Kasbahs and Camels, Sahara, Morocco

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We made another one night stop in Marrakesh, but this time it was to meet our friends Steph and Jeremy.  We originally met these guys in Kelowna, and we very excited to see familiar faces on our travels, especially somewhere different like Morocco.  We met them at the train station with a "Mr and Mrs DeWaard" sign, since they were married only a few months ago and are on an extended honeymoon. 

Ribbon road up to Tizi 'n Tichka

As a group, we had signed up for a 4 day/3 night trip from Marrakesh to the Sahara desert, and we left at 7AM the next morning.  Joining us at first were Debbie from England, and a trio of young Japanese around 20 years old who were very nice.  As we gained altitude from Marrakesh, into the Atlas mountains, we made different stops for interesting views over Berber mud walled towns.  At each location, locals were out in force trying to sell us quartz or crystallized rocks, herbs or over-priced almonds, even shoving them in front of my camera while I was taking a photo.  Of course, after each offer was declined, there was the obligatory request of "un dirham" - begging for money (1 dirham local currency).

The road became exceptionally curvy, and we started climbing quite quickly up to the Tizi 'n Tichka pass at 2260m.  A great view of the ribbon road from above, with waterfalls and lush green valleys below.

At Unesco Site of Ait Benhaddou

The first major stop of the day was on the far side of the Atlas Mountains, the Unesco Heritage listed town of Ait Benhaddou.  This stunningly preserved Kasbah is quite a vision coming from the dry desert scrub.   The mud brick brown walls of the Kasbah towers against the blue sky, with the lush green trees along the river, provided some great photo ops.  This town has been used as a location or backdrop for some major motion pictures, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Jewel of the Nile, The Living Daylights, and The Mummy to name a few.

Crossing the river, the girls had many children "helping" them over the sandbag stepping stones.  I think the kids were more trying to distract them, hope they fall in, then help them out of the water for a "tip".  Once in the Kasbah, the streets were full of character, and the views from the top of the hill were amazing.  You could see the snow capped Atlas mountains in the distance, behind the green oasis.  I was in Benhaddou 10 years ago, in the heat of the summer, and it was almost unbearable.  This trip was much more pleasant.

Our long first day continued through very interesting scenery, and eventually we made it to the town of Zagora.  It was from here we were to climb aboard our dromedaries, for a stroll to the desert.  Camels are an interesting beast to ride, but the most exciting part is standing up.  Camels have both a knee and elbow in each leg, so the back legs straighten first, leaning you very far forward, and then you level out with the fronts.  They are also quite wide, so a longer ride leaves you struggling to walk after until your legs eventually stretch closer together.  All great fun though, and the crew had a good laugh along the ride.  The Japanese kids really looked the part, as they had bought the head scarfs for sale in Zagora, and were wrapped up like Berber.  We did arrive in the "desert" in the dark, and were led to our berber tent over small, surprising dunes.  The tent accommodation was a thin mattress and blankets, but still comfy.  We were served a group tajine dinner, and enjoyed some Berber drumming and singing around a fire until we retired to the tents.

I woke up early enough to catch the sunrise.  We were not in the big sand dune desert, but I was surprised to see some small dunes, with scrubby wasteland around and some hills in the distance.  All made for some nice morning photos, and the camels were for good models, although their moans broke the morning serenity.  I did have a laugh at the camel parking brake - they tie a leather strap around one of the knees of the camel so it cannot run away.  One did get agitated, and started hopping on three legs, and not running away very smoothly.

We said goodbye to our Japanese friends and 5 of us continued on towards Merzouga (the big dunes) through the Small Atlas mountains and Tazzarine.  I enjoyed the dry, desert scenery most of the journey and this day was no exception.  Very few towns in this dry terrain, but amazing green oasis' provide water and life for some little towns.  We were taken to a hotel in the middle of nowhere for a lunch stop.   As there is very little on this road, we thought we were stuck at this expensive restaurant that we really didn't want to afford.  I guess they think that all foreigners have lots of money, and the price for lunch was probably in the $13-$15 range.  Too excessive for Morocco, and for all of our budgets, and as a group we asked to move on to the next town where we would try to find some food there. 
As luck would have it, the town of Alnif was not far.  Our driver let us out to roam, and we found this little place that served us a wonderful lunch, with huge plates of salad, tajine, frites, and oranges all for the low price of $5 each.  We were stuffed and content, but still managed to walk around town and chat with the local guru on his huge collection of Trilobytes that are quite prevalent in the area.  They painstakingly drill our the rock surrounding the fossil, to expose the ancient creature.
I was surprised to see a road leaving Rissani, heading towards the red dunes in the distance, some 30 km away.  10 years ago, there were just tracks in the dirt, and you figured out your own directions there.  We did, however, have to travel the final 14 km across the dirt, all the while with the dunes looming ahead, growing higher as we approached. 

