When going to Morocco it is absolutely essential to do a Sahara desert tour. Whether you are in Morocco for 1 week or 1 month, you must somehow fit this experience into your trip. We knew this when we were planing our trip and decided 3 days was a decent amount of time to spend in the desert. While John does most of our itinerary planning when we travel, he gives me tasks. My task for Morocco was to find the best Sahara tour. I emailed Jane at riad Hikaya and asked for her assistance / recommendation. She highly recommended a guy named Jamal. Jamal and I began emailing months before our trip and he made me feel confident this was the right choice.

We would be returning to riad Hikaya after the 3 days so technically we could have left our backpacks and just taken essentials, but we decided to take all of our stuff- unsure what we would need. We were greeted at 7am in our riad lobby by Mohammed, our tour guide, and Tobie our driver. I was a little confused at first, seeing as Jamal had made it seem like he was going to be our guide. Through all the emails I felt like I knew Jamal. It’s scary thinking you are going in the middle of nowhere with people you don’t know and no connection to the outside world. Who is this guy Mohammed? I didn’t know him. Granted I didn’t really know Jamal either- it’s funny how technology gives you a false sense of knowing someone.

Jamal gave us an overview of our “program” for the first day- giving us some history of Morocco and explanations of where we would be stopping. We would begin our travel for the day to the Dades valley in the High Atlas mountains where we would sleep for the night. On our journey we first stopped at many beautiful mountain viewing points.

For the first 2 hours of the ride I was quite nauseated. The winding roads they call “snake road” around the mountains did not agree with me so well. I remembered feeling the exact same way riding up the catskill mountains of New York as a child and teenager. Oh boy, this was going to be a long day. Each time we stopped and got out to take pictures I felt great- fresh air, gorgeous views. John got to play with a snake and I gladly just took pictures. Back in the car I just tried to take deep breaths.

Once we arrived at Ait Ben Haddou ,where Gladiator, Game of thrones and many other movies and shows were filmed, I was feeling fine again. This place was unbelievable! Absolutely breathtaking!

Ait Ben Haddou is a ksar or historical communal compound and UNESCO world heritage site. Five families still live there and thrive as a functional self sufficient community. There are small and large houses, a mosque, and market all made of clay brick and moulded Earth.We spent an hour or so exploring and learning all about the history of the Kaspahs and village. We couldn’t believe people still actually live there. The people of the mountain villages in Morocco are called “Berber”- they are the indigenous, original settlers, much like Native American Indians of the US.   The Berbers have their own language, very different from Arabic. Mohammed and Tobie our driver, are both Berber and speak both languages. The architecture and scenery was really quite remarkable.

 

We had a nice lunch after our exploring in a beautiful setting. I had lamb kabobs and John had tanjine (North African Berber dish cooked in an earthward/clay pot). They serve bread in Morocco with every meal. Lots and lots of bread everywhere. A person eating low carb would not do well here. With breakfast everywhere we have been thus far -they put at minimum 4 types of breads on the table to include: pastries, crepes, toast, french type bread etc. By this 3rd day I had started refusing the bread. It was good, don’t get me wrong- but I am not used to that much of it , and I wanted to save room for the meat/ main meal. My lamb kabobs were quite tasty- and then we were given fruit for dessert. This  is another standard of Morocco. After each meal you are served either a bowl of oranges or mixed fruits. The tangerines and oranges are really good in Morocco! So they have their cookies/ sweets at breakfast or with mid afternoon tea and fruit after dinner.

 

We set back out on the road going deeper and deeper through the High Atlas mountains. We stopped at another Berber village where we bought some beautiful scarfs to wrap our heads for the desert. This is customary and not just for fashion or looks. The scarves keep your head warm and protect your neck/ ears from sand and cool air. The day and night temperature differences in the desert are quite extreme. In the day with the sun beaming down it is a warm mid 70’s-80 degrees f. At night, as soon as the sun begins to set cool dry air kicks in, dropping the temperatures to the 30’s and 40s.

