The overthinker’s scorecard: camel rides in the Moroccan Sahara

There are two parts to a camel ride in the Moroccan desert.

The first is the scenery. The Sahara is every bit as beautiful as you’ve imagined: endless golden dunes, silence stretching to the horizon, and the kind of sunset that makes you understand why people travel halfway around the world for this experience.

The second part is the camel.

Before we even set off, I discovered that climbing onto a camel while it’s sitting down is an oddly unsettling experience. Even more unsettling is what happens next, when it unfolds itself in stages until you’re suddenly much higher off the ground than you expected. I stayed on the camel, but only because I was hanging on to the reins like I was about to be launched into orbit.

Once we were moving, I realised camels don’t walk with the reassuring predictability of, say, a bicycle on a cycle path. Mine occasionally took little sideways steps while climbing the sand dunes. The camel was completely unfazed. I, meanwhile, was mentally rehearsing how I would explain to people that I’d somehow managed to fall off a camel despite spending weeks preparing for the trip.

Nothing happened, of course.

The camel had done this thousands of times. It knew exactly where to put its feet. I was the only one convinced that every sideways step deserved my full attention.

Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. The views were extraordinary, and it’s one of those experiences I’ll always remember. Would I queue up to do it again? Probably not. I spent so much energy concentrating on staying elegantly attached to the camel that I never completely relaxed enough to enjoy the ride itself.

I have the distinct impression that my camel wasn’t overly impressed with me either.

The overthinker’s scorecard

Scenery: ★★★★★
Exactly what I’d hoped for.

Overthinking level: ★★★★★
According to my brain, every sideways step was a cause for concern.

Expectations vs. reality: ★★★★☆
Expected: a peaceful ride through the dunes. Reality: a peaceful ride through the dunes… with an unnecessary disaster movie playing in my head.

Would Future Alexandra do it again? ★★☆☆☆
I’m genuinely glad I did it once. Once is probably enough.

One thing I’d tell a first-timer:
Hold on when the camel stands up. Lean backwards when it lies back down unless you’d like to somersault off the camel. Then take a deep breath, spend less time looking at the camel’s feet and more time looking at the desert. That’s where the real magic is.

Thinking about visiting the Sahara yourself? Read my guide to the 3-day desert tour from Marrakech to see exactly what the trip involves.

Travel with an overthinker.

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