Many parents probably worry that an adventure, like a desert hiking trip, is dangerous and perhaps boring for children.
But that doesn’t have to be the case. If you choose the right time of year and route, children will have a lot of fun on our tours.
Most children can hardly imagine anything more exciting than playing in the world’s biggest sandpit, riding camels or whizzing down the dunes on snowboards. But do they also like hiking through the desert for days on end?
Hiking in this environment teaches children resilience, tolerance for other cultures, an awareness of nature and the effect that climate change is having on this part of the world.
That depends. On what? A few factors come together. The age of the children, their fitness, the distance we walk each day, the temperatures.
In general, we can design a programme for children of all ages, but not necessarily a multi-day hiking tour.
With children aged 3 to 6, we have organised great day trips, looking for fossils, collecting stones, searching for and identifying animals and their tracks. And of course we spent hours digging in the sand and ‘baking cakes’.
With 7 and 8 year old children, we have done 3 day hiking trips without camels, with up to 4 hours of walking a day. It usually works very well, but once it was very hot and we had to take lots of breaks and regularly pour water over the girl’s turban as she was simply too hot. The mum had said in advance that her children could easily walk for 6-8 hours. But that was a straight no from us, and it was the right decision.
E. (almost 8 years old at the time) hiked with us for 3 days with his parents and then went camel riding. After the tour, he sent us his diary entries about the tour and these were his top 10 experiences:
Extract from E’s diary:
Top 10
Day 1: We play outside and draw our own things in the sand.
Day 2: The first day we play in the sand and mum and I draw our own things in the sand
3. standing on the top of the highest dune
4. the first day of hiking in the dunes
5. second day of hiking in the mountains
6. seeing camels in the wild
7. riding camels
8. sleeping in a tent
9. watching the pizza in the wood-fired oven
10. sand-boarding
Older children and teenagers love sand-boarding, baking bread in the sand and they all love meeting the locals, which we try to include on every tour.
Depending on the tour, the walking time required for each day is 4-8 hours (10-22 km), which means that a good basic level of fitness is a prerequisite. If possible, the children should have already done a multi-day hike. On our longer camel trekking tours, you can also book a riding camel, but there are sections that cannot be ridden for safety reasons. And riding a camel for 4-8 hours is also exhausting and perhaps too boring for most children.
They should also tolerate long clothing and a sun hat/turban for the duration of the trek and follow instructions, e.g. drink more, walk slowly, etc.
Many children are ‘picky eaters’ and don’t like food they don’t know. If we know this in advance, it is no problem to cater to their specific wishes. We can serve pasta with ketchup or fries every day. But maybe the children also enjoy eating with their fingers like the locals and trying something new.
We usually serve very balanced meals, on longer hikes mainly vegetarian (with a bit of tinned fish here and there), as it is not possible to transport meat in the heat.
According to the DAK health report https://www.dak.de/presse/bundesthemen/kinder-jugendgesundheit/drei-viertel-der-kinder-in-deutschland-leiden-bei-hitze_81202
children are 8 times more likely to suffer sunstroke, cramps or other heat injuries requiring treatment, even at 30 C. This may be rare enough in Germany or other northern countries, but here we occasionally have temperatures above 30 C as early as February. And there is little to no shade on the hiking routes, which should not be underestimated.
The limitation is usually heat, children react differently to adults and overheat more quickly, the nearest possibility for medical care is far away (depending on the region 4-8 hours or more, including the time the car needs to get to the scene of the incident). You don’t necessarily have that much time in the event of heat- or sunstroke.
For children under the age of 8, we only offer day trips in the Merzouga region, or a stay of several days in the desert, but without camels or longer hikes. We can organise meetings with nomadic families or families in Merzouga, eating or playing together.
From the age of 8, multi-day hikes and shorter camel treks are possible if the parents are sure that the children are fit enough and it is not too hot. This means that we stay in the Merzouga region (up to 1 hour’s drive away), from where transport can be organised quickly and easily in an emergency.
For children 10 years and older we can also offer longer camel treks in more remote regions, as long as they are healthy and in good physical condition.
We don’t know your children, especially in the planning phase, which is why we always prefer to err on the side of caution. After a few days of travelling together, we can better assess the individual risk and can then adjust the plans. And even though the responsibility for the children lies with their parents, we still decide which tour we offer, whether we change the route along the way or even cancel the tour after a few days.
It is important to choose the right clothing for the children. Long clothing is a must to protect the skin from the sun. Shirts made of thin natural fabrics are best, if possible even with UV protection. A turban is included for each of our hiking guests and is also the most comfortable on the head. If you are sensitive to light, you may also want to wear a baseball cap. And sunglasses and sun cream are very important!
Boots that go over the ankle are appropriate for most tours, as otherwise you will constantly have sand in your shoes and quickly get blisters. Sandals with socks also work quite well if you don’t have very sensitive feet.
Drinking regularly, i.e. at least every 30-60 minutes and, depending on their age, 1-2 litres throughout the day. For multi-day hikes, provide electrolytes, e.g. with multivitamin tablets or similar. Eat snacks regularly. We always pack apples and some kind of trail mix for quick energy in between. If children don’t like these things, this should be communicated in advance so that we can find and pack an alternative.
It is important to take children seriously when they say that they are not feeling well. Open communication is super important, ask frequently if everything is ok, if they are not too hot, take breaks earlier and more often and pay attention to body language/ what is being said. And very importantly, don’t put any pressure on the children to keep going or anything like that. We would rather interrupt a tour and get a car than risk the health or life of a child.
Even though much of this article may sound scary, there is no reason not to go to the desert with children. But, you should do it in a safe setting, with experienced locals who can assess the situation on the ground.