 

 

We had some more lovely landscape viewing stops and eventually arrived at our cave-like hotel for the night. It was set deep in the mountains with the interior of stone/ cave walls.

We were greeted with herbal tea and cookies and then went to our room to rest before dinner. Over a nice dinner, Mohammed shared some more customs, stories, and history with us. In Moroccan culture they often share many plates of food. When the main plate of meat and vegetables is served it is customary to eat all the vegetables first , and once everyone at the table is finished, then the meat is eaten. Moroccan food has strong flavors of cumin and is garnished differently depending on the dish. Some tanjines are lemon based, others garnished with almonds and prunes and some with tomatoes, cheese and red sauce. Moroccans typically don’t use silverware. The bread is used with their hands to scoop up and eat the food. Moroccans also usually eat 5 meals a day- breakfast, brunch, lunch, mid-afternoon tea/ snack and dinner. They vernally eat dinner late in the evening around 10pm. Mohammed said it was an adjustment for him to start eating dinner with his tour groups at 6-7pm. Mohammed has a degree in psychology/ linguistics and tour guiding- as this is required by the government to lead legal tours.

 

After dinner we headed back to our room. We were freezing and having a difficult time getting our cave heater to work. John cursed the cold shower that wouldn’t get warm. I thought about skipping the shower, not wanting to be colder than I already was, but decided to take a quick rinse off. I knew I probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to shower in the desert.With multiple berber blankets on us we were able to get a good night’s sleep.

The next morning we set out to head more towards the Sahara desert. Actually, Sahara means “desert” , so when we say “sahara desert” we are really saying “ desert desert”.  On this day’s journey we stopped at the Hollywood of Africa where many movies are filmed, as well as a fossil museum. In this part of Africa they find fossils over 300 million years old. Crazy! We also passed the largest silver mine in all of Africa, a huge underground irrigation system, and the world’s largest solar energy project which is almost complete. Morocco also has many, many date trees and olive trees. Before every meal at every hotel/ riad, or restaurant some platters of olives and dates are placed on the table. There are many different types of olives, and all pretty tasty, but I do think we will be “olived out” for awhile after this trip.

 

underground irrigation system– pumping well water with my legs- good workout!

As we neared the Sahara the views out the window became like postcards. We arrived at Tombucktoo Spa and hotel that sits on the very edge of the Sahara. We were given only a few minutes to drop our stuff in a secure room and grab only what we needed for our night in the middle of the desert. What do you bring to sleep in the middle of the desert? I packed my small bag with face cleaning wipes, a disposable toothbrush and toothpaste, an extra pair of sweatpants for night time, and extra jacket, scarf, pair of socks, deodorant, camera, call phone ( no idea why- backup camera I suppose), and yes some lipstick.

     We went out to meet our camels. They are actually called dromedaries  in Morocco because of their 1 hump, not 2. There were so many of them. They were so cute and calm. John got on his camel first and then I got on mine. They kneel for you to get on them and when they rise to stand you have to hold on really tight to the handle like bards and lean back. There are no stirrups like when riding a horse. I asked what my camel’s name was, but Mohammed said they typically don’t name animals in Morocco. Well, I was going to name him. For some reason he looked like an Arthur to me. Arthur the camel- my buddy.  When I spoke to him he made some noises in response, so I’m pretty sure we bonded.

We set out on our long ride through the desert. Our camel handler, Hamib led the way. Hamib looked only about 14 -15 years old but seemed like he knew what he was doing. Only the first 5 minutes was I afraid of falling. After that I felt pretty balanced and safe. As we rode deep into the desert the sand dunes got more beautiful and extraordinary. Miles, miles we went and the sun began to set. We stopped to take pictures of the sunset- the most beautiful experience. It truly is even more beautiful in person than pictures or movies show.

