Into the Dunes

Wednesday, April 22

We spent the first part of the day exploring the dunes around Merzouga.  Near our hotel, we saw an old village cemetery, its rocky mounds oriented toward Mecca and marked by both head and foot stones.  Idir explained that because, in a small village, everyone knew where everyone else was, there was no need for inscriptions.

Close by were the remains of a 1940's French mining village and an 18th century Merzouga tribal village  Though  largely deserted, the latter is still occupied by some families of the nearby military garrison.  Perched atop a hill, the post is part of the defense of the border with Algeria.  Though we were "close enough to see" Algeria, and there are many related tribes and families in both countries, the border is closed and uneasy; you can't get there from here.

Farther out in the middle of nowhere, we had tea in the tent of a nomadic Berber family.  Grandmother, mother and two darling girls offered us tea, bread and olive oil.  We played Peek-a-Boo with the girls and I sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to the two year old, who  began to make the hand gestures with me after a couple of repetitions.

On we drove through dunes and flat stony volcanic desert, mostly barren, but dotted with an occasional solitary acacia tree, the "umbrella of the Sahara".  We also stopped to see fossils embedded in the rocks formed by a prehistoric sea.

Lunch was a long and relaxing break at an auberge alongside the seasonal Lake Raselaargi, "Foot of the Dunes".  We ate outside, shaded from the sun and thoroughly enjoyed the surroundings and a lovely breeze.  Before heading out again, we soaked our shirts and hats with water and were actually chilly!

This afternoon, we headed back to Merzouga, stopping at another large seasonal lake, home to a flock of storks.  In Merzouga, we enjoyed some tea, "Berber whiskey", and waited in the shade of an auberge's courtyard for our departure on our overnight camel trek.

About that "Berber whiskey" -- although wine is produced in Morocco and there are also several breweries, it is illegal to possess wine and beer.  Licenses to sell them are rare and expensive, and we've yet to find a place that serves alcohol.  Probably just as well, as we've no interest in winding up in a Moroccan jail on the whim of an arresting authority!

We were up on our camels, Obama and Bob Marley, at 5:30 pm for our 90 minute camel trek.  Despite tales we'd heard about the difficulty of camel riding, we enjoyed our Lauren and Lawrence of Arabia experiences very much and without ill effects.  The dunes were just as you probably picture them in your mind -- wavy patterns created by wind, and seemingly endless undulations, topped by knife-edge ridges.  The wind this evening was sporadic and mild and we rarely needed our turbans and face cover-ups.

We dismounted atop the dunes overlooking our tent camp to await the sunset.  Cloud cover made photography disappointing, but Tom set up his tripod and did what he could.  After walking down the dunes, we had the obligatory tea, followed by dinner in the dining tent with two other couples, one German, the other Italian.  We'd long ago thought our camping days were behind us, but it's different when dinner is prepared, served, and cleaned up by others and our tent contained a bed with headboard and mattress.