Morocco - Sahara

13-15th April 2015

I had been slightly apprehensive about our trip to the Sahara. I wasn't too confident that I would be entirely comfortable with camels and tents in the sand. 'This one is for the kids', I thought, just suck it up. In retrospect this would have to be the top family experience we had in Morocco and personally very rewarding. Even though we took a well travelled path, there was something very unique and personal about riding a slow paced camel into the solitude and expansive of the Sahara. Just us as a family, lead by a quietly spoken guide, only the exquisiteness of the golden sand sweep dunes visible and only silence until we reached camp in the early evening. It was an experience quite unlike any other.


Fez-Errachidia: 4:57hr

Back seat action

Roadside action.

Road through the Middle Atlas.

Happiness is a turtle in hand.

It is interesting how even an over night pit-stop helps paint the picture of a country. Entering Errachida we passed the only supermarket that we were to encounter in Morocco. Excited about the prospect of buying hygienically wrapped and decipherable food we stopped to acquire a 'comfort' snack pack. The emptiness of the supermarket reinforced that this is not the way Moroccans shop. 'Hotel Le Riad', were we spent the night, seemed very nice but most odd. It was situated on what appeared as a 'Moroccan' hotel strip( a line of large scale Kasbah-style accommodations on a wide barren desert road). It did have the lure of a pool which was far too cold for April swimming, but was still swum in by all the boys. Their swim caused quite an amusement for the few other guests. Jarvis proudly spotted our first wild turtle.
We were later to see these by the bucketful offered for sale, to eat. 





Errachidia-Merzouga: 1:44hr



Tafilalt Oasis.

We stopped to admire the dramatic landscape on road to Merzouga . Out of the car, I noticed Chris talking with a Moroccan man, 'Tata'. Suspiciously I approached to hear Tata discussing that we were looking at 'Tafilalt Date Palmery', the largest date plantation in Morocco.

It is also one of the largest oases in the world, it has a million-plus date palms. The Tafilalt was for centuries the main Moroccan end of the famous 'Salt Road' across the Sahara to West Africa, by way of Timbuktu. Salt was the most sought-after commodity in West Africa, one ounce of gold was exchanged for one pound of salt.
For me, an Oasis had always been an imaginary picture in my mind, something we hallucinate about, how does it exist? In reality it was an amazing thing to see, a bizarre slice of fertility in a barren land.


Lunch, organised by Tata, became a several hour excursion resulting in our first and sadly last Berber pizzas. We were lead through a maze of dirt roads to the 'family' run eatery somewhere near Rissani. Once there we were warmly greeted by an assortment of family members and thoroughly enjoyed two massive Berbers pizzas(one vegetarian and one meat). In fact it has to be one of the best things I ate in Morocco. Basically it is like a stuffed flatbread, filled with onions, vegetables, herbs and spices. We left politely refusing many other offers.

First dromedary sighting(single humped Arabian camel).
A little surprised by the bicycle.

Finding our riad in the Sahara was a little tricky, not quite understanding that it would mean coming off the only road and following some sand tracks towards the dunes. We did manage to get assistance from locals, a little French (Morocco's third unofficial language) proving useful. 

Hamid our host, welcomed us to Riad Madu. He showed us to a lovely room in the mud constructed riad. From the windows was a wonderful view of the Erg Chebbi dunes, where the sand can soar as high as 815 feet,  and a more amusing view of dromedaries looking back at me as if to say they know something I don't.



The Riad's pool proved a little too cool for the boys. While the Sahara is the hottest place in the world with summer temperatures exceeding 57C, it was only around 22C in April.

Chris couldn't resist the temptation to have a run in the Sahara, the world's largest desert. At 9,000000 square kilometres it is roughly the size of the US. He made it to the top of the highest dune visible from the riad, passing sunset camel treks on the way.



The Dunes of Erg Chebbi: Like a red rag to a bull.

The next morning we decided on a tour around the 'local' area. It was advised that we couldn't manage it ourselves as we would easily lose our bearings and of course there are no sign-posts in the Sahara. We felt a little betrayal towards the Landrover as we hopped into Arhmed's (our hosts) car. A man of very few words, or more likely words he didn't wish to speak to us, Arhmed drove us off at snail speed. A very bumpy and odd drive it was. We stopped at a few sightings, the first interesting one being the fossilised rocks of dried up river beds.