 

I tried to jump and run for action shots in the dunes but it was way harder than it looks! Your feet sink with every step!

We continued on for a long while going further and further into the dunes. Our hips / butt/ inner legs were pretty sore and it was getting chilly. I channeled my inner Virgin Mary and imagined what it was like for her riding through the desert thousands of years ago, before guides, sunglasses and still water bottles ( although she rode a donkey). Yes, these are the things that were going through my mind as I rode a camel through the Sahara.

We finally arrived at our “camp” where we would sleep in a Berber tent for the night. We “parked” our camels along with some others and were greeted by the camp owner “Ali.”. Ali was such a funny, friendly man. He lived in the camp way out in the Sahara rarely going into the towns. Ali had many pet cats at his camp who were friendly and loved people. We were led to a campfire and given some warm tea. There were 2 other tours there- 1 couple from Holland , and 2 students from the US who are studying in London.  We sat around the campfire chatting and sharing stories of our travels. After an hour or so we were called under the large berber tent for dinner where we sat with Mohammed. We were served a huge plate of rice, chicken and vegetables and bread. By this time we were starving so we filled our plates with decent portions. “This is not main course you know”, Mohammed explained. Oh, haha- whoops. Looked like a main course to us. Another large plate with beef and more food was brought over, and of course fresh fruit. During dinner Mohammed told us he was envious of us. He said he hoped he would be able to find his “other half” and “love to travel everywhere with”.

We enjoyed our dinner and went back out to the campfire where some Berber men played drums and sang songs. Ali danced for us and tried to get us to dance. He shimmied his shoulders and laughed with such pure joy.The stars were unbelievable.

There were thousands and thousands of them. I have never seen so many stars in my life. John and another guy decided to go up the tall dune in the back. John called for me to come but Mohammed was talking to me so I didn’t want to be rude and leave. After a few minutes I went to find John. It was completely pitch black. You could see nothing in front of you or behind you- only the stars in the sky, I tried using my camera flash to see where John was. I could hear his voice so tried climbing the dune in that direction. He called my name but I couldn’t reach him. It was so hard trying to negotiate the dune. We later learned it was the tallest dune of the desert. I suddenly felt someone grab my hand. Then a voice, “Don’t worry madam, I will take you up”. It was our camel handler Hamib. He helped me go higher and higher up the dune. “Your brother?”, he asked referring to John. “No, my husband”, I replied. “ Oh, no- you have husband! “ he said. “John?” I called, hoping he would come rescue me from this awkward situation. I kept trying to climb without seeing where I was going. I eventually told Hamib I just wanted to sit and rest until John found us. He sat with me and we gazed at the stars. “Do you like?” he asked. “Yes, beautiful”, I said. “Then you stay here”, he replied. Oh jeez, where is my husband when I need him. Hamib asked what I did for work and how many languages I spoke. He was taken aback when I said I really could speak only 1 language. He pointed out that we were only 50 meters away from Algeria. “Dont worry madam, they cant come, there are guards”, Hamib said referring to Algerians I suppose.

 

Finally John came from behind us. He was barely walking and said he got really dizzy and sick after running fast to the top of the dune. He was light headed and nauseous so I walked back down to the camp with him. I was worried but figured it was the altitude. He went and laid down for about 30 minutes in our Berber sleeping tent. The tents were all connected with blankets as the doors. Mohammed said “This is how you unlock door” and lifted the blanket up. Then “this is how you lock door” and put the blanket down. Oh boy.

Once John was feeling better he joined the group of us out by the fire again. We sat for hours gazing at the stars, telling stories and playing music. We saw shooting star, after shooting star. One of my best friends had messaged me earlier to let me know there was a huge meteor shower that night. We definitely saw it!