Camel Train in Erg Chebbi dunes, Merzouga

A disappointment to me as we arrived was seeing the immense amounts of vehicles, and visitors to the dunes.  I recall that we didn't see many other tourists at all back in 2001.  Now there were hundreds and hundreds - where would they all go???  Although, this was not my biggest disappointment.  To my horror, there were tons of 4x4 and ATV tracks throughout the beautiful dunes   What a major lack of sustainable tourism.  I guess we are all to blame being the tourists, but I think people need to visit the dunes by making the least impact possible.  I'm not sure how long these tire tracks will take to blow over, by they were a hideous site.  The locals also need to make strides to reduce all the vehicular traffic in the dunes if they wish to sustain their income from tourism to the dunes.  Everybody has to make a better effort.  Luckily, we didn't see any vehicles on the dunes during our camel trek, so maybe they are already making efforts to reduce that aspect of the tours.

Martin and Jeremy playing in the sandbox

Our camel ride was enjoyable, and surprisingly, we did walk to an area of dunes untouched by any vehicles.  The camps did look a lot more permanent these days, but you still managed to feel a long way from anywhere.  I think we were a little behind schedule because of the lunch issues, so we arrived at dusk.  Our crew of 5 quickly hustled up the closest dune to catch last light in the desert.  I was pretty impressed with everyone, as it is quite tough going climbing up the sand.  2 steps forward, 1 step back….   The views were truly spectacular, and we took some fun photos, while soaking up our coordinates.  It is one of those "pinch me -where am I?"  type of places.  Of course, for me, one of the thrills of climbing all the way up, is the downhill.  I coaxed Jeremy into the run down, and we had a blast digging our heels in, and hopping all the way down.
Dinner that night was a really tasty tajine, and we sat outside on carpets to eat under the stars.  The berber guides also brought out their drums and clangers, and we attempted to join them playing and dancing around.  The 5 of us decided to sleep out under the stars instead of in the tents, so we prepped our beds outside before Jeremy and I climbed up the dune again to take some night photos of the stars.  A few shooting stars were spotted, and we all loved our time outside.  Unfortunately 5AM came all too soon for us.
Why we had to get up and leave at 5AM, I have no idea.  I would have liked to head up our dunes to watch sunrise, but we saddled up onto our camels and trekked out to a "sunrise" location which I felt was not as good as where we were.  I think they just wanted to get us going, and some of the group had to get all the way back to Marrakesh.  We did have a sunrise view looking towards Algeria, but were back so early out of the dunes.  Jeremy and I thought we needed more time, so walked back in to explore and play a little.  Climbing up, and running and jumping down the dunes until we were hailed back by our driver.

Martin with Kareem Abdul Jabbar

On the "dirt" road again, we were on our way to the Todra Gorge.  I think the most impressive part was the drive towards the gorge, where there were colourful buildings and ruins in the red dirt, with again, the green palm tree oasis'.  The sheer walled gorge itself would be quite impressive, but there were so many tourists and buses there, I was ready to leave as soon as our time was up.
Now in our vehicle was  berber guide, who was set to take us on a tour of the berber area of Tinehir.  We really just walked around the lush fields of the oasis, looking at various crops, and were then taken to a carpet making co-operative.  When we walked in the room, it looked all too familiar.  I think I was in the same co-op 10 years, when the salesman introduced himself as Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  A group of us had a good laugh, but he didn't seem to know that he had the same name as one of the best Basketball players ever to play the game.  Well, I thought, "what the heck", and asked if Kareem worked there, and sure enough, out walked Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  Small world I guess, but we had a good laugh, and enjoyed the usual tea procedure.  Second time was not the charm for Kareem, because once again, I didn't buy any carpet and neither did anyone else in the group.  But, They did invite Michelle to stay for a month or so, to weave a carpet for me as a wedding present!!  Not a bad idea I thought, but she insisted on coming back with us!!
Our final location, and hotel for the night was in the beautiful Dades Gorge.  The rocks here form some phallic symbols, and also a brain-like shape in the hills.  The locals actually call them Atlas' brain.  Our hotel was in a great location, overlooking the weird rocks, and we had a nice relaxing time playing games with the hotel owner Hussien.

Village and oasis on the way to Dades Gorge

The final day was mainly driving, although we did stop briefly in Ouarzazate, which is a relatively large town next to a big lake in the desert.  This town is home to a well preserved kasbah, with nesting storks, and an enjoyable old town.  We walked around, chatting with the locals, while cheering on the local checkers (draughts) champion.  On the way out of town, we could see a couple of film studios, as this is a major location for movie making since it is soooooo out of the way.  You could see some interesting sets built in behind, like roman temples.
We returned over the Atlas mountains, stopping for a good lunch with a view of the snowy peaks, and then it was over.  Back in Marrakesh for the third time on the trip - it feels like it's becoming a home.   *Stub