Undoubtedly the most interesting stop being at a nomadic campsite. We were offered mint tea and bread made from the outside oven-pit. The women had the most warming smiles imaginable, but mostly keep out of sight while Arhmed explained only a little with no smile at all.



We past an abandoned town and then stopped for a bit of cultural entertainment. A very strange musical experience, the boys didn't quite know what to make of it, neither did we. We felt like tourists missing a tour group.

Boys out of their comfort zone.

Our last stop at Lake Dayet Srij failed to deliver the display of flamingos it is renowned for, never mind.

Later early evening Arhmed picked us up again from the riad, this time with even less to say. I climbed into the front seat feeling rather uninclined to try and make any conversation.  It was all a very odd feeling driving our way out to the camel drop off point to then ride them to a camp in the desert for the night. As we drove along the non-roads the drizzle turned to full rain, a most unusual occurrence in the desert. Arhmed seemed fully focused as he struggled to see through the windscreen which was now completely fogged over. He had managed to turn on the wipers, but seemed unaware of his demister. I put this down to him never having had to use it before? Chris later told me he had been highly tempted to explain its use to him but thought it better not to. The 20minute drive gave me plenty of time to feel rather apprehensive about what we were about to do. Ahead of us I could see several groups of camels. Arhmed seemed to happily leave us standing in the rain wondering what now.

After some approving yells from the guides we were reassured. I asked the guide how often it rained . “Today only” he said. In actual fact it only rains about 6 times a year, an annual rainfall of 0-25 millimetres. We ungracefully mounted our dromedaries, heads wrapped with our rain and wind protective scarfs, Jarvis eagerly climbed on first.

Nervous anticipation before Lachlan mounts the dromedary.

'Lean forward going up' and 'Lean backwards coming down' were really the only instructions we got and we needed. Off we went, only one other group ahead of us heading to another camp. We headed off, the boys fizzing with excitement, chattering madly. 

 



     The look of madness?

The boys talk quickly turned to bodily functions, the dromedaries providing ample material for this. Poo balls constantly rolled down the sides of the dunes, pleasing the Scarab 'dung' beetles and boys alike.
Jarvis might have even surprised a dromedary by burping back at it too, I was quietly impressed with Jarvis's humour.
It was quite a rhythmical calming pace with which the camels strode out past the mounds of litter to eventually unveil the beauty of the Sahara. Once the boys babbling subsided it was magically peaceful.





How could people possibly eat me?

Once we reached camp the boys with all their childlike energy bounded off the camels and charged the dunes. Freedom in the Sahara is a great experience,  there are no boundaries, just expanse.
They raced into camp where they were meet by another group already there. The American group seemed rather surprised by the entry of the boys from the dunes, no camels in sight. "Where have you come from" they said in bewilderment. They appeared rather fascinated that we were there at all "from New Zealand with three boys". They had arrived by jeeps and were now disappointed that they had not come by dromedaries, even in the rain.

Trouble is coming!



Boys camp 'entrance'.

After a welcoming drink we were shown to our 'family' tent, a rather luxurious tent with carpets on the floor, beds and its own ensuite. A generator provided electricity. There were tell tale signs that the rain was starting to win, I  had my fingers crossed that the tent would hold out.

Dinner was a very delicious event, even given the lack of alcohol, although I was started to get used to this.  Held in a large round  'dining' tent, we enjoyed a combination of vegetable soup, moroccan salads, vegetable tagine(zuchinni wih cheese), barbequed chicken with fries, vegetable tagine, meat patties(viande hache) and fruit.

Sadly there was no entertainment outside under the expectant starry sky. The rain had put a halt to this. I optimistically set my alarm with the hope of seeing the remarkable sunrise the Sahara is renowned for.
At 5:30 am, I was stumbling around in the dark, the morning generator hadn't started up yet. Outside was still overcast. Chris joined me and we ventured to the top of a dune to catch a little peak of sun. Oliver and Jarvis joined us a little later for a general muck around, Lachlan sleep oblivious.



Early morning sunrises

  

I think we were all surprised at the dromedarie's nature. Pretty cool characters.

 Another ride back after breakfast this time Jarvis leading. Surprisingly affectionate, Jarvis received constant head butts from the dromedaries wanting a pat.

 

Jarvis's head patting was in high demand

And the final stage of transport, on top of a jeep. The boys couldn't get much more adventure, although there were a lot of 'discomfort' complaints.