Map of the Journey We began our journey in Marrakech, an old and exotic trade center in central Morocco. Here we connected with our friend Ashar who had arranged for Bill and I to walk with our four camels from Morocco to Algeria, Mauritania and Mali with a twelve member Berber family. In a rented Toyota we drove south into the Atlas Mountains and on to the city of Taroudant. We soon reached Foum Zguid, the last outpost of the western edge of the Sahara in Morocco, a few miles from the Algerian border. Traveling farther into the desert we were introduced to the Berber family we would join for the journey. After becoming acquainted with our hosts we spent the next day loading their twenty-six camels with all of their possessions and supplies, then loading our four camels with enough supplies to last us for the journey. A trek across any region of the Sahara is one of the most perilous on earth, especially on foot. In addition to finding water, daily food preparation, and avoiding the hazards of the desert, we had to be on the alert for desert bandits who might steal our camels and belongings.  On the map above, the red line shows our approximate route into Mali where we met the relatives of our host family. The blue line is our approximate route back to Morocco.