Sunday, November 7, 2010

Sahara Desert Adventure: Beginning of Moroccan Excursion

Picture this: You are speeding along in a sturdy, dusty jeep down a thin stretch of Moroccan road. The sun is setting over your surrounding landscape, (which consists of dry flatlands dotted with an occasional shrubery, fossil shop or goat herd); giving everything around you a hazy golden glow. Suddenly, your jeep veers off the road and begins heading into the middle of this empty landscape. A large dust trail flumes up behind you, as with windows down your jeep flies towards an unknown destination following an unmarked path. As night falls and you are assuredly in the middle of nowhere, a camp suddenly appears in front of your headlights. Small dark burlap mounds turn out to be the carpeted tents you will be spending the evening in. The silhouettes of camels in the background can be dimly seen under the overwhelmingly clear blanket of stars appearing in the night sky. Yet the most striking thing about this landscape is the looming sahara sand dunes majestically standing in the background behind the tents; lit by a faint white shimmer gleaming from the rising moon. Believe it or not, this is a semblance of how our adventure in the desert began in Morocco.


Our desert tents at dusk


Berber Musician at the fire pit
We arrived to our camp after our exhilarating drive through the desert. After settling in we mingled with the local berber musicians, and eventually ended up all laughing and dancing with them around a crackling bonfire. Then we were served yet another delicious Moroccan tangine meal in a grand, brightly colored tent with live drummers providing our background music. After dinner, all 16 of us daringly wandered into the massive sandunes our little camp bordered. What a great night it was climbing up and sliding down the dunes in the moonlight! We stayed out for hours, constantly in awe of our surroundings.

We then retired to our tents, protected from the desert cold by thick wool blankets. We were awoken in the morning to the sounds of moaning camels about to take riders out to see the sunrise. Opting for a later morning camel ride, the majority of us set out on foot to the sand dunes at dawn to watch the sunrise. What a magnificient experience this was! Here are some pictures of this morning's view:


Sunrise over the Sahara

Bundled up and perched atop the highest sand dune for the best view 
After our morning spectacle, we returned to our camp for our very own camel caravan. Each of us had our own personal camel led by a berber guide. We spent an hour riding the camels total, exploring more of the sand dunes. Some of our group became especially good friends with their camels. Many had been given names by the end: some including Stockings, Cosmo and Fred. Since you initially mount a camel when it is laying down in the sand, the group found particular humor in the camels standing up with the rider on its back. Their loud groans and long stilty legs made for awkward beginnings as the camel rider is forced to grip the saddle as it swings them in all sorts of precarious angles. Besides this awkward process, the camel ride went very smoothly overall. There was only one runaway camel among our group (camels can in fact gallop we learned), but luckily his rider managed to tame him with much kicking and shrieking in the end. Here are some photos of this adventure:


TIME2010 Camel Caravan!

Connor facing off with his mount

Our fearless trip leaders forging the way ahead!

This wonderful desert experience was just the beginning of our awesome Moroccan excursion. This first day and night however will forever remain a favorite memory among all of us. What a great adventure this trip continues to be! Cheers!

Kelsie Brust

2 comments:

  1. Love Them , Hail Morocco , I found THis Blogspot By axident, Add me On facebook I'm a Young moroccan Triper, Maybe I can Help in An other trip " Ayoub Haidar" add me ;)

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