Nomad Palace Merzouga

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At last we got to our camp. Surprisingly comfortable. Th**e w**e goat-hair tents arranged in a square, and big carpets set down directly on the sand in the middle. Next to us was a really big sand dune with an extremely steep incline. And some of us decided to climb it. Did I mention it was STEEP? And difficult to climb. Because as soon as you take a step, your foot slides down a few inches and it's almost like you nev** took a step at all.
Merzouga, Morocco abulia

... been in touch with Hamsa and stopped by the hostel we stayed in Friday night to meet up with us and catch a ride back to Rabat. Our van pulls in, and there's Mohamed! He just pops up in random places.

We had tea and said our goodbyes to Hamsa (he turned back home from there rather than going on to Rabat). It was sad saying goodbye to him after such a great weekend, and all the girls gave him hugs. He was shy ...

... the top of the dune we were on. Climbing dunes is not all that easy and is taxing on your leg muscles. Nadine was still asleep when we got back to camp so i shouted Wake Up Jeff! at her and she grumped up. We enjoyed a good breakfast together before doing a funny photo shoot and taking the camels further into the desert until we reached some flat, black gravel-ly section of desert. This is where we would spend some time with a nomad family. We could see the family ...

... to watch the sun rise. It was very nice, went back before it got too hot and our jeep driver took us to Errichidia where we got a taxi back to Ifrane. Ugh, finals soon and having to pack up...whackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. I'll miss you al-maghreb.

... tellement basses qu'il faut s'y baisser, un marché couvert géant que l'on dirait faire pour les touristes mais qui est un quotidien pour les marocains. Difficile voir impossible pour le porte monnaie de sortir indemne de cette excursion mais je me suis pas mal débrouillé quand même. Point d'orgue de cette balade en ville, fut le moment où nous nous retrouvimes sur le toit du marchand de tapis, surplombant la ville, à l'heure où les mollahs entonaient ...

... what the tour included at clearly great inconvenience to them. The ladies answered phones and flicked through photos while talking in their lowest possible volume - and then roughly opened an exercise book for you to write your name indicating acceptance and imminent payment. I commend their Always Be Closing approach, but their level of enthusiasm did create further room for concern as to what we were buying. On the road, thankfully the landscape sells itself ...

... tricks from reading in the guidebook; however it was hard to avoid needing help. We had two young boys chase us all over the city trying to "help us." The five of us could not even regroup and decipher the few maps that we had because the boys put their head in your car and yell at you. Jeremy drove us back out of the city limits, we determined the best path to take, and finally successful made it through the town on our third try ...

... not even see the sun. We stopped by some high dunes, and the camel guide told us we could climb up, but that he wouldn't because he was too hungry and thirsty. I was the only one who actually made it to the top, but it was a big effort. It took every bit of energy I had. Climbing sand dunes is a lot harder than it looks. Also the hard wind driving and into me didn't help. We then got the camels back to our base where we all needed a shower to try wash off the ...

... morning, opened the shutters to our windows and the view took our breath away...creamy, caramel colored, rolling sand dunes interrupted only by the occasional palm tree...quintessential desert right there outside our window...we could not believe it. We slept in of course, the beds were the best I have had since...Argentina maybe??? Then lazily made our way into our very own little dining area and had breakfast before heading out in the Range Rover with our ...

... and I felt too ill to walk to the berber camp for lunch. Kath, Kate and the guide left us to moan and feel sorry for ourselves and went to lunch for a few hours. Laying in the back of the FWD turned out to be not so bad though.. A couple of Berber shepherds came down from a nearby hill with their sheep and goats and tried talking to us .. in berber or french.. either way we didnt speak their language. The two berbers hung around for a bit and eventually i realised ...