The Tunisian Sahara with Sahha Sahara

This video documents my experience during an eight-day camel trek into the Sahara desert of Tunisia with Sahha Sahara, an organization that offers 3-, 5-, 8- and 15-day camel treks that travel deep into the Sahara. We were accompanied – and guided – by Bedouin Cameleers, who have been living a nomadic lifestyle in desert regions, including the Sahara Desert, for many centuries, with a lifestyle that dates back thousands of years.

This was, as their website states, “NOT Club Med”; their camel treks are not designed for those seeking an easy, comfortable experience in the desert. Instead, they offer a unique opportunity to experience the Sahara through the eyes, and lifestyle, of the Bedouin: living in harmony with the desert, and with their unique, symbiotic relationship with their camels, whom they depend upon to live, and who in turn, depend upon them. Together, they forge a relationship with nature that runs centuries deep.

This video shows what I experienced over those eight days deep in the Sahara, at one point almost 300 kilometers away from the nearest village of any size. If the scenes seem repetitious, it was…at first. Slowly, though, you begin to learn that that is a Western way of thinking: “How long until the next stop?” “My legs hurt!” “This is taking forever!” And, slowly, you start to “see” that it is not the destination, but the experience itself. Time starts to slow down, and you start to appreciate the true beauty of the vast, vast desert that stretches away, seemingly forever, all around you.

The origins of the Bedouin trace back to the Arabian Peninsula, with tribes spreading across the Arab world, including North Africa and the Sahara, starting as early as the 11th and 12th centuries. Over time, camels also became deeply embedded in Bedouin culture, tradition, and religious practices, symbolizing survival and adaptation to desert life. However, with the perpetual modernization and urbanization of the world, the traditional roles of the Bedouin, and their camels, have slowly diminished, and it is – sadly – felt among them that their traditional nomadic lifestyle will not survive much longer; some say less than a decade.

It is very important, therefore, to experience, understand, preserve, and pass on to future generations what the Bedouin have learned so well: their quiet, deep relationship with the earth and sky, and their love of it, and the profound inner peace that it brings.

For more information, visit www.sahhasahara.com.