Trekking with Saharan nomads

The camels carry the camp. You walk, under some of the darkest skies on earth, and after the first day there is no road.

Because it's the biggest hot desert in the world. Because there are very few places left where you can walk for a solid week and see no sign of a road. Because silence has become one of the rarest things on Earth. Because staring into a campfire beneath a sky full of stars beats staring into a phone screen.

Because the Sahara isn't something you "do" on a day trip from Marrakech or Cairo — it's something you experience over a prolonged period of time.

This is one of the last places on Earth where life still operates to rhythms far older than schedules, push notifications and meetings. A place where the weather matters, distance matters, and where carrying only what you need suddenly feels like a very sensible way to live.

South of the Atlas Mountains sits the settlement of M'Hamid, the final paved road before the Sahara. For centuries this has been where caravans assembled before vanishing into the desert. We begin at "The Road's End", marking the end of the paved N9 highway; south of M'Hamid the path turns into sand tracks and desert terrain takes over.

After travelling down from Marrakech through the spectacular Draa Valley, we'll spend one final night in comfort before meeting our nomadic support team and getting the layout of the week ahead.

The next morning the camels are loaded, the tents are packed and we start walking. Everything we don't immediately need is carried by camel throughout the trip.

Within a few hours of leaving M'Hamid, the modern world disappears. Phone signals disappear. Roads vanish. Noise quietens. The only things left are desert, sky and the occasional moody-looking camel.

Over the following days we trek through an ever-changing landscape. We cross rolling dunes where every step sinks into soft sand. Wander through scattered tamarisk groves. Traverse black volcanic hamada stretching to the horizon. Walk across ancient immense dried lakebeds.

Further into Iriqui National Park, the scale becomes difficult to get your head around. The giant dunes of Erg Chigaga dominate the horizon before gradually giving way to endless open floodplains, dry riverbeds and ancient desert plateaus. Shade becomes a luxury. Distances become impossible to judge. Mirages shimmer across the landscape.

Every evening, camp appears. While we sit around fires eating dinner, the support team transforms an empty patch of desert into a functioning campsite. Then darkness falls, and the stars arrive. No city lights. No aircraft. Just one of the darkest skies on Earth.

Towards the latter stages of the journey the desert changes again. Ancient mesas rise from the plains like giant stone ships stranded in a sea of sand. Fossils litter the ground beneath our feet, reminders that this vast wilderness was once submerged beneath an ancient ocean.

If conditions allow, we'll scramble to the summit of one of these formations and spend the night sleeping beneath the stars. We'll spend our final evening at the Kasbah Tizourgane before making our way back to Marrakech.

The trip is supported by experienced local teams who understand the terrain, weather, wildlife and realities of desert travel. Routes may change depending on local advice, weather conditions or safety considerations. Flexibility is part of the experience. Good judgement always comes first.