This month the Silver Travel Book Club is reading Walking with Nomads by TV presenter, adventurer and explorer Alice Morrison.
This month marks International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March, a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. So, for this month’s Silver Travel Book Club we’re reading all about the incredible achievements of TV presenter, adventurer and explorer Alice Morrison in her memoir Walking with Nomads.
This fantastic page turner takes the reader on three remarkable and inspirational journeys across Morocco, from the Sahara to the Atlas mountains, to reveal the growing challenges faced by our planet.
Accompanied only by three Amazigh Muslim men and their camels, Scottish explorer Alice Morrison set off to find a hidden world. During her journey along the Draa river, she encountered dinosaur footprints and discovered a lost city, as well as what looked like a map of an ancient spaceship, all the while trying to avoid landmines, quicksand and the deadly horned viper.
Meeting other nomads as they travel, Alice also gets to hear a side of their lives few ever access, as the women would never be allowed to speak to men from outside their community. They explain the challenges of giving birth and raising children in the wilderness. As the journey continues, Alice learns to enjoy goat’s trachea sausages, gets a saliva shower from Hamish the camel, and shares riddles round the camp fire with her fellow travellers.
Walking with Nomads reveals the transformative richness of the desert and the mountains, providing a total escape from everyday concerns, but it also shows how the ancient world of the nomad is under threat as never before.
How to win a copy of Walking with Nomads
Please note: this prize draw is now closed.
Comment below and tell us which everyday item you couldn’t live without on an adventure in the desert.
A winner will be chosen at random in early April 2024.
The competition closes on 31 March 2024.
Read more about all our Silver Travel Book Club reads.
31 Responses
My M & S fedora hat – been on many a holiday and trek – great for keeping face and head safe from the sun!
My everyday item I couldn’t do without on an adventure in the desert would be my cell phone with a solar charging power bank. I would want to be able to capture all the photos of the amazing scenery and record my thoughts along the way. They’d probably need to be kept in an air tight bag to keep the sand out. Barring that, I’d want my journal, another item I use every day, to write down all the sights, sounds and experiences.
I couldn’t do without my full water bottle!
Would have to be my partner I would get lost without her
I would just have to have my old, battered but invaluable Tilly hat to keep the sun out of my eyes so I could really enjoy the stunning scenery.
My sun hat!
A keffiyeh (traditional Arabic headscarf) that I got whilst working in Syria … perfect for protection for the sun and sand!
My kindle
I would take the largest water bottle that I could comfortably carry to make sure that I didn’t have to miss anything by finding a water source.
I would leave my mobile phone at home to avoid unnecessary distraction but my camera is essential to every holiday and special occasion. I take photos and record videos which I review and annotate at the end of each day of my holiday, ready for uploading to my computer when I return home and from which I create a photobook of every trip. I would relish the opportunity to capture the sights, sounds and colours of a desert location and enjoy reviewing my pictorial souvenir of a visit to this unique environment.
My. Pashmina scarf wrap. For the eves as the temp drops and the skies. Darken
I couldn’t travel there without my small (ladies) swiss army knife that has a pair of scissors built in. I seem to need it every time I travel and use all the parts although there are only a few compared with some of the (men’s) models.
How do you get it through airport security ? I had mine confiscated in Mexico, never to be seen again, though it was the chunkier man’s version.
A copious supply of Sun Screen.
It looks a great brook and sounds a super read so thank you.
My gratitude diary so I could write about my adventures and also have my memories in my own words.
My trusty water bottle
An old favourite scarf which keeps me warm, protects me from the sun, and covers up bits of my body as necessary!
My Patricia Underwood hat so big and floppy keeps sun off my neck and face too
Sunscreen…….
Lots of water and high energy food for survival with a device fitted that would locate me if I was lost!
Sunglasses, they have been all over with me.
A never ending water bottle.
Clean water!
Sunglasses and lip gloss!
I couldn’t manage without my small box of special floss for my teeth implants; the box would also hold an interdental brush in case a piece of goats trachea sausage, or something similar, gets trapped between my teeth.
My big floppy sunhat that has been on many trips with me.
A large water canteen
a never ending bottle of water, a large brimmed floppy hat & a lip balm
My specs – I can use them to see, and to light a fire.
My kindle as I love reading travel writing whilst I’m travelling.