The Sahara
Sunday, February 4th, 2007We’ve just returned to civilisation (if Erfoud deservers such a lofty title) after a few days in the Sahara. We took a two-night camel trip to a place called Erg Chebby, which is the main part of the Moroccan Sahara. It was just the two of us with our guide Mubarak, and our only complaint was that Mubarak didn’t speak any languages we speak – not even French (aside from a few words), which most Moroccans speak as a second language.
The first afternoon was overcast and dull but fortunately yesterday was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky, and it was wonderful to amble through the sand dunes atop Cliff (as I named my camel), pondering life without a care in the world (I presume Cliff did this as well). Last time I only went to the fringes of Erg Chebby without going ‘in’, so it was nice to get among the dunes rather than just looking at them from the edge. I was quite surprised to see the odd Berber family living in the dunes, which must be a very tough life. We spent the first night in a tent in the dunes, and the second night with a Berber family just outside the dunes. With the language barrier, it was hard to find out a lot about why they live there and how they get by, but it was still a great experience nevertheless.
In an hour or so, we’re taking a bus towards Todra Gorge, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in Morocco. When Wendy was here five years ago, she took a tour to the desert from Marrakesh that was supposed to include three hours in the gorge. But others in her group spent too long haggling for carpets and they ended up with only 20 minutes at the gorge. I’m making it up to her by allowing her to stay two or three days this time – hopefully the weather will stay nice and we can do some hiking in and around the gorge…
Pictures, as always, are here, including some shots of the Sahara.
Nick