The Sahara, the worldís greatest desert, is as large as the whole of the lower 48 States. Imagine walking in silence through this great emptiness in the company of friends. This is a contemplative journey; its purpose is to allow the vastness and majesty of Great Nature to pour through our senses, and to offer a remarkable context for each individual to walk with themselves in solitude along with others. Within a day or two we shall begin to assume our proper place and significance in the family of things, and to sense the emergence of qualities central to every spiritual tradition: humility, gratitude, awe and wonder. On this walking journey the desert is the teacher. We allow the great wilderness to speak to us, and begin to realize why so much of the wisdom of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam was born in the desert, QUIET AND ALONE TOGETHER
IN THE GREAT OPEN SPACEMoving slowly and silently, accompanied by Bedouin guides, we shall travel through some of the wilder and more virginal landscapes on earth, in southern Morocco, on the border with Algeria. We land at the oasis town of Ouarzazate, south west of Marrakech, and after a nightís rest there we drive out into the desert to our first encampment. Then for the next six days we shall walk through the desert for three hours or so each morning and afternoon. Camels will carry our baggage, and our Bedouin guides will go ahead in land cruisers to make camp and prepare food. We shall eat together, hold council each evening, and sleep in traditional goatís hair tents or under the stars. The night temperature will be around 45, and at noon it can reach 75.
Participants will have the opportunity (not obligatory) to spend the last day and night entirely on their own somewhere in sight of our encampment. This gives each individual the time to feel more deeply into her own place and to have an insight on life from the vast perspective of the endless sands. On the eleventh day we shall travel on to Marrakech. Our twelfth and final day will be spent in this, the most colorful and vibrant city in Morocco.
