Morocco Day 8

The day started very early – 6:30 AM but it was so worth it for sunrise over the dunes of the Sahara Desert!

The weather was much nicer this morning and the sun peaked out over the horizon at 6:45 AM.

I climbed to the crest of the dunes to get the best view of the area and was surprised to see tiny dots in the distance in other directions. These were people at other desert camps doing the same as us! It had seemed like we were the only ones out there but apparently there are lots of these tourist camps around for crazy people like us.

I decided to forego a shower until later as I would only get dusty and sandy during the long ride back to ‘civilization’. We didn’t spend much time at camp after sunrise, only as long as it took to eat and pack up. I was dreading the ride back but fortunately I got a front seat this time. It was still just as rough and bumpy as before.

I was able to take a look at the speedometer this time and I saw that the driver was only doing 40 kph on the really rough spots and up to 100 clicks on the smoother spots. The way back seemed to go faster than the way out there, probably because I knew what to expect this time around. I even slept once we got to the pavement.

We stopped at a small town called Tamegrout to see a library containing many old books dating back to the 1600’s. We met a man who was 88 years old and had worked in the library for over 50 years – imagine! We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, which was unfortunate. Some of the books were open and we could see the detailed hand-scribed text and illustrations. The oldest book there was written on gazelle skin for paper.

Next door was a pottery place where they made traditional Berber goods. The blue dishes were painted using cobalt, the red ones with henna, and the yellow ones with saffron. I bought a small yellow bowl and a red candle holder to add to my collection.

Our hotel in Zagora was nearby and what a hotel it is! It appears to be old but I can’t really tell for sure. I thought the hotel in Ait Benhaddou was very old but the man at the front desk said it was built in 1985. Perhaps he misunderstood me. Our rooms weren’t ready yet so we had lunch. Meals are usually a slow affair on “Moroccan time”. Waiters (never waitresses) often seem to forget things – language barrier perhaps? Anyway, the room is quite lovely and has real character.

The garden area is gorgeous with many birds, flowers, alcoves and beautiful doorways. The shower was sheer heaven. I had sand absolutely EVERYWHERE!

At 4:30 some of the group met again and went for a tour of the palm groves. These palm groves extend for 200 kilometres.

Families own small plots of land with high walls built around them. Some of them have homes on them but people no longer live there.

After the walk, we went over to a museum for a short, interesting tour. Our guide warned us that they would try to sell us something and indeed they did. I spotted a lovely little mirror for my bathroom. I made the guy an offer I didn’t think he would take, but much to my surprise, he did. The mirror is shaped like a Moroccan door and the frame is gold with orange (saffron-dyed) camel bone. I am quite pleased with my treasure but I must stop buying breakable things!!

We decided to walk downtown which was quite far away but Mike spotted out bus driver and we hitched a ride. We walked around for a bit, had a coffee, Abdellah did some errands and Mike bought some Arabic music cassette tapes – crazy kid! The little girl pictured below was peeking at us from the shop next door. What a gorgeous smile and beautiful eyes!

When we got back it was time for supper and we enjoyed salad, chicken tagine and fruit for dessert. We have a long day tomorrow. Bed early again.

Morocco Day 7

It’s Easter Sunday and what a day! We had an early start - bags on the bus by 7:10 AM, breakfast at 7:15  and on the road by 8 AM. We ate on the terrace at the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a beautiful view of the Kasbah at Ait Benhaddou one more time before we left!

We headed out in a south-westerly direction, stopping for photos and a toilet break. We passed more kasbahs and many towns.

Because of these picturesque kasbahs, the Berber town of Ouarzazate is home to the CLA Film Studios.

Movies such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and part of the Game of Thrones TV series were filmed here. 

At our morning rest stop someone mentioned that they had just seen camels. I bustled over to the corner of the complex to have a look. Actually they were dromedaries. The difference, I learned, is that camels have two humps, whereas dromedaries have one. A young girl of about  9 or 10 years came out with a plastic Coke bottle, filled it with water from a hose, then waved it near the animal. Much to my amazement, the camel picked it up with it's lips, raised it high, drank it all, then dropped the bottle when he was done! The girl did this a couple of times. It was so funny to see the dromedary just drop it on the ground, almost like he was saying, "OK, I'm done! Now pick it up!" 

Abdellah pointed out a cemetery as we drove by, and talked about Berber funerary traditions. Being outside the culture, I wouldn't have recognized the area as a graveyard. The rocks that mark where the dead are buried looked quite unremarkable to me.

The road was straight for awhile but began to wind again as we went through a pass. When I say wind, I mean constant curves and hair pin turns. The scenery was in stark contrast to the day before. It was rocky, with little vegetation and quite bleak.

Our guide talks about useful Morocco and useless Morocco. This was definitely useless Morocco.

When we got to Zagora, it was time for lunch, but first we made a photo stop at the famous Timbuktu sign. There are various spellings, one of which is pictured in the photo. Nowadays, Timbuktu is a metaphor for a place 'at the end of the world'. But it is a real town in central Mali on the Niger River, 52 days away by camel. No thank you!

