We were up very early and after a good breakfast checked out of the riad. Our new driver, Khalid, was waiting for us in the lobby and we followed him out of the riad to the parking lot. All aboard the Toyota Land Cruiser that was going to be our ship to the desert.
We wound out of the medina, looking back fondly on the dense agglomeration of houses, and made our way out of the city. It was also the start of the new school term after holidays, and lots of children were on their way to school, cramming last minute, as is the way with kids everywhere.
In a short time, we were ascending into the mountains of the middle Atlas and soon arrived at Ifrane. This is an idyllic town, laid out like something in the Alps, with its chalets and coniferous forests. The Al Akhawaya university is also situated here, which means that there are a lot of young students about.
We stopped to take the obligatory picture near the stone lion and walked around a little.
After a short coffee and loo break at the Chamonix hotel, we were off again, through cedar forests, heading towards Azrou, which means "rock" in the Berber language. We stopped to take pictures of the famous barbary apes of Morocco.
We continued southwards, passing villages and small towns.
We pulled into Midelt at lunchtime and broke for lunch at the Kasbah Asma. It was clear that things had changed considerably since the morning. The architecture had taken on a distinctly Berber flavour and the deep green of the mountains was slowly being diluted.
We had a simple meal at the kasbah of warm bread and tagines and chips. This was pretty much what was going to be on offer for the next few days. We saw our first Gnaoua musician here as well. The Gnaoua musicians perform the traditional music of the Berber people. One of the fun things they do is rotate their head to make the tassels of their fez caps whirl around like the rotor blades of a helicopter.
We headed further south, and the vegetation was getting more and more sparse.
There were many kasbahs enroute, some crumbling, others converted into hotels.
As we neared Er Rachidia, the landscape had changed dramatically. Gone was most vegetation, replaced by rocks and gravel.
We stopped for gas at Erfoud. Things had started to look a bit hairy for our desert sojourn. The sky was overcast, there was almost no sun, and visibility was not too great.
In the middle of nowhere, just when your eyes have gotten used to browns and greys, suddenly, a flash of green. The Tafilet oasis in the Ziz valley, runs between Erfoud and Rissani. 800000 date palms grow here, in a triumph of water over the desert.
Shops appear by the roadside selling fossils such as the desert rose below.
We pass Rissani and finally reach Merzouga. Many visitors opt to base themselves in hotels either here, or in Erfoud, and visit the dunes of Erg Chebbi on a sunrise or sunset trip. We had decided to spend the night in the dunes, which meant passing through Merzouga, and going off road, onto the piste.
Here finally was the desolate gravel, the empty vistas, the views of nothingness.
In the distance, our first view of the Erg Chebbi dunes. Even with the reduced visibility, their size and colour are evident.
So here we are, finally, at the edge of the great Sahara desert. The Erg Chebbi dunes extend for over 30 km, reaching a maximum height of 250 metres.
We look out in awe upon the dunes, and wish for better weather. The sky has still not cleared up and normally at this time, the sun should have been blazing down upon us, rather than making feeble attempts to penetrate the cloud cover.
We had a sunset camel ride that was planned for us, and even though the sun decided not to make an appearance, the camels were present and willing.
Anyone who has ever been on a camel will tell you that the beginning and ending, when the camel gets up and sits down is the most fun. These are dromedaries,with two humps, and you sit between the humps with no stirrups or anything, which means you have to work to keep your balance.
Make sure to wear flexible clothing (I wore a soft pair of yoga pants). The inner thigh does get stretched a bit, but its not bad and I certainly did not have to walk bandy legged the next day or anything. Of course, if you have a full on camel safari lasting a few hours, expect some soreness. Best to wear open footwear to allow the sand to fall through. And take something to cover your nose and mouth.
We were off into the dunes. The vistas were amazing, and the photos would have captured more of the magic in better light, but it was truly wonderful. The rolling motion of the camel's gait as we headed deeper into the dunes almost made me wish we had time for a longer safari.
We climbed up a dune and got off the camels. This would normally be a vantage point for the sunset, but today, it was an opportunity to sink our feet into the warm Saharan sand.
All around us were the curves of undulating dunes, and all we could hear was the desert wind. The Chebbi sands are a beautiful rose gold and as the wind blows across the dunes, we see the sands shifting and moving.
Our Berber camel guide pulls out his bag of trinkets. All of them carry around fossils and berber jewellery to sell to tourists. We pick up a nice fossil ammonite and refuse to bargain, paying him the full price. He tells us that his home is 5 km away further in the dunes.
We return to the camel corral and dismount. I ask my guide what my camel is called. He says its name is Jimi Hendrix. Go figure.
We walk into the dunes again and after about 7 minutes we reach our camp. Our luggage is already in our tent and we sit around outside as we are welcomed with mint tea and cookies. Khalid tells us that we are going to be the only people in the camp tonight, so its very special, but I wonder if the weather will improve so we can truly enjoy the experience.
Its almost dusk and the wind has picked up a bit, but its still fine to sit outside. We sit with Khalid and our camp helpers and talk about life in the desert.
A group of Gnaoua musicians comes into the camp for a performance and while we listen to them, I look around with that sudden sharp understanding that happens on every trip, the one where you realise that you are completely out of your zone, in a foreign place, a fact made even more real here by the feeling of the soft sand under your feet.
Its time for dinner and we get into our tent to freshen up. The camp is seriously luxurious, with Berber rugs on the floor, a huge double bed....
...... a flushing toilet.........
....and even a hot shower !
We freshen up and head out again for dinner. A delicious harira with broken wheat is followed by tagines and couscous. Cut oranges sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon is the simple but great dessert. We enjoy our meal, but we cannot linger as the wind has picked up a bit more. The desert sky filled with stars is nowhere to be seen.
The sanest option is to head to bed, and in any case we have had an early start and a long day, so this is not entirely uninviting. We get into bed and fall asleep, only to be woken up an hour later as a full blown sandstorm hits the desert.
To experience a sandstorm in the desert is both terrifying and exhilarating. The wind howled and blew open the tent openings every now and then and sand found its way inside, from the sides, the roof, and just about everywhere else. At times it was impossible to hear what we were saying to each other. We had to cover ourselves totally from head to toe, as well as cover our faces to prevent sand from going into our eyes and noses. At about 4 am, when the storm was at its worst, I wondered if we would be able to leave the next morning.
I remember thanking our stars that we were in a nice camp. If we were stuck in a sandstorm, at least basic utilities like a loo were within safe reach. And I remember the great shame I felt the next instant when I thought about how our Berber guide and his family would be coping. At 5 am, I fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion, at just about the same time he would be getting ready to venture out of his very basic tent, and preparing to walk through the sandstorm to get to us, 5 km away.
