The Sahara Freakin' Desert!!!

****WARNING: This is a novel. I've included bullet points at the bottom!!****

This past weekend trip was so much more than I could have ever imagined. A total of 12 of us went, along with a guide by the name of Hamza, a driver, and his son. I later learned that Hamza lives in the desert himself 11 hours away from Rabat, with his only form of transportation the public bus system. When he’s not leading trips to the desert, he fixes computers for a living in his home village for meager payment. Moroccans are such hard workers!

We began our 9+ hour drive early Friday morning, with the area quickly dissolving into countryside. There’s so much to see and take in, it was impossible for me to sleep! Mohamed our program director decided to go home for the long weekend and accompanied us on the first leg of our journey. After a 3 hour trek with us, he still had an additional 8 hour public bus ride. Lucky for me I sat next to him and was able to ask my hundreds of questions as we passed through countryside, herds of goats and sheep, tiny villages with nothing but shacks, and poverty. We weaved our way over to Meknes, land of Roman ruins where I will visit in later, and then through the Middle Atlas to Irfane. Irfane looks like Leavenworth somehow got lost amidst the countryside and mountain region, complete with Swiss style buildings, posh cars, and places to ski in the winter. It was pretty crazy to say the least!

After Irfane we headed to Azrou, where we were to stay the night. It was SUCH a cool little town with many colors, tiny hole-in-the-wall stores, and cafes filled with only men and all of them facing the street and talking about gossip. It is a societal no-no for women to be seen in a café in smaller towns as you will be presumed a prostitute, and there definitely was no way it’d be safe to take pictures. After some lunch and a brief siesta we headed up the hill above Azrou and went for a “nature hike” that included bush whacking, branch stomping, and the occasional random Moroccan family picnic in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. There was no trail, but our guide seemed to know where he was going. We were greeted by a huge mess of monkeys about 2/3 through our hike, and had a ton of fun watching them swoop from tree to tree or chase the tourists that got too close. After a bit more hiking we ended up in a random super tiny village complete with little boys on donkeys, special rocks and pottery for sale, and the largest (dead) tree in Africa.

Back in Azrou we got stuck in a traffic jam because there was a huge donkey cart leading a dowry process for one of the local girls. There was a sheep and jewelry among the dowry offerings and all of the women from the town were surrounding it and singing as they went down “Main Street”. We had an awesome meal with other hotel guests and trekked upstairs to bed before our long journey the following morning. At about 10:30 there was a bunch of noise on the street below, and a few minutes later the loudest chanting I’ve ever heard started radiating up to our fourth story window. I wish I was able to record it- we were all laughing because it was so random (and didn’t really end until 4ish when there was a parade once again down Main Street!), but it was so beautiful! We learned later it had to do with the wedding.

The next morning we continued on the road, making our way up to the High Atlas. We saw nomad camps, mountains higher than I ever thought possible in Morocco, fields of wild rosemary, people selling fresh honey in Coca Cola bottles, and entire towns built out of a clay-like dirt into the hillsides. It was BEAUTIFUL! I had no idea how diverse one small country could be, and how so much of it looks like it hasn’t changed in hundreds and even possibly thousands of years. Despite that, there was at least one Coca Cola sign in every single little village/town we passed!!! Whoever is head of marketing for Coke, gold star for you! Our last stop before the desert was in Erfoud where we toured a marble and fossil factory.

After passing tiny town after tiny town, groups of oases, and getting super cold water from one of the last stores available, we ended up in Merzouga. The highway basically ends at the Sahara desert, and so we off roaded it to a hotel that is made of mud and straw where we had tea before heading into the great unknown. Our guide wrapped our heads with the traditional wrap, and jumped onto our camels to ride into the sunset. After horseback riding most of my life, I can still say that riding camels is a lot harder than it looks, and I still have “camel butt” from sitting on something so uncomfortable! The dunes were a golden orange color that I’ve never seen before, and the peace and stillness surrounding us was overwhelming. Despite being tossed every which way on my camel, I was in a photographer’s heaven!! It was so surreal, and everyone was silent for most of our hour and a half ride into the desert.

Just as the sun had set, we ended up at a camp nestled next to a very large dune (I’m thinking at least 2,000 feet. We could see the Algerian border!). We had a traditional meal of tanjine, bread, rice salad, and fruit. The sky became so dark that we saw several shooting stars, all of the constellations, and the “star dust” that one usually only sees in pictures. After dinner there was traditional drumming and singing, and at midnight we fell asleep amongst the stars and the 95ish* heat. In the middle of the night I awoke to one of the other girls screaming that something hurt. It turns out a bug crawled into her ear as she was asleep and started biting her repeatedly. Poor girl! Other than that it was pretty uneventful, and I got up before dawn to get some shots of the camp as the sun rose. The rays shot out of the sun at all angles and it was so gorgeous and peaceful! We rode back as the temperature continued to rise with the sun, and began a very long 11 hour journey home.

I was asked to stay home from work today due to my laryngitis, and I hope I’ll be able to go tomorrow. It’s so frustrating that a little head cold has turned into no voice and therefore no work! I was however able to go see the Chellah with other volunteers. If anyone knows me well, they know I was in absolute heaven there and didn’t want to leave! I’ll have to go back at sunset and photograph the heck out of it.

As promised, here are the bullet points for those who didn’t want to read my novel ;)

• Drove to Arzou- Hiked, saw monkeys, and spent the night

• Continued drive through Middle and High Atlas mountains, passing wild rosemary and ancient villages. Saw a marble and fossil factory.

• Went to the Sahara Freakin’ Desert!!!!!!!! Rode a camel. It hurts like a mother, if you’re at all curious

Below are some pictures; it was a lot harder that I thought it would be trying to take pics as I was bouncing up and down on the camel. It at least gives you a taste of what I saw!

Camel Shadow!!

The trip home. Isn't the shadow a perfect addition to the shot?!

That's right, me on a camel. Smelly Cat voice and all!

Sunrise

Our camp. We could sleep in the tent, but it was so hot that all 12 of us slept on that rug thing in front like sardines.

Part of our group heading into camp

Moroccan mint tea! Despite it being WELL over 100, it still tasted splendid.

"You don't have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation."

-The Alchemist