Going into the Sahara Desert - Ninth Day in Morocco

25. September 2022

When we woke up, we went to breakfast. It was nice. A mix of Moroccan and Western food. Very quickly after that we went back to the room, packed up and left for the minibus. Onward to the Sahara.

After a while we stopped at a turn in the road on a slope, overlooking the valley below. With the river, trees and palm trees, it was a real oasis compared to the surroundings. Gosh, the view was nice. A short photoshoot followed, and then we drove for another minute to another viewpoint. Okay, we don't need a million perspectives on the same scene haha. It was only a minute's stop for photos, but it was still nice.

Soon we were driving again. I don't know if I fell asleep or if the change was so abrupt, but suddenly we entered a canyon in the Atlas Mountains. Here we got off the minibus and went trekking along the river - literally along the river. There wasn't even a real road, just a footpath.

It was beautiful though.

The local guide was a merry fellow. “Smartphone only work, this phone better,” he said, pulling out an old button phone. He said he was perfectly happy, with 0 dirhams in his pocket.

We crossed some farms and entered one village in the canyon, a Berber village. After rounding a few corners we came upon a door and were told to take off our shoes to enter. It was a carpet maker. A weaver. In other words, a Berber carpet factory.

As we hurried inside, we were told about making Berber rugs from lamb or camel wool. Whenever the women had time in the day, they would come to this building and weave. But only 2 hours a day, as the work is harmful to the eyes and fingers.

They served us tea, and at the end, they put up some rugs for sale. There were many pretty ones, in fact, really beautiful ones. And one of them caught the eye of one of our group. Simple rustic, brown with Berber symbols. A question arose.

Would she take it?

How much was it? €150 Phew, that's not a lot for such a handmade rug, but it's also not something you'd buy in the spur of the moment. Did we even have room for it in the suitcases for the plane? Phew, was it worth it? Phew, the decision went back and forth.

The owner offered us a discount and asked us how much we could give. Finally, the friend said €100. A little too low. €120? Final agreement: €110. Good. I paid because the friend didn't take her card to the desert and we didn't have enough cash.

Her smile was big and contagious. The rest of the tour group called us rich students haha. After we got out, we got back to the minibus and continued our drive. After a while, we stopped to eat at a restaurant but again we had our own food with us.

While we were eating, another group argued with their driver. We didn't know the whole story, but they started calling their bosses and agents. Something to do with the driver having to listen to them, that they should go where they want since they paid for the trip? And it wasn't just one person, apparently, the whole group was unhappy. Maybe they wanted another place to eat? There was shouting, and waving of arms. Then they decided something and left.

After lunch, we drove to the hotel. Yes, there was a lot of driving on this trip. But we saw that the landscape was changing. And oh, how did it change.

A real desert has begun. With sand and sand and sand. Then it started to rain. NO KIDDING. After a few more kilometres passed, I realized how wrong I was about the desert.

Where we were driving was probably a desert. But not the kind you imagine when you hear the word 'desert' or Sahara. On the horizon though... We saw sand dunes. My god, they were huge.

At first, I thought they were just distant hills. I'm sorry, Sara, for not believing you.

I had a hard time believing that it was all sand and only sand. It was yellow sand on yellow sand, in stark contrast to the dark stony desert in our immediate surroundings. around the road. We slowly approached the dunes until we reached a town right on the edge of the endless drought.

We stopped to buy a quick drink of water and then went to the hotel. Fortunately, this ride only lasted another minute. After putting away the non-essentials, we waited 3 hours to go on the camels to the Sahara.

I don't know why, but my time in Morocco passed faster than in Slovenia. 3 hours passed in the blink of an eye. I went to the bathroom and when I came out we were already outside getting ready to go to the camels.

The animals were resting a few ten meters from the hotel, and while lying down they looked quite harmless. Until the first people began mounting them and they began to stand up.

Damn, these creatures were tall. Frighteningly tall. I could easily imagine horses being scary on the battlefield. But camels? Crazy! To have such a thing galloping towards you with their riders shouting and screaming!?

Pardon me for a moment to think about ancient and medieval warfare.

The five of us got up one after another, the 'lift off' quite shaky and jerky.

So we went to the Sahara and among its dunes. Winding through the valleys between individual dunes, we slowly made our way deeper into the desert. To the eye, it didn't look very far from the settlement behind us, but we walked for quite a long time. At one point we stopped and dismounted, free to climb the dunes.

Up until this point, I hadn't really understood the phrase "You take two steps forward and one step back" used in relation to walking on sand. It's completely true. We ran to the top of one of the dunes, although the "running" part was slow.

The plan was to watch the sunset in the desert. Instead, we got to the desert for one of the 3 or 4 days of the year that it rained. The sky was cloudy and raindrops were falling on us. It may not have been the most colourful view of the desert, but it was an eye-opening one. It was... spacious.

All in all, it was also great fun and we took tons of pictures. In return, the desert filled our shoes with sand. With tons of sand.

As it began to get dark, we descended back to the camels, climbed high above the sand, and made our way to the camp, which was located on the very edge of the desert. It was quite obviously of a more permanent nature, intended for tourists.

They offered us tea and we chilled for a bit. The break was necessary. Riding camels was far effortless or without consequences (my butt hurt). After about an hour of waiting, we were invited to another tent for dinner. It was very tasty, although the same as the previous night at the hotel (the same dish, but better).

After we ate we were then taken to our tents and as we settled in music came through the walls. The guides lit a campfire and brought drums and a guitar. So we chilled with music. We also danced a bit.

When I finally thought things were calming down and we could go to sleep, we left the camp. To a nearby sand dune. We sat down and stared into the night. The stars shone above and the fine sand made for a very comfortable seat.

Cigarettes came out and one of the guides even brought us a bottle of red wine! We stayed there for a long time. They offered us to sleep in the desert, but we decided not to. It was a little too cold.

So it wasn't until 00:34 that bedtime came. Come on. We were supposed to get up at 6:00. for sunrise😩.

Sleep was good regardless. We had real beds, albeit full of sand.