dromedaries

Commonly called camels, we at Desert Therapy always refer to them as such, they are actually dromedaries who live in the groups accompanying the Saharan caravans, including our own. The real ones are two-humped, Asian camels, who will be with us in October when we will travel along the Taklimakan Desert in China. Dromedaries have one hump that constitutes their food supply: machines seemed created just to live in the sand. Their water autonomy is impressive, and they can go up to ten days without water with temperatures around 50 degrees Celsius. I have personally witnessed this during my crossing with the salt caravan in Niger. The hoofs contain a gelatin substance allowing them to adapt to the ground, their soft or stony eyes are protected by long eyelashes to protect them from the sand, and their noses and ears are positioned so that even the most violent of storms of sand won’t damage them. The large teeth can grind the terrible acacia thorns that can pierce even tires, but the camels are the only animals that can eat and digest them. Their air of superiority and great peace is in contrast with their true character, often irritable and cranky. There are hundreds of varieties of dromedaries, caravans of them high and massive, and those running or walking who are more slender. Our Desert Therapy instead belong to a specialized smaller type and are very docile and quiet. They are all females and often pregnant. Once we had the surprise of having with us along with two mothers and also their weaned puppies. It 'was an amusing sight to see them run and play along the way, like two dolls with hair. Needless to say that everyone has came to love them and some have said good-bye to them with a few tears when leaving. The dromedaries are a great resource for people living in the desert and the relationship created between man and animal is very close, often affectionate. Those with us in Egypt remember Solah, our Bedouin guide and handler of the dromedaries. Perhaps for this reason those who join us are so tame even with animals, treating them with respect and gentleness.

Smells of the Desert

Tomorrow at 7pm we will have an event at the headquarters of Focus in Milan, where Daniel, who organizes trips with Desert Therapy, has set up an interesting journey through three symbolic places of our planet, the Gobi desert, the ice of Antarctica and Deserts of sand. Each of these environments is characterized by a perfume created especially by an expert in smells and hence the desert can be identified and remembered by the smell. I have not had a chance to smell it, I prefer to be surprised but I guess that the aroma will be very particular and will carry my mind to the memories of the great expanses of sand dunes, fields in the sand, and intense moments lived in that wonderful place. Within the exhibit there will also be the backpack of my last challenge and other items that have accompanied me during the crossings. Often smelling a fragrance brings our thoughts to a place that struck us and left an important and often pleasant memory: being able to return to the Desert thanks to this, is truly exceptional.

Sand

How wonderful is sand! Soft, pliable, always different: it is a pleasure to see and touch. The desert is made of sand that changes all the time, changing colors and texture, but the charm remains the same. It comes natural to caress it, sinking your feet and hands into it, to feel it give in and adapt to our body when we lie down on it, to sense its heat never excessive, like a hug. Far from the desert I miss it so much, and I always dream to have a room with sand floors, in which to stand barefoot or sit down to regain my thoughts and cleanse my soul, to keep calm me and carry me home after each trip and that makes even the darkest, stormy days, sweet and full of smiles. I keep a container with my sand in each room, and look at them and caress them often while I work. I remember the exact point where I have collected them and their presence helps me to return there, the place I love and feel close to even in everyday life, to accompany me in the path of every day.

After the desert

It 's the question most frequently asked to me: what happens after returning from a trip in the desert? Sometimes it is difficult to explain to those who we have never been in a desert, how it feels when you return. Everybody reacts in different ways: personally for a few days I'm still there, between the dunes and I try to keep as long as possible the feeling that physically and mentally this place can induce. Then inevitably everyday life with all its problems tends to seize every moment of the day and then the thought comes back from the sand and sky, a reminder that life can be lived in a different way, trying to contain our worries and problems, without allowing them to dominate and take over. It is true that one can not ignore these, but we can give them their rightful place within a day. The desert can help carve out a space only for us, where we can take shelter in difficult times and give us the energy and the calm necessary to tackle what lies ahead. This happens to me but also to all the friends who have traveled up to date with Desert Therapy: delivered daily by their testimonies that confirm the benefits that this experience has left in their soul. I will publish soon some of them: so also those who have not yet met the Desert, can realize how the encounter with this amazing place can improve lives.

INCREDABLE

Every time I'm amazed when I see the effect the desert has on our new travelers with Desert Therapy. Some strange alchemy that can not be explained, materializes in the very moment in which we begin to walk. Even in Morocco this has been the case. Each participant has interpreted the trip in a very personal way, but the result does not change. Eloise has walked only with her socks, to hear even more clearly the sand, often far from the group, together with dromedaries carrying the material. Marijana instead seemed to want to embrace the desert and kept repeating that he was living a dream. Paolo used to traveling on the motorcycle, with shining eyes for emotion, said that for the first time he met the real desert. And then Claudio, dubbed Ali Baba, made everyone in the group die of laughter, but then at times sought solitude sitting on top of the dunes. Annalisa and Enrichette, always smiling, were already planning the next trip with Desert Therapy. Fiorella and Gilberto, convinced by their daughter to come, never ceased to fill their eyes at the sight of such a beautiful, breathtaking landscape. Leda, who this time had replaced Max on the task of accompanying the trip, was delighted to be able to relive the experience of last year and claimed that she will return there in the desert soon. But for me, whenever I return to the desert it is as if I am home. No matter what the venue, I just need to be there in the desert, to experience a great sense of well being to fill the body and mind.

Ready to leave

Tomorrow Desert Therapy will depart for a new trip: destination Morocco. We will return to the place we visited a year ago but this time the itinerary will be different and even better. For four days we will walk through the dunes to experience the emotions that each Desert Therapy trip provides, together with our eight new travel companions, all enthusiastic about the idea of facing a new experience. I will walk with them and help them experience the magic of this special place and in the evening around the fire we will talk, sipping on our wonderful mint tea which is prepared by our beduine guides. It will be a trip full of surprises and our footprints in the sand, accompanied by those of the caravan of camels, leaving traces that the wind will cancel soon after. But the memories will remain forever, unforgettable, in the spirits of the travellers.