Merzouga Desert and the High Atlas Mountains

We joined a 3 day trip to the desert from Marrakesh. There were 11 people in the tour, 3 Aussies and 6 Spanish. We left at 7am. Our first major stop was the Ait Benhadou Kasbah. A kasbah are buildings where people live, a Medina are buildings where people shop. It was really cool and in good shape because movies had been shot there (Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia) and has now become a UNESCO protected site. The buildings are made of mud with tiny windows but that is what helps them stay cool in summer and warm in winter. They call it Berber Air Conditioning! The Berber being the people who live there.



We went inside this ladies house in the Kasbah.









The tour wasn't all we expected...the bus had no air conditioning or seat belts and the driver spoke no English. We spent about 10 hours each day driving but did stop lots for a leg stretch and a cold Fanta. We did get to see lots of the landscape though. But once you have seen one mud house built into a mountain, you have pretty much got the gist...20 more hours of looking at the same is a tad redundant!




After driving tru the Rose Valley we spent the night in a hotel. There was a river running beside us and it was nice to hear the running water and see all the greens surrounding it. Our group were the only ones staying here. We all ate together but majority rules and the Spanish people did most of the talking, and we couldn't understand them! The food was typical Moroccan (which we got to know well quickly!) tagine's and couscous.



Out front of the hotel was a miniature version built into the hill.





Next day we were on the road again. We dove thru a stunning forest of palm trees and more Oasis. We had a quick tour of local alfalfa farming and a Jewish Kasbah. Had a lesson on carpet weaving which ended up just being a gimmick to try to sell us a carpet. We had lunch at the Todra Gorge with crystal clear water running thru it.





Then back on the road heading straight for the sand! We arrived to the bottom of some sand dunes and quickly loaded onto camels. An hour ride and we arrived at our campsite with our 2 Berber guides to make us dinner and keep us company.





Our group on camels. It was so quite and peaceful in the desert. The smooth sand was calming. It felt like it went on forever. Too bad there were all these little black camel poohs everywhere!





Camel shadows








Our tents for the night. I thought they might be fancier...not just blankets sewn together and thrown over sticks in the sand.



Night time in the desert. We got into camp at 7PM and quickly dashed up the dune to catch the sunset on top of the world. Running up a mountain of sand is a workout!! Suds tried to "sandboard" down but didn't get too far. We were starving after all that but dinner wasn't ready 10PM!! Then it was a big bowl of chicken and veggie tagine with stale bread and no utensils!! But we were all so hungry we just dove in with our hands, and promptly burnt them!! It was hot!

After a good night sleep we were on the camels again and back to the van for the marathon to Marrakesh.