FEZ - May 6

 

We had a fantastic journey through the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara for three days this past week that we have not yet told you about. We met with a small group early in the morning last Saturday to begin our ten hour journey out of Marrakech. Immediately we knew we were in for a treat as our group of 14 introduced ourselves to one another and quickly learned that we hailed from all over the globe (US, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Uraguay, England and Morocco). Our guide spoke to the group in Italian or French, which was then translated into Spanish by one of the group members, and a third translated into English for the rest of us.

On our first day, we traveled to Ourzazate taking a winding road through the High Atlas Mountains. The view from the ride was just spectacular, with mountains towering over us and lush valleys below. Small villages and casbahs (castles) dotted the hills as did small herds of sheep and goats, terraced farming, and poppy fields. Though we had originally decided to arrange for the tour to see the desert, we soon found that the ride itself was an awesome part of the trip.

We made some pit stops at roadside villages, and walked through a casbah built entirely out of mud bricks that was begun in 950, and completed about 150 years ago. It was extremely well preserved (thank you, UNESCO and Hollywood) and we felt like we were walking through a huge sand castle. We stopped for a few photo opportunties, at Tizin Tichka Gorge and some other spots, and continued on to M'Gouba to catch the very beginning of their annual Rose Festival. We browsed the shops containing anything you could dream of containing the scent of roses, before stopping at a lovely small hotel for the evening.

The next day, by late afternoon, we had reached the small town of Merzouga, perched on the very edge of the desert. The town itself consisted of a few small hotels that served as a base for travelers wishing to visit the desert. There was a main road and to reach each of the hotels, one simply had to pull off of the main road, and drive across the sand.

With a few grunts and groans (both from us and the camels) we each hopped climbe up and rode our camels into the desert. As the sun was setting, we caught our first glimpses of the silky dunes named Erg Chebbi, though much of our ride was in darkness. We reached our camp after a 2 hour ride, and climbed down, bow legged from the journey. Dinner was a Berber tagine, and we danced to the drumming and singing of our Berber guides for hours under the cover of the stars. As the party wound down, we laid out mattresses on the sand, and slept soundly on the soft Saharan sand.

On the last morning of our Saharan adventure, we had a delicious breakfast of bread and cheese (it's amazing how much better everything tastes in the middle of the desert) at our Berber campsite and then climbed back onto our camels. The sun cast long shadows on the sandy dunes as we slowly rode back toward Merzouga. With our tushies sore from two days of camel riding, we squeezed back into our tour van for the eight hour ride back to Marrakech. Once there, we used multiple languages and lots of hugs and kisses to say goodbye to our new friends.

Lots of love,

Jillian + Ari