to my head! The others managed to keep theirs on. Once at M'Hamid a lovely lunch awaited us and we sat on the rugs in the shade of a lonely tree. The rugs were to become very familiar to us over the next week. The queue for the loo tent was quite long before we set off for the first few hours walking over sand and dunes. A gentle introduction to the rest of the trek but one which left me shattered once we reached camp. I quickly made up my bed and flopped on it drinking water from my platypus. I gather I looked like some kind of druggie! Dinner was soup, a delicious stew, followed by fruit and then I collapsed into bed only to wake an hour or so later for the loo. An interesting experience in the dark when you've forgotten to get your torch out ready! Twice more I was up before being woken at 2am by a commotion in the tent and the rest you know! Felt so sorry for Yvette and Paul and was pretty peed off about my trousers disappearing. Not knowing the bags would be found, minus money and phone, we were trying to deal with practical things like making sure Y&P had things they would need for the day to day trekking. I think this was when my reputation as Mary Poppins emerged as I kept saying 'I've a spare one of those in my big bag, you can have that!' Can't remember who asked 'How big IS your bloody bag?' Daisy

nudge for anyone else who wants to add to day 2 Jack x

Ok heres my day 2 lol My alarm woke me up at 7 am so i quicky turned if off as to not wake up Diana,She told me that we didnt do mornings so i was scared to wake her up lol We got into our trekking clothes and wandered down for breakfast which consisted of a piece of bread and a couple of croissants plus OJ and coffee.After this we all gathered around the pool for a briefing and to apply loads of sunscreen as it was pretty hot already at only 8am. WE spilt up and go off in 2 separate mini buses toward Zagora.I cant remember exactly how long this journey took,but it seemed to take forever.The roads were pretty scary at times,overtaking on bends,sheer drops on one side of the mini bus.I found it best to close my eyes lol.We seemed to be driving up the side of a mountain!! We stopped for a toilet?? break and were surrounded by guys wanting us to hold their lizards and offering us dates (i think). Finally we reached Zagora,where we all filed off the minibuses and headed to shop? to buy a headscarf.The man fastened them around our heads for us and we paid and left.We set off again towards MHamid? and the place where we were to begin our trek It was amazing to see women and children washing their clothes outside and handing the clean laundy in the tree branches to dry.It made me really appreciate what i have at home. The roads were getting narrower and the villages smaller and smaller, until we finally arrived in time for lunch, which was delicious, fresh salad, bread and tinned mackerel in tomato sauce. Washed down by a glass of mint tea. I quickly rang home to tell the boys i had made it in one piece. After visiting the toilet tent, and filling our water bottles, we were ready for the first trek to our camp for the evening. After half an hour or so, I was getting hot, sweaty and breathless, and wondering what the hell I was doing out here!! I had a big blister on my thumb from my trekking poles already at this point! We had a couple of short rests then we came across some small sand dunes, luckily we could see camp just in the distance which helped me .A few mad people decided to climb up what looked like a huge sand dune, while the rest of us wandered into camp to get our boots off. We sorted out our sleeping arrangements for the evening,I was sharing with the other smokers, Diana,Jack,Clare,Suzy and Sheila then we just generally relaxed until we were called for dinner in the mess tent, which consisted of some meat, which I was told was beef and some vegetables.Starter was soup and loads of bread.Was really tasty!There was fruit for dessert.The cooking tent was not very big and the stove was tiny.I dont know how they managed to keep us fed! I think we were all in bed by 8pm, but there wasn’t a lot of sleep happening in our tent. I lay awake most of the night, nipping out in the dark to visit the loo on more than one occasion. Its hard work weeing into a hole without a nice comfy loo seat for support Sheila woke me up once to say she had saw an arm coming into the tent,but as it was so quiet outside,i thought she was dreaming.About an hour later all I heard was Sheila screaming and calling for Diana. We all woke up and went to look around to see if anything was missing.We noticed a bag outside the other tent,which hadnt been there earlier so we woke everyone up.2 bags were missing so we woke up Ken,who told us nothing much could be done as it was the middle of the night,but he went to look around the sand dunes to see if thay could spot anything.We tried to get some sleep after this but i dont really think anyone managed much! Anna :-)

What a fantastic adventure! Please keep them coming! Lindy ;-)))))))))))))))))