Auberge Amazir Merzouga

... omelette, Moroccan Salad, Chicken Tajine and a massive bowl of fruit for desert, all of course served with delicious mint tea. <br><br>Heading off in the direction of Erfoud the road started to narrow as we moved further towards the desert proper and real camel country. We didn't have a great map, and the unofficial Moroccan guides had removed the English road signs, they sit and wait for you to become confused and offer to show the way .The main reason to ...

Ahhhhh... I finally made it to the Sahara! And oh my, how absolutely PERFECT my dream of riding a camel in the Sahara turned out to be.<br><br>As always it seems - with much serendipity involved.<br><br>It all began w/ that 11 hour bus ride into the night. The bus very modern, a/c, comfy and all, but I started out from Fes that night w/ a bit of cold, and by the time we arrived (at sunrise - kewl!) in the desert, it had ...

... to seeing these poor goats and sheep hanging - butchers will just slice off what a customer wants right then and there. No refrigeration. Old men were sitting outside on stoops in front of their buildings - many were in traditional jellebas and white hats. Others wore plain pants and shirts. The women were dressed in veils, but some towns were much more conservative than others. We went through one where all of the ...

... to Merzouga get naked and bury their bodies in the sand for therapy. We are not sure if he has anything on under the robe. The restaurant is decorated with Moroccan lanterns, stuffed goats heads, pots and touristy memorabilia but we feel comfortable there. We share some tasty desert spice tea that is acually plant medicine for the desert people and is particularly good for fertility. Hassan sends a child down the road with cash to find a shopkeeper who will open his ...

... a nice spot to camp - but don't take us for some sort of Indiana Jones as we actually didn't go that far inside the desert, we were basically a few dunes away from the village...! - and we prepare coffee and some food to break the fast, a warm northerly wind starts blowing...nevermind we think, but we don't yet that this is only the gentle beginning of a sandstorm that will last all night. So, I try to ...

... get it over with. After the requisit visits to Marrakech and Kelaa Mgouna (home of Kasbah Itran, one of my favorite hotels ever) we headed to Merzouga, within spitting distance of the Algerian border, where the Sahara really begins. I'd never bothered to go all the way out there before. People always say the desert is soo beautifull, but I mean, come on, it's just sand right? I just figured ...

... The highly hospitable climate was reciprocated by all the travellers with an extremely gracious, thoughtful and appreciative mood. Suddenly the mood changed and became a bit ugly as the rug seller bared his teeth and fell into a high pressure sell "we take all monies, even plastic monies"; "my sister takes 6 months to make this rug, now you met her, why you not buy?; "hey you (me), you have your Mohammed to carry, which one you want buy". Everyone was silent ...

... Sea. The drive through the mountains took us five hours, but it was beautiful! The city is a very chill town, where all the houses are painted blue. We shopped, ate and walked around for the afternoon. Then we drove home late Saturday night. After five pages about our adventures, I am pretty tired of typing. I have many cool stories about the last few days at the clinic. However, you will all have to wait a few days to hear and see about that. Love, Tamerin

... I tried to show my guide, but he told me it was ok. I decided to get off and walk rather than fall off and have to limp. Then we all got off. We all walked a few hours through the Sahara - up and over the dunes until we got very close to the village again. When we saddled up again Ben took my camel and agreed the saddle was broken. He walked the rest of the way. So that ends our Sahara adventure. Although the sand dunes are massive and beautiful they truly are no-mans land in the heat of the day.

... Hassan asks if we would like to see one of the shops. We thought we were being taken to a shop owned by his mother that sells the hooded coat that the local men where in winter, which makes them look like a mixture of a character from 'Star Wars', the Grim Reaper from Monty Python's 'Meaning of Life', and the Gobbledock from the old Smiths Chips commercials. Instead it was a carpet shop. Mike and Linda were very interested in a couple and were thus taken to another room so ...