Sahara Desert

The next day, we drove about 5-hours east to Merzouga, the gateway to the Sahara Desert. This town used to be an important caravan stop, and all the gold of the Almoravid dynasty came out of Timbuktu and through this town on its way to Aït Benhaddou. Today, however, it's better known as a popular destination for tourists who want to see the Sahara. We were here for an overnight camel trek in Erg Chebbi, the largest of Morocco's two Saharan ergs, "sand sea" or "dune sea," a broad flat area with shifting dunes formed by windswept sand.

We met Moha, the guide for our overnight trip, in the middle of the small village of Hassilabied, a little over a mile outside of Merzouga proper--and it looked like a ghost town. We saw only two of three people walking around the scattering of concrete houses, which seemed incredibly odd--we had passed through other tiny towns on our road trip through the mountains, and no matter how small, there is always a group of old men to be found sitting in a patch of shade or a mob of children running after a soccer ball. Moha said that while it might be a little quieter because of Ramadan (with families hiding indoors to escape the sun), it's usually quiet like this--but that it seemed like a big city after life in the desert! 

This village is about 80 years old and was started by a handful of Berber nomad families, but more families have begun to move in after the border to Algeria was closed in 1998. Most of this second wave of settlers have decided to make their living in tourism. Moha's family made the move in 2004, selling all their animals except for their camels so they could start a business leading foreigners on treks through the Sahara, a business that Moha now helps run. Much of the village is involved in the same work, and while there are many different rival trekking companies advertised around town, the reality is that everyone seems to help each other out. The guides all know each other, the treks all leave from the same starting point, all groups take a similar route, companies pair smaller groups together for efficient use of guides (we were "combined" with a Japanese couple and a pair of Spanish friends that had gone through another tour company), and the groups help each other stay safe...the desert can be unpredictable! 

For example, our camel trek had barely started when we were hit by a sandstorm! It started with a strong wind that flung up sand into everyone's eyes and was generally annoying, but within about 10 minutes the sky had darkened and the wind became so intense that it was difficult for the camels to even walk, and hard for their riders to stay in their saddles! Rachael managed to snap a few pictures as things started to intensify, but gave up after her camera almost flew out of her hand. The wind was thick with sand, which pelted any inch of exposed skin until it was red and raw. The storm must not have been that strong, at least comparatively, because our guides didn't turn us around but if that was no big deal, we don't ever want to experience a bad one!

We had both resisted being outfitted with turbans before our the trek, thinking it was more of a gimmick for pictures and that it would be disrespectful to wear someone else's culture as a costume, but BOY were we glad our guides insisted. Turbans are perfectly suited to their environment--not only do they block sweat, keep you cool, and protect your skin from the sun better than any hat, there is no way to survive a windstorm without one. Wrapped tightly around our heads (and rewrapped again and again as the wind began to unravel things), our long scarves protected us from the worst of the flying sand. But even so, sand managed to work its way into every tiny crevasse, no matter how covered. We can't imagine how we would have done it without the turban! 

Finally, we made it our campsite: a grouping of tents built in a circle to create a central "courtyard" of sorts that was protected from the wind. Our guides ushered us into the largest tent, which was full of pillows and low couches and table, to hide from the storm and meet the other four members of our trekking group over a glass of mint tea.

Tatsuya and Yuki are a couple from Japan who have been traveling off-and-on together over the last 3 years, working assorted part time jobs across the world to fund their long trips. Roberto and David are childhood friends from northern Spain who make a point to reunite at least once a year, often taking a trip together. The night of our trek was actually Roberto's birthday, so of course we had to sing for him! The conversation in our tent was so interesting and engaging that we hardly noticed the weather outside and dinner was ready in no time at all. After a post-dinner drum circle (which admittedly was a little strange...our guides gave a great show, but it definitely felt like a one-sided show, not a mutual cultural exchange), the wind finally died down and we all diapered to various sand dunes to look at the stars. 

At first, the sky was disappointingly cloudy and we couldn't see much. But as we watched and waited, things began to clear up and by about 11pm the sky was swimming with stars--you could literally see them twinkle! After some vain attempts to take pictures that did it justice, we gave up and decided to enjoy the moment instead of capturing it. We ended up sleeping under the stars with our Berber guides instead of in the tent prepared for us with the other trekkers. With just one night in the desert, we wanted to enjoy the sky for as long as possible! We spread a sheet on the top of a high dune and laid out a mattress facing east so we could wake up to the sunrise.

The moon rose late, at about 2am, and was waning into a slim crescent, so we enjoyed hours of dark sky and sparkling stars without any moonlight interfering. The temperature was perfect--cool, but not cold--and, with the exception of a grain of sand that snuck its way into Nate's eye and just wouldn't come out (has this ever happened to you? IT'S SO ANNOYING.) we were quite comfortable. That is, until the wind started again. 

We woke up in the early hours of the morning covered in sand. It wasn't another storm, per se, but it definitely so windy that it was no longer fun to be sleeping outside. But it was dark and late, the sun would be rising soon, and we were too sleepy to feel like moving indoors. So we spat out the grit in our mouths and covered our heads in the blanket, tucking every stray corner down to keep the wind and sand out, and we tried to sleep a bit longer. It was mostly in vain, and when we finally woke up (i.e. gave up trying to sleep) we were pretty grumpy. But the sunrise made it all better! The sky was certainly pretty, but the most magical part was what the early morning light did to the sand dunes, transforming them into a fiery, glowing orange and casting velvety shadows. 

We would have liked to stay all morning, watching the sky and exploring the dunes. (And they had sand boarding--which is literally a snowboard that you ride down a sand dune. As I'm sure you can imagine, Nate was annoyingly great at it...because of course he was.) But the higher the sun got, the worse the trip home would be, so our guides hurried us back on our camels about 45 minutes after sunrise. The ride back to Hassilabied felt completely different, and much more like we had initially pictured our trek...quiet and serene. Although, the sandstorm was actually pretty exciting and the wildness of the windswept dunes was beautiful in its own way. In the end, we're glad we saw both sides of the Sahara!