We had a couple of days to explore the desert. The first day we were off-roading in the SUV, seeing camels roaming about, meeting nomadic Berber/Amazigh families, visiting an oasis, and climbing trees.... I just couldn't resist! We found out that there are no wild camels in the desert - all are owned and tagged. They do eat camel meat, but it is expensive and rare because the camels are more valued for tourism and transportation. The Berber people make up more than 60% of the population in Morocco and they prefer the name Amazigh - which means wild and free! No wonder I felt so at home with them :)
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| Roaming camels |
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| A lone tree in the desert must be climbed! |
There were two distinct deserts: the great sand dunes of the Sarah with the red sand, and the black rock desert, which was exactly what it sounds like - rocks that looked like they've been burnt. In the desert there are oasis, which are like huge community gardens. The natural springs are diverted through irrigation channels and each family gets water for a certain amount of time each week. They grow crops for their families and to sell in the souks.
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| Black rock desert - Sand dunes backdrop |
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| Sand Dunes |
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| Irrigation in the oasis |
After exploring by car, we got to explore on camels! A two hour ride through the dunes at sunset, out to a camp to spend the night. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive about the camel ride, as I'm not a big fan of horses, and wasn't sure how I'd do, but I LOVED it! The camels are super slow and the ride was surprisingly smooth. It really did feel like I was riding a "ship of the desert". It was a meditative, mesmerizing experience.
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| Off and running, errr..... walking! |
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| I made friends with Shooma |
Out at the camp we each had our own sleeping tent, which had an actual bed and carpets on the sand floor. There was a bathroom tent with flushing toilets and running water sinks. I'm still not sure how that actually worked?! The camp had solar power electricity - I learned that Morocco is leading the way in solar energy and will soon have the largest solar plant in the world. There was also a community tent where we had dinner and music. We had beautiful weather, but the winds kicked up when we got to camp, so star-gazing was pretty limited that evening. However, back at the riad, we had a magical night on the rooftop, under the stars, with a bottle of wine and local music.
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| Camping in the desert |
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| The camels settling down for the night |
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| Our camel guides also provided the after-dinner music and entertainment |
The next morning we were up early to catch the sunrise and ride back to the riad to continue the adventures.
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| Sunrise in the desert |
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| Algeria is on the other side of the plateau on the horizon |
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| Camels are just cool! |
To be continued (again)....
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