
On a caravan, with one of the Sahara's last European explorers - headalgorithm
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-caravan-sahara-european-explorers.html
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hutzlibu
This story reminded me of a documentation I saw some years ago, about also a
french guy in the sahara dessert. But more extreme, he was basically living in
the dessert and moving around with his camels nomad style. Would be curious if
he is still there. Possible.

Deserts are a special place. I can agree to the statement from the article. It
is never boring. At least not, when you choose to do the real dessert
experience. Then you discover joys you did not imagine before, like finding
fresh, drinking water, when you are dehydrated since a while, because the last
2 water springs had dried out and you really had to find water. It can be
orgastic, when your body literaly starts to be flowing again, as the body
shuts down function after function if there is water shortage. And then it is
a rush, if finally the blood can flow again ... (and that can actually kill
you, if you drink too much too quick, after being dehydrated, start with some
sips)

I experienced that not in a dessert, but on a long hike in a dry area, where
fresh-water spots on my map did not had running water in reality and no
civilisation around. So I was rationing water. But then the next day, I found
a spring. And so much water coming out! I could not believe it, all this fresh
water just flowing and flowing and flowing ...

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Mediterraneo10
Getting the "real desert experience" in terms of migrating with camels or
whatever must be hard in recent years.

In Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara there is a heavy police presence that
doesn't want foreigners straying off the main highways, because foreigners
might make contact with representatives of the oppressed indigenous Saharawi
people. Sure, hundreds or thousands of elderly Europeans go down there every
winter in their camping cars, Senegalese immigrants in Europe driving home to
visit etc., but all they see is the tarmac running alongside the coast or the
occasional towns.

In Mauritania, police tend to discourage you from wandering for different
reasons, they don’t want their tourism industry to suffer again from incidents
of foreign tourists being attacked by militants. For similar reasons, southern
Algeria is said to be difficult to move around in freely, and Libya is
completely off-limits to tourists due to unrest.

~~~
tiew9Vii
Do you have any references?

Morocco is hugely popular with French / European 4x4 drivers and motorcyclists
because of the terrain. It has everything, green mountains in the high atlas
then sand, desert and mars like terrain as you go south and it's extremely
quick and easy to get to jumping on a ferry from Spain.

I know they have army checkpoints at specific places but when I've been I've
been extremely remote, way off the highway surrounded by nothing but sand
dunes or baron landscapes. We drove through a checkpoint at one point which
was essentially a small shed at the side of a track close to the Algerian
border. Guard mustn't of heard us coming asleep in the office or something,
came out waving after a few of us past, went back inside when we disappeared
in to the distance.

~~~
Mediterraneo10
Most people exploring Morocco overland are in Morocco proper, where there
isn't the same strict control of foreigners as in Western Sahara. The
checkpoints start at Guelmim and are spaced about every 100 km apart. One has
to present one's ID or a printed page known as a _fiche_ with these details (a
web search for Western Sahara + fiche will probably give plenty of travel
blogs with details on the police scrutiny). Plainclothes police are also
present at the major intersections to report on what direction a foreign-owned
vehicle takes.

Although Morocco proper has some sand dunes in the east which are popular with
tourists, these are not the "real Sahara", which is traditionally considered
to start at Guelmim.

~~~
hutzlibu
Yeah, there is a great difference between morocco and occupied western sahara.
My morocco experience started in western sahara - and it was interesting to
watch, but no fun, to be bothered by secret police all the time. I had
intentions of traveling around there and meeting local population and getting
into the sahara, but this was not really possible in a way I wanted. I played
the naive tourist quite well, so I was not too much pestered, as being a
european tourist, because the king himself has ordered to all police to be
nice to tourists. But they really do not want journalist, I had to convince
many slimy assholes where I felt dirty to shake hands with them, that I was
not a journalist, nver were and no intentions of becoming one. And since I
really was not a journalist I decided to be it not worth it. But I have
friends who drove around with a bycicle there and camping overnight, so that
is possible, but not peaceful. And dangerous if you come too close to the
border.

Morocco then again was really different, full of hippies and other tourists.
It surely has dangerous spots as well, but I felt quite safe hitchhiking there
and I even met young women, who did hitchhiking there, without being kidnapped
or raped, but that can happen.

And the real dessert experience, well, I was south-east of Zagora, wich was
quite touristic - but to me it seemed the "real Sahara" did also start there.
I met local beduins who felt that way too, but yeah. The border to algeria was
too close and too guarded. And in the real dessert there are no nation
borders, who pester the nomad.

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TheGallopedHigh
If you find the Sahara interesting, check out an older documentary by Pailin
for the BBC.

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O0A3JyK_N34](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O0A3JyK_N34)

Note that these were done in 2001

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xwdv
Wish I was brave enough to explore some of these places. Unfortunately I feel
I would almost certainly be killed, if not by man, then by the elements.

