Kasbah Mohayut Merzouga

... all the road signs just sticking out of this desolate, barren plain. V**y uncomfortable ride. Finally we made it to our aub**ge right on the edge of the dunes.<br><br>Th**e was just enough time for a mint tea before we got to our camels! Smelly, unpleasant animals, really, but I still think they are cute. We all named our camels. Mine was Jasp**. My saddle kept sliding to the right.<br><br>Nearby, a large woman atop a camel kept screaming at ev**y move ...

... him off and took a ticket instead, which cost him 400 dirham. We felt so bad, we took up a collection to help him pay for it. Hamsa refused our offer saying he'd help the driver cover it, but one of the ladies snuck the envelope to the driver later. He was so nice and we didn't want him losing any income from the trip. This was the first time I'd seen this type of corrupt police activity in action - had only heard ...

... shooting stars. Somehow, the desert makes you high and happy. Later in the evening we heard a distinctive Aussie coo-ee!! from some dunes quite far away. I reply with one back. The calls get closer and closer. Then a few minutes later out of nowhere a random Australian guy appears wearing no shirt and carrying no water. We chat for awhile and and he turns out to be a cool cat world traveller who has been wawy from home for years and tells us many stories of life on ...

... 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 ...

... isolation-like being explorers on another planet. After a half day's camel trek, we arrived at our very basic campsite. Our guides prepared a good dinner of tagine which we ate in the dying desert light. The campsite was simple: traditional tents pitched into the sand, and no facilities, water, electricity or fire at all. In contrast to the relatively well appointed camp we stayed at in Wadi Rum in Jordan, this one had no frills. To ...

... Morocco's desert nomads - the Berbers. They are the indigenous people of northern Africa whose traditional way of life was as nomadic herders. Who would have thought there would be sheep herders in the desert? Anyways, because there has been very little rain in the past several decades, most Berbers have given up the nomadic life, and the few remaining nomads spend most of their time these days herding tourists rather than livestock ...

... one for livestock and one for human consumption) and various vegetables. Sandra told us there used to be a large lake in this area where flamingoes nested in abundance but with droughts over the past few years it has completely dried up. Sand fences catch the drifting sand, just as snow fences help stop the snow at home. Traditional Berber dwellings are flat-roofed tan coloured buildings made of mud, stones, straw, lime and gravel, often with brightly trimmed doors/windows and ...