Sleeping in the Sahara
The highlight of my Morocco experience would definitely be my visit to the Sahara, Erg Chebbi to be precise, at Merzouga. This Oxfam sponsored expedition took us from Rabat, to Marakesh through to Ouarzazate, on to the desert, through les gorges de dades et todra and finally back to Marakesh (to do some last minute shopping).
The choices of accommodation were interesting. Many without heating, but don’t worry, I was offered “natural heating” by the concierge <shudder>. The were lavish in a simple way. Heated by firewood for the lucky, eating in communal rooms, playing tam-tam style instruments and playing cards. Large stone bed frames and cold water showers.
In the desert, a location near the disputed Algerian border where we got access to by a two hour camel ride into the middle of nowhere, we stayed in tents and stayed warm by covering up in layer upon layer of blankets. We had two hosts who took very good care of us, preparing our meals (teh food was delicious, even with the sand on our plates) and making us as warm as possible. I still almost froze to death though, should have brought a coat!.
At sunrise, our group woke early to climb the great dunes and catch our first Saharian sunrise… a feat that I did not accomplish due to a mild sand storm. BAH. It was beautiful from where I got stuck anyways. For the camelride back to the hotel base, I was graciously given a blanket to help fight off the hypothermia.
Coming out of the desert we were stopped by flooded roads, and had to take on a little mountain boy to show us the way. He was definitely super impressed by the automatic windows in our 8 seater SUV (which we crammed 10 people into. sigh)
It was freezing the entire time, and I actually got to see a couple of centimeters of snow when driving through the High Atlas. the gorges de todra were enormous and fantastic. Overall everything was great and the scenery was beautiful! We were also treated to a live concert in the middle of nowhere....and were encouraged to participate and dance along. An incredible experience!
