Our second day of traveling was fairly uneventful. We all boarded the bus again at 7:30 AM and went for a windy drive through the mountains. After 4 hours of twisting and turning – when we had all nearly reached the point of nausea – we took a quick bread for a picnic lunch at a rest stop in the High Atlas Mountains. Fadoua had packed bread for sandwiches, along with tuna, Laughing Cow cheese, PB&J, and a substance called “Happy Crispy” which was basically a melted Nestle Crunch bar in a jar. So wrong, and sooo right. Balanced out with some Sprite and paprika chips, we finished up and climbed back on the bus.
On our way into the desert, we passed the Moroccan Hollywood, a movie studio and growing town where many Moroccan films are filmed, which has also served as a shooting location for some American movies like “Gladiator” and “Alexander.”
Around 4:00, we arrived at our hotel in Zagora, where we wasted no time changing to jump into the ice-cold outdoor pool for a quick round of Marco Polo (which we had to explain to Fadoua – nothing makes you realize how weird your own games and traditions are like explaining them to someone else…).
After this, we all went shopping for turbans in preparation for tomorrow’s desert trek and learned to tie them properly. We ate a chicken tajine dinner in giant carpet tents which were set up outside the hotel. After lounging outside, staring at the full moon and stars – followed by a quick turban photo shoot – we went up to bed.
The following morning, we drove out and picked up our desert guide, Ibrahim. Our first stop was a small village where we wandered the ancient Kasbah, toured the abandoned synagogue, and watched an old jeweler create silver amulets out of silver melted down in a fire and poured into clay molds.
In a second village, we visited a library of old Qurans, history books, and astrology texts, and then we went on to a little (expensive!) pottery shop.
From here, we transferred from our van to a pair of jeeps and headed into the desert. We ate lunch at the house of a Berber chief who fed us veggies, rice, beans, lentils, fruit, and peanuts. Then, over some tea (Berber whiskey, as they like to call it), he answered our questions about his tribe, his 3,000 year old position, and living a semi-nomadic life. You know, everyday sort of stuff.
At one final stop at the desert’s edge, in a village that was being slowly abandoned and moved westward as the desert’s boundaries pushed inwards, a group of children found us and began commenting on my soccer jersey, telling me about how Real Madrid was better. With my limited Darija skills, I tried to argue back and failed horribly.
And so, we took off and drove for a half hour or so through the dunes of the Sahara Desert – a crazy, rather bumpy ride – until we arrived at our desert camp for the night. Essentially, we had a ring of canvas tents outfitted with carpets, cots, and blankets, and dominated by one larger, central tent where all of our meals took place. Off to the side there was another tent with some Western-ish toilets, which you still needed a bucket to flush. I’m still not quite sure how our toilets in the desert were more Western than the one in my new homestay….
After getting acquainted with the place and having some more tea, we organized a soccer game along with our guide and the Berbers taking care of us. Aside from being dominated by our new Berber friends and getting pegged in the face by a direct kick from Anthony, the game was really fun!
And then came the moment which we had all been anticipating: CAMEL RIDE!! We all loaded on to our camels – staying on while the camels stood up was an adventure in itself – and then rode out for a half hour to one of the higher dunes in the area, where we got down and sat to watch the sun set over the Sahara.
Right when we arrived back at camp, we were treated to a traditional musical performance by a group of Berber singers. After watching for a bit, they pulled us in (literally) and we all danced together until it was time for dinner (veggies, lamb tajine, lots of fruit). After dinner, we had another mini performance and dance party, then went back outside to sit by the campfire. One of the Berber men demonstrated a method of cooking bread which basically involves burying the dough in sand and ashes next to the fire for 15 minutes. It came out perfectly done and delicious; magically, it had none of the awkward sandy crunch that you would expect from bread that’s been buried in the sand.
Not yet ready to settle into bed, we decided to go duning for an hour or so, and set out a little bit beyond the light of the camp and the fire to lie in the sand and look up at the stars. The sand in the Sahara has this really nice, fine texture to it – almost like you’re lying in velvet. Only, it’s velvet that gets all over you and into your clothes. Especially when you’ve been making sand angels…. So we just relaxed for a bit, watched the shooting stars, and one of the Berber guides tried to convince Laura that Berbers exchange massages when they are tired. I can’t say how true that is, but it sounded like a good enough suggestion to us. Eventually, we emerged out from the dunes and settled in for a restful sleep in the cool desert night.
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