We were the only customers in a pretty little hotel restaurant. Our meal was pre-ordered for us: a delicious salad (tomatoes, cucumbers and onions), chicken tangine and fruit. I mostly ate salad as my stomach was feeling queasy again from all the twists and turns.

After lunch, the 4x4 jeeps were at the restaurant ready to take us to the desert camp. We had packed a small bag to take with us to Erg Chiggaga Desert Camp. Soon the road narrowed to a wide one lane. When oncoming traffic came, both drivers would pull over seemingly at the last second and bounce along the unpaved section of the road until the other vehicle was safely past. I have no idea how long we drove along that road as I had my eyes closed and tried to sleep. We made a stop for water and bought three 1.5 liters each!

After perhaps a couple of hours we turned off the pavement, or did the pavement just disappear? Then, THEN  that’s where the 4x4 vehicles became necessary. We seemingly drove where there were no roads at all. I had no idea how the drivers knew where they were going. It was like bouncing along in the rough fields at home in a pick-up truck, except that we were driving at ridiculously high speeds. I couldn’t see the speedometer which was probably a good thing.

Sometimes we would hit a bank of sand and just go flying. The blowing sand reminded me of a snow blizzard back home. At times, the visibility was close to zero.

We stopped a couple of times and finally arrived at the camp. There are several tents around in a circle. There is a dining tent and they gave us some mint tea, roasted nuts and wafer cookies.

There are even flush sit down toilets and electric lights in the tents. I’m not sure if everything is solar powered but there is a huge solar panel on one of the roofs.

After our refreshments we went for a dromedary ride. Our guide had told us to make sure we asked  for a Moroccan dromedary not an Algerian one as it would take us across the border instead of home! Haha! He got me good!

The animals were joined in 4 ‘trains’ and we headed off together for about half an hour. The sand constantly blows and there is no keeping it out of your hair, clothes, skin, eyes, shoes, etc. etc., so there is no use trying.

When we got back, we walked along the sand dunes taking photos of all kind.

It is 9 PM and we will soon be served supper – I hope. I must be feeling better as I am getting hungry. Poor Mikey is starving!

Supper was great! People laugh at me when I take food photos, but hey, aren't you glad I did?!!!

Morocco Day 6

Today was a long bus ride but an interesting one. We left Marrakesh at 9 AM and headed southwest along the highway, which are quite good in Morocco by the way. The terrain began to get hilly and then we started to climb. The driver drove pretty darned fast and there were lots of curves, and even hairpin turns.

I don’t normally get carsick, but I had to move to the front of the bus for a while. The zigzag motion while looking through my camera lens made me feel quite woozy. I wasn’t the only one who felt the motion of our bus.

The landscape was quite beautiful and the towns we passed were interesting. Some parts of Morocco haven’t changed in many years, except for the satellite dishes on a lot of homes, plus the use of cell phones everywhere. In Moroccan culture women, especially older ones, are respected and have a lot of say in the family. They also have a lot of work. Men everywhere seem to be drinking tea or sitting and visiting.

We went through the High Atlas mountains and stopped several times for the toilet or to take photos. At one of our stops we bought freshly squeezed orange juice. The oranges were squeezed through a metal press and I was amazed at how many oranges it took to fill a glass full.

 The highest point of the pass was Col du Tichka with an altitude of 2260 meters. I thought it might be cold but it was quite warm and there was always a nice breeze blowing. Some of the Americans thought it was cool, but not us – with 2 C and snow back home!

The place we were supposed to eat lunch at wasn’t ready for us so we continued on to Ait Ben Haddou. The restaurant we went to catered to tourists I think. It was fancy and the washrooms were passable (i.e. sit-down toilets with toilet paper.)

Our hotel was just down the road from the restaurant and the rooms are quite interesting. It is called la Kasbah and the rooms are quite old with intricately carved wooden doors. The curtains are Berber carpets and there are 3 twin beds for the 2 of us. The ceiling is also ornate. I wonder what this hotel was used for.

After dropping off our bags we headed over to the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah. It is an ancient Berber village with a ‘granary’ building at the very top that can be seen for miles. A few people still live in the Kasbah, but most live in more modern facilities across the small stream.

The place has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and it is quite amazing. I took a lot of photos, from above and below. There is quite a climb to the top and my legs felt the strain later on.

Along the way, there are Berbers selling crafts such as rugs, jewellry and paintings.

I stopped to admire an artist at work and asked about his materials. He was painting on watercolor paper using tea and saffron. After the picture was painted, he held it over a propane flame, picture side up, and the ink darkened nicely. Of course I had to buy a small painting to show my artist friends back home.

As we got out of the Kasbah village, the sun came out and was setting. Beautiful! Supper is at the hotel restaurant down the street a little bit. We had traditional soup, and beef tagine. I ate too much – again!