Kasbah Le Touareg Merzouga

... lucky to have him. I was geeked out when he put on his traditional Berber garb at the gas station just outside of Rabat. The jelleba went on and then . . . the turban!! Yes, yes, yes. I really felt we were on our way when I saw Hamsa don his turban! I'm not sure why he chose to take it off in Rabat, but he wore it the rest of the weekend and I think it is part of his typical everyday wear. We saw many men wearing that ...

... good view of the full moon and the stars. The next morning, the guide gathered up the camels and we were on our way back to the Kasbah.  We got showered and had a delicious Moroccan breakfast at the Kasbah.  The typical breakfast includes fresh squeezed orange juice, tea, bread, a pancake-type crepe, served with jams and butter.  Sometimes eggs are served too.  After getting our things together, we went out to get in the car and the chauffer tells us the car will not ...

We headed further south today towards the desert, driving past mud hut villages and stopping at Erfoud/Arfoud for the market. Dad left Mum and I to fight through the crowds of people and haggle for our food, because he felt claustrophobic and couldn't cope. As we crawled along a bumpy dirt track towards Merzouga, we could see the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the distance. We stopped at a faux Kasbah that has recently been built as a ...

... a clutch of camps exist to service a strong tourist market. Throughout our time here people have been selling African wraps so you can look the part while sipping cocktails at Club Med, and thus were duly poo poo'd away. We heard of people parting with 12 euro for one, and Claude felt good about her twenty dirham investment (about three dollars). But I had to push on. I didn't really want one. Its just something else to pack. Pricing fell to 15 dirham, then ...

... a very tall dune, we set down his scarf for us to lie on. As we lay on our backs, looking at the stars, Hassan covered our legs with warm sad and built sand pillows for our heads. We sipped tea and looked at more stars than I have ever seen. All was well, until suddenly Hassan decided to give us massages. He started with Shannon. As he gave her a thorough rub down, Lindsay and I laid next to her plotting how we were going to ...

... 30 seconds the air was black with sand and we couldn;t see a foot in front of us, or hear each other. we couldn;t see the hotel, but headed in that direction when we saw lights. it was the 4X4 from the hotel coming out to look for us. we were very glad to get back under cover and to watch the sandstorm rage from the safety of our room. the next day we went camel trekking. we set off at 10.30 on two camels and a berber guide who walked in front. camels are not ...

... the rental car and such. Marcelo, Marcelo Jr. and Andre were good company and though I think we all tested each other's nerves a time or two, we were pretty lucky to have found each other and had such a successful and beautiful trip. Another wonderful and unexpected place visited on this trip. Never dreamed I'd set foot on the Sahara Desert, and much less in such style. I am once again humbled, inspired and invigorated by yet another beautiful piece of this earth.

... a mirage. After agreeing with our driver/hotelier, Zaouie, that we were, indeed, interested in a desert trek he summoned Omar, a tall rough-looking guy in a djellaba and headgear who fit the Berber desert guide look to a tee. After some poor haggling on our part (the kind where we eventually accept their first offer) the details were arranged and we settled in to spend the day relaxing until 5 pm when it would be cool enough to head out. When we did go it ...

... said. We stayed at a neat little hotel with a terrace overlooking the late night action, wondering what Fez was like when it was founded back in 789 AD. We were up at the crack of dawn the following morning for a 9-hour journey through the High Atlas Mountains and onward to the Sahara. For this part of the trip we rented a car. Upon arrival at the last town, Rissani, before entering the desert, you are descended upon by hordes of guides. This is a very uncomfortable ...