Trying the Saharan sand cure

By Pascale Harter
BBC correspondent in Rabat

Sometimes reporters take dangerous risks with unsavoury characters in the name of journalism.

And so it was that I found myself buried up to my neck in the middle of the Western Sahara desert, at the mercy of nomads I'd met only the day before.

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It's not exactly Iraq, and my hosts were very pleasant young women rather than hostile militiamen, but with the midday sun beating down, it was still an uncomfortable way to pass the time.

However, it's a pastime herds of tourists are flocking to the desert to try out.

Much like the dubious luxuries offered by health spas for pampered westerners, such as the seaweed wrap or floating in a dark tank for an hour, the sand cure is the latest detox to hit the market. And it's available in a desert near you.

"I want to test this technique because it's natural," a French tourist told me on her way to the desert, "the dry air and the dry heat, it's very good for the body".

"It depends who's with you when you do it," said one Italian, "if you're with friends it's OK, hopefully they won't leave you there".

Tradition

Minetoo was sewing a windbreaker for the family tent when I was invited in for tea.

The territory of the Western Sahara, home to tribes of Saharawi nomads, has been administered by Morocco for the last 30 years.

Minetoo's family have left much of their nomadic heritage behind them. They have a house in the nearby town, Laayoune, and her husband drives to work. But they haven't lost touch with the customs of their nomadic ancestors.

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"Every summer we leave our house and come here into the desert to escape and do the sand cure," she told me.

"We make a big hole, cover ourselves in lotion, get in the hole and stay there in the sun for a couple of hours, until we're soaking with sweat."

Minetoo's nomadic ancestors found that all that traipsing around in the desert could play havoc with the knee joints.

"Our people have been doing the sand cure forever," says Minetoo.

"You have your scientific medicines, we have our ancestral ones. It's natural, but it's got to be good dry desert sand, not beach sand which is damp."

Sunk

Several cups of traditional mint tea later, drunk on Saharawi hospitality, I volunteered to try it out.

But I nearly backed out when Minetoo told me they would bury me at noon the next day, when the full heat of the desert sun would be bearing down on us.

I hobbled back to the tent, like a sandmonster on wobbly legs

"You better bring your mum," she said, slapping her thigh and cackling, "because we don't have any insurance if you don't survive".

Thus reassured I went back to Minetoo's tent at noon the next day.

The sand was scorching to touch. And having wished for a breeze, I was soon regretting it as sand swept off the sand dune and into my mouth.

Apart from crunching on grains of sand, it was not a disagreeable experience; rather like a hot, dry bath.

And my captors were friendly. As I lay totally immobile, my head and a hand brandishing a microphone the only signs that this was a human sand dune, Minetoo's daughter's lazed around, oblivious to the heat, and amused at my discomfort.

After 20 minutes I was so relaxed I felt I could have stayed there forever, savouring the silence of the desert.

Luckily Minetoo's daughters recognised the signs of delirium setting in and started digging me out.

As I hobbled back to the tent, like a sandmonster on wobbly legs, they gave me a round of applause for surviving. I had lasted a measly half hour in the sand hole. The Saharawis spend two. But I felt purged enough for my liking.

Dr Coulon says there is truth in the Saharawi claim that the sand cure helps alleviate rheumatism. She has been a practising GP in Morocco for more than 30 years and has tried the sand cure herself.

"It's very good for your bones, tendons and articulation," she says, "but it's very important to make this cure with a doctor".

Dr Coulon says the sand cure can serve as an antidote to the stresses of modern life on the body by cleaning the blood of impurities caused by eating too much protein and sugar. She recommends taking the sand cure once every couple of months as a detox.

I'd say two months gives you just enough time to finish getting the sand out of your ears before going back for more.