OKEHAMPTON mother Wendy Gibb has returned home from Morocco after completing the multi-disciplined Sahara Challenge for Mencap where she covered 285km in five days on foot, bike, camel and 4x4.

Wendy, who had to raise £2,500 to take part, said the experience was hard work but fantastic. Here she recalls her adventure of a lifetime:

Day One — 'The 4x4 drive started from Quarzazate with 40km of tarmac road, the last we were to see until after the event. It was then a case of using the global positioning system for 130km of off-road driving. Several wrong turns, flat tyre and some beautiful scenery later ( in between the Sahara Mountains to the south and snow-capped Atlas Mountains to the north) we climbed to camp one at 1,890 metres.

Day Two — Having chosen our bikes it was an early start for the 19km cycle to lunch. This was mostly uphill to the Tizi Tazazert pass at 2255m, no mean feat with only one gear and a binding back brake. But the effort was worth it with the afternoon involving the sheer pleasure of a 17km descent of 1,000m through breathtaking scenery.

Rocky track surfaces and sheer drops at the edges added an element of danger but thankfully relatively minor injuries were sustained by the people who fell off.

Day Three — Relatively easy day trekking through the gorges and passes of Jebel Sahara (the Sahara Mountains) with the highest point being Tizi Igli at 1900m.

With guides to show us the way we could concentrate on the narrow, rocky paths and still appreciate the varied scenery.

A long day to cover the 27km reaching camp before dusk.

Day Four — The 16km run involved self navigating but was not nearly as easy as the 4x4 because the route was given 'as the crow flies', consequently we started by unnecessarily traversing a hill.

We eventually found the dry river bed that we were supposed to follow for 6km which was very rocky and sandy and not conducive to fast running.

This was followed by a rock scramble up to a gorge of 1km and a short vertical climb to a sandy track. The next 9km followed the track to the valley with gentle undulations to camp where the ground crew were just starting to erect the tents!

Day Five — For the final 25 km I chose a nice quiet camel and didn't let go. We crossed the finish line, hung with medals and cans of beer.'

Wendy said that some of the hardest aspects of the challenge were having no contact with her children, sharing a tent with strangers, no privacy and limited sanitation facilities.

She will be holding a fundraising coffee morning for Mencap on March 10 with a 50/50 toy and children's clothes sale in the Charter Hall. Anyone with anything to sell should phone 01837 54642.