1. Camel trekking for families with children

2. Adventure tour ‘live like a nomad in the desert’

3. Visit of a nomadic music festival and camel trekking

1. Family hikes with riding and pack dromedaries

For its special family camel trekking tours, Akabar Sahara Treks and its team of desert nomads select beautiful and secluded routes where you can experience the fascination of the Sahara landscapes. The Sahara, like a natural playground, will amaze you and arouse your curiosity. Here are some interesting activities that both children and adults enjoy:

Camel trekking adventure: A trekking tour through the dunes is the absolute highlight of a trip through the Sahara and a real experience for anyone longing for something authentic. You and your children will sit on a dromedary, touch the ‘ship of the Sahara’ and learn a lot about its life in the desert. If we are lucky, we may also see other desert animals such as jerboas, gazelles, ostriches or desert foxes. We discover animal tracks in the sand and find out which animals have crossed our path. You can also look for fossils and meteorite fragments as well.

Stargazing: The clear desert sky offers the perfect conditions for showing children the diversity of the starry sky and giving them a lasting memory.

Visit to a Berber nomadic family: You and your children learn about their everyday life, such as crafts, animal husbandry, cooking and washing clothes. In the evening, you can sit with the family, make music, sing and drink tea. You will see how the children live and play in the Sahara and are invited to join in.

You can also join the team in fetching water from the well, collecting wood, learning how to make a fire and to prepare for example a Sahara bread, a traditional tajine, tea and help in the camp kitchen. The families and nomadic guides will also introduce you to traditional Berber music and dances.

Sandboarding (on plastic sheets) is also possible, especially in high dunes such as those of Erg Chigaga.

Family tours are offered from three days onwards, as this is the only way to experience many of the activities mentioned, especially the caravan with riding and pack dromedaries.

Our programmes generally follow this schedule:

After breakfast, a 1½-hour jeep transfer to the dromedaries and camel drivers of our small caravan, who are already waiting at the foot of the Jebel Bani mountain range. On the way, we visit a farm to see what crops are grown on the edge of the Sahara and what farm animals live there. Once the dromedaries have been loaded, we head for the plateau of the Jebel Bani mountain range. From there, we can see the panorama of the Sahara dunes and, in the distance, perhaps even Lake Iriqui in the national park of the same name. For lunch, we usually take a break of several hours in a small oasis. In between, there is the opportunity to swim in rock pools. We will also admire rock paintings, collect unusual stones, encounter ancient settlements and even find shards of ancient pottery in them.

Once we arrive in the dune landscapes, we take our lunch breaks under acacia and tamarisk trees, or the team sets up a tent. In the afternoon, there is the opportunity to play some local games in the dunes and discover various animal tracks and spice plants. You and your children will see how the flora and fauna of the stone desert differs from that of the Sahara dunes.

The nomadic guides can also beautify you with henna tattoos and kajal.

We collect wood for the evening fire and bake traditional flatbread in the sand.

A young semi-nomad also accompanies you on these tours. Hussain Rabouze is 16 years old and speaks some English. He teaches other children and young people games played by the Berber nomads. He plays football with them and bakes flatbread with them in the sand.

The photos on this page were provided to us by the Gößmann and Bach families.

Die Gruppe Tinariwen (Mali): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMH2WWhLOc

Die Gruppe Toulout (Djanet/Algerien): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbYf54SpbiI,