La Fibule Du Draa Hotel Zagora

... avec les mecanos mais c est bon on en a un bon sur marrakech maintenant. En attendant de recuperer notre quatrequart nous avons fait faire une tente pour se mettre a l ombre un super travail et une bonne affaire, le troc ici marche super bien. Le vendredi soir avant de repartir nous avons vu Sekou qui etait venu pour une representation de theatre avec son ecole. et samedi retour a marrakech. <br>

... We also managed to smuggle in 3 bottles of wine. So after most were in bed we hiked out into the desert night, set up a blanket and started pouring some drinks. Our guide, Yousef, then came out to join us. Following the wine was a few hours of Yousef singing Berber songs and us dancing to it under the clearest sky you can imagine. Today was less adventurous with just a lot of driving back to Ouarzazate ...

... do air jumps on the dunes. She was distinctly unimpressed, but I had a great time... Breakfast was a feast of bread, jam, and Berber whiskey, before we were rounded up once more and cruelly plucked from the desert back onto our camels for another trek, this time a shorter one back to ...

... dodging all the classic Moroccan sellers, engaging in some friendly banter whilst skipping past them to make my ascent. We had attacked this mission from completely the wrong direction - the steps to the top were around the other side of the fort, so there was nothing for it but to ...

... when the meal was finished. At last the meal was served. We all ate from the same dish, using a large spoon to help ourselves to vegetables and couscous. Once every one's fair share was consumed, the meat, having been nestled inside the mound of couscous, was eaten with the hands. The meal was so delicious, the wait was more than worth it! We were happy, however, to finally crawl into bed -- and with such full bellies!

... the summer. What were we thinking doing this in the summer?? So we "boarded" our camels and did the best we could to get comfortable although our tushes were quite sore. I rode mostly side saddle on the way back. After our trek was over Claire and I had arranged to catch a ride and split the gas with the Dutch girls to Ouarzazate. This took us past Zagora and closer to Marrakesh where we caught a shorter bus ride back the next ...

... had left already, even though he indicated he'd find us. That was the first of many bad omens in Ouerzazate. We set out to find a tour and had no luck. There were some leaving tomorrow or maybe the next day, but there was no transportation from here. It seems everyone was stuck due to the strike. We went to the CTM station and the woman said she couldn't sell tickets until 8:00 that night. Strange. They have a computerized network and I should be ...

... for the Dades gorge where we spent the night. The gorge was also flooded but we got the chance to stay in a beautiful guesthouse which had the strong aroma of incense and served up some delicious couscous, a staple food in this region. The following day we visited the Todra gorge which had some impressive rock walls that provide for excellent climbing if you enjoy that sort of thing. About an hour outside of Merzouga the ...

... for some mint tea - the traditional drink of the Moroccans. Oh oh, this usually meant that although being very hospitable, they inevitably showed off their wares for sale (often carpets). This time, after tea, it was jewelry, but after we all saw everything that he had (after he neatly laid all of them out in front of us), we explained that we weren't interested - he held no hard feelings and packed them up. We all thanked him, he was a gentleman and a real pleasure to meet. We all ...

We have been in the Sahara desert, near the border with Algeria, for the last 4 days - completely out of contact with the outside world. We were picked up off the bus in El Rashidia (sp?) by Hassan and Isham and taken to their camp way in the ...