Day Five
I woke up and I was buzzing. I was on such a high that when I heard today was going to be the toughest day’s hiking I was delighted. I was really looking forward to it. Today as well we were joined by Joyce from Dublin Simon, which was great except for the fact that it meant we had to lose Clare who had to join up with another team. She didn’t endear herself too well with them by calling out to us as we headed off (second team to leave) that she’d miss us terribly – couldn’t we please take her with us?! We were going to miss Clare.
The hike was anything but tough. Admittedly it started off with a sheer climb up a mountain but it was worth it because on the other side was a sheer drop down a sand dune. Sand dunes were a bugger to climb up but, like so much in life, they were a joy going down. It was like skiing, every step down took you about a yard further than you’d expect and the air was filled with screams and laughs and oh shits.
Day Six
This was our last day hiking and now I didn’t want it to end Everyone crammed back into the tent to start packing and the mood was a little sad because this was the last day our team, “The A-Team” (so-named by Ibrahim, so it’s not that naff), would be on our own. Kevin summed it up by saying, “Hey guys, when we go back to Ireland, can we all live together?”
We were the first team to leave, which had the wonderful bonus of meaning we would be the first to finish the whole hike. The first half was a long stretch of 18 kilometres, but luckily it was across flat ground and it proved to be a doddle. I mentioned this to Hugo when we stopped for lunch and he warned that the second half was a lot shorter (9 Kilometres), but a lot tougher.
The second half WAS tough. We started by climbing up a major sand-dune. When we finally got to the top, everyone went “Whoah!” – twice. First time for the sheer beauty of the line of sand dunes ahead, and second for the sheer horror that we were going have to climb these buggers. We stopped frequently.
Shortly before we hit camp, Hugo asked us all to stop and sit down for a minute – he had something to say. He wanted us all to sit around, or lie down, whatever made us comfortable and to do so in silence for two minutes while we reflected on what we’d achieved, who helped us get here and why we were doing it in the first place. I lay back on my rucksack and the silence (and the perfect blue sky) was wonderful. Sadly, all I could reflect on was the fact that it was almost all over (that, and the desperate effort I was making to suppress a sudden unexpected fart).
Finally we stood up, gave ourselves a big cheer and set off for the last mile. The very last stretch was of course down a sand-dune. Just ahead was the finish line. Terry, Clare, and Jason were waiting there, cheering us on. We all grabbed hands and in a line legged it down the dune cheering ourselves and raced past the finish line – cheering some more. Terry and Clare presented us all with medals and Andy grabbed a bottle of champagne, shook it thoroughly and sprayed the entire team with it. We’d done it.
When we’d secured our tent again for the night, the last night in the desert, we went outside and an amazing sight greeted us: a sunset covering the entire sky. All around us were brilliant colours of red, yellow and blue – everyone was just dazzled, including all the Berbers who came out to gaze on it in wonder. They told us a sight like that hadn’t been seen in these parts in decades. It was an incredibly emotional moment in a week of incredibly emotional moments and it was the most perfect end anyone could have wished for.
About the Author
Michael Jordan was born in Dublin in 1967. From an early age he developed a passion for writing and through years of determination and dedication managed inevitably to bring himself to a career in Computer Programming. He has, however, over the years managed to have a few articles published. In fact, ten years after he completed it the fees for his night course in Journalism are now half-way to being made back through his writings.
In 1997 he was on the writing team of the RTE (Irish television) sit-com “Upwardly Mobile” and wrote one of the episodes broadcast, something that he feels should impress all those who have never heard of “Upwardly Mobile”.