The Sahara Challenge
What makes three ordinary blokes want to trek across the Sahara Desert ? the cause, the challenge, the comradeship, bravado, I don't really know but what I do know is that for what ever reason each had, they where to be tested to the full.
Base camp was in the valley of El Faija some 8 km from the foot of Tizi Djinia (1100m ht) in the Jabel Bani Mountains. Here M'Hamed our guide debriefed us and basically ripped apart our plans that we had gathered from all the best UK sauces Quote "we will need at least 7 litres of water per day per man" M'Hameds advice 1.5 lt and the equipment we had brought with us? M'Hameds advice ditch it and only carry your water". At this point you think !!!!!!!! only met a day ago, do I trust this bloke ? it was a decision and advice that we never regretted.
Day 1 (35 km) 8.00 am Coffee ,bread, jam and honey in olive oil and off we set wearing our Help for Heroes t shirts all as proud as punch to the foot of the Tizi Djinia and the ascent of 1100m began. Quarter of the way up Paul and Drew were pressing on, (this became the familiar pattern for the trip) as for myself I thought my lungs were beginning to go south. By half way the heat was unbelievable and I thought Heaven cant be far away. At the top the feeling was again unbelievable, I started dancing around giving it large when suddenly it hit me when M'Hamed pointed it out to me that this was the first of three such mountains to climb over the next three days.
Foot of Tizi Djinia and from the top.
We continued on down the other side of the mountain stopping for lunch of Tea, nuts and raisins and flies (for our meat allowance) Paul was heavily into his protein bars and staying clear of anything foreign, hence the nickname Ramadan. The landscape became that of shale, boulders and rock this combined with the heat drained the energy from you as you concentrated on where to put your feet. We eventually came to a clearing which was to be camp for the night. Paul tucked into wet rations of pasta and meatballs Drew and myself went native with a Bedouin omelet, then after a chat we all retired to our bivvies around 7.30 as the wind got up. That night for some reason I'd become dehydrated and suffered heat exhaustion from the days effort. I'd remembered reading Andy McNabs book Bravo Two Zero and how the cold hit them at night, and now I was experiencing it for myself, unbelievable cold. Thermal trousers and jacket, blankets everything went on, the Hexi cooker became a life support machine as it ate the fuel tablets for heat and every hour brewed tea . Then the sun broke over the mountains warmth.
Days 2/3 (38/38km) Continued as day 1 had done, the landscape never changed, the mountains (saghro) got higher. Paul (Ramadan) continued with his protein bars and wet rations, Drew became known as Bin Eatin as he never stopped, I went on a diet of soup and bread, only Paul never fell foul to the Sahara Trotskys, funny that !!!. And the nights never got warmer. The main exception to the norm was we were spending more time each day doing running repairs to the blisters on our feet, lancing and retaping. And each night M'Hamed would set us tests in the form of twigs, having to move one to form some name or complete a puzzle, he took great joy in this as we taxed our brains as the easiest puzzle became 100 times more difficult due to tiredness, I also think it was his way of getting back at us for showing him modern technology in the forms of Recording him singing Berbers songs as we walked, then playing it back when he was'nt looking. Paul had a walkman dvd player that had films on it, which totally blew him away watching Pirates of the Caribbean in the middle of the Desert. Where's the projector he kept saying as they all huddled around this 3" screen. The best one was when we told him that the tracking device we had enabled those back in the UK to watch our progress via satellite, he thought this was great and would stop every so often look at the sky and shout hello England and wave.
Day 4 (36km) As the sun broke over the mountain tops we could see in the distance something other than more mountains, sand dunes. We followed a river bed for about 20 km passing a pond that looked inviting until someone mentioned crocodiles that live in dried up wadis and emerge when the rivers fill up. The thought of a dip quickly disappeared. And then we broke free onto encrusted sand. The body already full of Co-Hydramol gave a sigh of relief as feet and ankles weren't looking for easy ways around obstacles anymore. Then reality kicked in, sand is soft and the upper muscles of the legs began racing to stabilize the upper body and the going just got a hole lot harder. Then M'Hamed called a halt to the day at the base of a dune some 20 mtrs high." We were at Chegaga" he said "known for its high dunes throughout Morocco" , and about 1km away was the largest sand dune I'd ever seen at 160m high. Bodies in complete melt down and feeling that the challenge was too much we set off to conquer it. As we sat on top the sight was impressive, then Paul and Drew decided that it was close to unwinding time and tumbled all the way down, sand in places you dont want it really, but they did'nt stop laughing till the bottom.
Day 5 The push for Timbuktu Camp and the finish. (25 km) We covered the remaining distance in 4.6 hrs, the sand getting ever hotter as the day wore on, the mirage of the lake M'Hamed kept mentioning getting further and further away, and then the sight of tents and we were there. Exhausted and tired we cracked a couple of cold beers each and joked. M'hamed danced around more excited than us, then came out with the statement that touched us all " You are all Heroes" he said, " never never as a Berber have my team been pushed so hard and walked so fast, Im Shalah (Gods Blessing) to you "
We started off as friends and ended the same, my memory of the Challenge I think will be of M'Hamed a Berber whom we had only met 6 days before standing up in a packed Moroccan bar full of locals singing and dancing, grabbing the DJ's microphone and proudly shouting "Viva La Help for Heroes" to a stunned audience who did'nt know what he was on about, so he shouted again, this time they all started clapping, waving the arms, hugging each other. The word spreads fast I suppose !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Three ordinary blokes doing ordinary things for Extraordinary members of our Armed Forces. Im Shalah Hamdula.