Auberge Camping Sahara Merzouga

... en route to Essaouira, precisely so I could dump the rugs and most my belongings there and travel w/ but a small satchel here to Essaouira for my near final 3 nts.

Uh, but - sadly for you All, I neglected to toss in the USB cord for my camera so...

The bad news is - no pics of me on that camel quite yet.

Oh I have them - youbetcha. tons of great pics including yours truly resplendent w/ requisite Berber turban atop that ...

... 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 ...

... tried. Most sat in silence, just taking in the moment, so as not to disturb the process. And then, in a matter of moments, the full moon appeared, giantic, looking as though it was just resting on that sanddune up ahead, before it continued its ascent into the sky. Just amazing. Definately the highlight of the trip for all of us. And then, after a while, we started our decent, which was so much easier than the climb up, though a bit like walking ...

HE SAID: So happy to see daylight representing that we safely slept through the night without Freddy Krueger at our door. Excited to leave for the sand dunes in Merzouga (which borders Algeria). We were told that for lunch we were going to have a pizza that is only made in a certain part of Morocco; Rissani. This sounded great to me until after eating it I realized why no other cities would ...

... nowhere. Erg Chebbi is only 80 kilometres away, and already we can glipse sand dunes hovering in the heat hazed distance. Getting closer to our target, and it feels like we are riding on the set of Mad Max (Road Warrior for you Seppos out there). Long barren stretches of highway into nothingness, with occasional signs scrawled on metal placards declaring a Hotel of some sort, or Essence Sans Plomb. One of these is for our Auberge, so we turn off the highway ...

... over ruined roads to a place called Mezouga. Everything has the same scorched color. The plants green are covered in a thin layer of the fine dust that chokes you when you breathe. Every breath comes from a furnace vent, and the earth itself looks like the gods had set fire to the land ages ago, then forgotten it. Ive already drank 4 1/2 L of water, and my tongue is still sticky and thick. The only bright colors to ...

... in the desert - you never have trouble getting out of bed in the morning! The Moroccan/Berber food is a culinary experience. Like Middle Eastern food, the meal features meat, bread and usually some sort of appetizer, such as olives. Common dishes include beef/lamb/chicken brochettes (kabobs), tajines (food steamed in a conical clay pot), couscous (semolina), as well as beef kefta (meatballs) or kahlia (diced beef and eggs in a tomato and onion sauce). (Pigeon and camel are also ...