A DALGETY BAY duo braved scorching heat, lost toenails, runaway camels and sandstorms to trek 100km in the Sahara Desert. 

Sharon Stevenson, 49, and her niece, Karis Reynolds, 21, took on the challenge in north Africa to raise more than £7,000 for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland. 

They spent six days in the world’s largest hot desert – which is the size of the USA – and Sharon said: “We’d both do it again in a heartbeat. 

“There’s no air pollution so the sky at night and the stars ... I’ve never seen anything like it. 

“The sun setting was spectacular, it was different terrain and the scenery changed all the time. 

“You’d think it was all just sand and more sand but I was gobsmacked just how beautiful it was.”

The pair flew to Casablanca and onto Ouarzazate, in the south of Morocco. 

It was a five-hour drive to the edge of the desert, where they met their fellow trekkers, two guides, doctor, six camels and four berbers, native desert guides. 

Sharon, a social car worker with Fife Council, said: “One of the camels – they’re worth 1,000 Euros each – went AWOL and they found it the following day, 40km away sleeping under a tree with four rucksacks and a tent.”

The trekkers would take a break during the hottest part of the day, when temperatures reached 38°C (104°F), and “it was Factor 50 suncream all the way”. 

“Folk said to us: ‘You didn’t get much of a tan’ but it’s the last thing you’re thinking about.

“And it was freezing at night, I had my woolly tammy on!

“The hardest part was day four, it was really bleak and you couldn’t see anything for miles. 

“Everyone struggled that day, we just had to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.”

The charity is close to home for the pair as Sharon explained: “I lost my mum, Cath, two-and-a-half years ago to a stroke and it was so sudden and unexpected that I wanted to do something to raise awareness. 

“It’s such a common thing in Scotland and we decided on something special because that was the kind of person she was.”

They had previously postponed the trek when Karis, who works for Vets Now, had her knee in a brace for three months. 

Sharon said: “It was a big decision whether to do it this year as I lost my dad, Dave, on January 5. Eventually we just decided to go for it. 

“We were the only two that weren’t experienced trekkers, others had climbed Kilimanjaro and we pitched up with our £3 walking poles! 

“They did the job though.”

You can still help them add to their fund-raising total at www.doitforcharity.com/Karis