Merzouga, Erfoud, Todra Gorge and Ouarzazate, Morocco
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
We left our hotel at 5am for a 50 min 4-wheel drive ride to Merzouga, the desert area close to the Algerian border. Once there, it was onto a camel, sharing with Cynthia, for a 20 or so min ride through the sand dunes. I was glad to get off that camel, it was very uncomfortable and when it knelt down to let me off I was thrown forward onto a bolt on the front of the harness and got a very sore thigh and a painful deep bruise for my efforts. We had a berber (desert nomad) guide allocated to each camel and Cynthia's & my guide was very charming and very smart. Most Moroccans speak 2 or 3 languages, Arabic first, French second then English. After a slow trudge up to the top of the sand dunes, partly pulled along by my guide (they are quick to want to hold your hand!!) we made it to the top when the berbers laid out rugs for everyone to sit on and we had a 45 minute wait for the sun to rise. What a sight that was!! Very beautiful and magical. I got lots of great photos including lots of the berbers with us
. They love to pose for photos. I even sparked a bidding war with our guide between Cynthia & I. It was who could get the most camels in exchange for marriage!!! They love playing up to us with marriage proposals and such malarky! After that it was back on those smelly camels and eventually back to our hotel feeling like we had been out all day even though it was only about 4 hours. One amazing morning.
More long drives followed. Morocco is a huge country and we sure did a lot of driving! Leaving Erfoud behind us we headed for the Todra Gorge. This is a narrow canyon that rises about 200m high. After a lunch break here we went to Ouarzazate (pronounced Warzarzat) for the night.
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Bidding war
In case anyone is wondering I lost the camel bidding war for marriage, oh well. But thats okay, I am not sure what I would do with 26 camels anyway...or a Berber husband who lives in a tent in the Sahara...