As it neared midnight we headed to our tent to sleep. We did have a light bulb in our tent, and I begged John to let us keep it on all night. There was no possible way I could sleep in the pitch dark in the middle of the desert. No way. There was a bathroom at the camp, located about 500 feet away. There was also no way I would be going to that bathroom in the middle of the night alone. My sweet husband gave into my fears and agreed to let the light stay on. We were both freezing as we laid on the “bed”, aka hard wood like platform. We covered ourselves with about 5 Berber blankets both shivering. John of course had to throw in the comment of -“who knows if these blankets are ever washed”. Awesome thought.

I laid there trying to sleep but was so cold! I had on 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks, an insulated long sleeve shirt, a jacket, multiple blankets and I was still cold. John hugged me tight but I couldn’t seem to get warm. After who knows how long of laying there I realized this was going to be a long night. I tossed and turned. My hips hurt from the firmness of the board, I had to pee but didn’t want to go out into the darkness and was so thirsty but didn’t want to drink water since I already had to pee. How did the most beautiful place that seemed like paradise earlier now turn into a nightmare?

John awoke to my tossing and turning. I tried so hard to stay still and asleep but just couldn’t. I prayed and prayed for morning. Finally it was 6am and we could get up and ride the camels back. I was so relieved. Needless to say hubby was not impressed with my camping skills. I definitely do not consider myself high maintenance- I mean how many girls do you know that can travel 8 weeks with 1 backpack? We have done some pretty crazy things and I can sleep in many conditions, but that was just not for me. Growing up when I went camping with my dad he always let me sleep in the car. Ok, it was actually a van. A conversion van with a tv and backseat that turned into a bed. That’s how I camp.

We climbed back onto our camels and headed out on our long sunrise journey back toward town. This time I rode the camel in the back and John rode Arthur. The scenery again was breathtaking and the ride absolutely amazing!We enjoyed the sunrise and took some last longing looks at the surrounding dunes.

A couple hours later we arrived  back at the spa hungry, dirty and tired. We were able to take showers in the spa and had a nice breakfast of crepes and omelets.

As we departed the Sahara I couldn’t help but think what a magnificent experience. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to see what many only see in movies.

We now had a long travel day to get back to Marrakech.  We were able to make some more gorgeous scenery stops to see gorges, oasis and the longest strait of Africa.

We had another nice terrace lunch of tanjine overlooking 1000’s of palm trees surrounding a casbah.

 

Throughout the long rides we learned more from Mohammed about culture and history , and he asked us many questions about the US.  Although Mohammed speaks multiple languages and dreams to travel the world, he has yet to leave Morocco. Apparently it is not easy to get approved visas. He could travel to Turkey and a few other countries without a visa, but his dream destination is San Francisco. He mentioned multiple times how much he wanted to get to California and drive a Ferrari.

Our driver got pulled over by the police twice that day. They have many checkpoints in Morocco where they ask drivers for paperwork and who their passengers are. Poor Tobie got a ticket equal to $70 for going over a street line. There really was no line, as the paint was faded but he still had to pay the fine.

I loved listening to the Moroccan music on the drive as we looked at the beautiful countryside. Mohammed and Tobie also like American music to include: Bob Marley, Kenny Chesney, Bryan Adams, Alan Jackson, and Backstreet boys.

We made it back to Marrakech and said our goodbyes to Mohammed and Tobie. I told Mohammed I was sure he would find his true love. He had seen some pictures on my camera and was in awe of my little sister’s beautiful blue eyes. Nobody in Morocco has blue eyes. “Can I say she is cute?” he said. I had to explain she was already spoken for. He said when he meets his wife we had an invitation to his future wedding. He and John exchanged emails and promised to stay in touch. We enjoyed our last night there with pizza (yes pizza) and walking around the medina. We had a lot of Moroccan food (all delicious) over the last few days, but pizza was a nice change. We got a good 8 hours of sleep, (to make up for the night before) and prepare for our next stop—— Casablanca!!!

'iilaa almarrat alqadima ( Until next time),
 Kinz