Camel-Lotta-Toe & Sahara Desert Camel Caravan 1
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
145
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Merzouga,
Morocco
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Berber blue
. Berbers make up a solid majority of Morocco's population, but are nevertheless politically marginalized. Many Berbers call themselves some variant of the word Amazigh, meaning free men and they tell us they are straight down the line. Most Berbers were in fact traditionally farmers, living in mountains relatively close to the Mediterranean coast, or oasis dwellers but the ones we see here are descendents of nomads. These guys are fairly laid back and seem to smoke alot of hash. They like Bob Marley and also have a big place in Moroccan music. They like drumming. Alot of them ride motorized bicycles and motorbikes leading to us using the phrase "Berber on a bike" quite alot as they zip passed us in the desert. Welike these guys, they love a laugh.
Nadine and I left Merete at the hotel and we set out for a hot meal at the only restaurantin town that appeared to be open; Hassan and Abduls restaurant,Cafe Idis Hanris. We eat a meal of a simple omelette and a sandwich during which the owner and the waiter sit andtalk with us about the desert and about food. Hassan who wears along white robe tells us how large groups of people who suffer from rheumatism come 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
magic flying carpet?
. Hassan sends a child down the road with cash to find a shopkeeper who will open his door and sell cigarettes to him for us. We ask about medicine men and natural remedy supplies...... scarab beetle just crawled on my foot........ We share some Zamete dessert that is made from wheat, almonds, honey and sesame seeds. Inshallah is added to the end of nearly all the sentences, there has been alot of hash moked this night w suspect. I think the owner is a little bored because he chain smokes and doesnt want us to leave. But we do, taking a little bag of gifted spiced tea with us. On returning to the hotel Julia it is quite late but the Borat look-a-like staff member calls his friend who has access to the camel guides and who is also recommended by the Lonely Planet. The three of us book a three day camel trek starting in the next day afternoon.The rooftop sleep is gold and we all share some coffee, this has become our morning ritual. We wasted the good part of a morning talking with a guy who we initially liked and trusted then who shafted us by taking us to his carpet store. He was selling mirrors, cushions, kaftans, treasure chests and rugs of all kinds and made by all dfferent tribes but they were expensive and we do not have our bargaining wings yet. It was very frustrating to deal with this carpet guy. In the end Merete and i bought some rather nice Rasta-Berber shirts in blue and gold and Nadine bought the matching turban so we could costume up for our camel ride
camels outside our door
. Lots of seemingly simple conversations in Morocco ultimately lead to people trying to get you to spend your money.Back at the hotel Borat and the woman of the house (one of the first Moroccan women we have spoken to)brought out some black and coloured Berber woman shawls that they showed us how to wear as robes to cover our bodies and faces. Nadine really suited hers in the fashion parade down the hallway.
A kid from out hotel takes us down the street and finds a guy wearing a towel on his head to open up his basic general store so we could buy camel trek desert supplies. We bought toilet paper, batteries and soap and lollies for some nomad children whose family we were going to be visiting. The store owner kept chasing away a pack of ten children who were hanging out at the front door of the shop with wooden spinning top toys for us to leave the store. They were hoping for a little candy or a couple of dirhams each. When we left the store, the kids grabbed at the lollies as quick as lightning and Merete made all the kids line up and recieve their piece whilst the store owner checked all of their pockets to see who had already taken one. Then the whole entourage followed us down to Hassans restaurant and waited around. We tried the Kahlia de Maison tajine whilst Hassan tested us on our Arabic language skills in a competition in which the winner takes home one of his fish fossils from his store out the back. Hassan claims to be a geologist and we think he sells fake pieces of meteorite
children in Merzouga street
. Again, it is difficult to leave the restaurant and offers of more mint tea or Berber Whisky as they all say.When we get back to the hotel we were excited to see our camels ready to go and sitting down in a line in the street in Merzouga. The ships of he desert. There would be an Argentine-Spanish couple joining us. We were immediately in LoVe withour camels and named them Nike, Prince Camel-Lotta-Toe and Mr Brains. These camels had one hump and some were carrying baskets with our water and food supplies inside. We found the camels were larger than we expected after being gently raised up into the air by the graceful creatures. My camel was feminine looking and had a nose piercing and long eyelashes. The camels have graceful front legs that walk like supermodels on the catwalk and gangly back legs that look all un-coordinated. The feet look like spongey dogs paws. All the camels in the caravan are linked together via the tails and noses until they form a line. I was positioned at the back. We headed out toward the oasis camp where we would stay for the evening and the first feeling was that we immediately knew we would enjoy the time spent in the strange desert environment. This is so different to anywhere else we have been, every desert is different.
The Sahara Desert (The Great Desert) is the world's largest hot desert and the world's second largest desert after Antarctica. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres it covers most parts of Northern Africa and is larger than Australia
rooftop laundry
. We were to trek in a tiny patch of this desert, easily accessible from Merzouga town. We trekked out into the sand dunes as the sun was getting lower in the sky and watched the contours and colours of the dunes change as we made our way to the tent camp for the night. It was like a beautiful sea of sand. The camp was next to an oasis and was basically some nomad style tents with rugs on the floor. The tents are made from brown goat hair woven into blankets. We arrived in time to watch the sun set and had a delicious dinner of lamb tajine. The guides brought us mint tea and played some traditional Berber music on their drums. After dinner we climbed the large dune behind the camp and watched the stars, played Berber games and rolled down the dunes. The moon is bright and the sky clear tonight. There are many 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 the road. He was at BOOM festival. At the moment he has a van and had picked up 6 hippy hitchhikers, a dog and a baby and has driven them to Morocco. He offers us a ride to the next town, nice guy
carpets
. We give him our water and he leaves back to find his camp. Random.The next day we wake early and Merete and i climb the large dune again in time to see the sun rise over the dunes. Beautiful colours. An Israeli from the Aussie guys van crew took a staff and climbed even further than 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 tents from a distance and could not believe that they lived out here in these harsh conditions with nothing. On our approach, the eldest child of the seven kids who live there rolled out some carpets for us to sit on and the mother didnt acknowledge us but took off into the haze of nothingness until she was a speck. She appeared to be talking to someone there. She left three of her children to play with us. Nomads move their livestock like goats or sheep to find available plants and water for grazing and they set up temporary tents in the locations. They can cover considerable distances seasonally and use the goats for warmth and food. This family had a few herds of goats of all ages and the children each had jobs of caring for the goats and fetching water from a nearby river using a donkey
our room
. The family had two larger tents for shelter but they were more like just shades than shelters. They also had two small shacks made from straw hay for a kitchen and storage. That is all, nothing else. Nothing at all and they were happy living in their natural state here. A most difficult life to live. While we were there two 4WD vehicles turned up out of nowhere and people spilled out and took photos of our camels. Our guide was asleep becuase he was practising Ramadan fasting and had not taken any water at all during the day, even after walking in the desert all day. Madhouse behaviour. The children approached us slowly and then interacted more after they felt comfortable with us. Merete gave them some balloons that she tied to string and we had some bubbles and paper to write on. We were ready to leave after five hours there and returned to the first camp to sleep. After making it back to Hotel Julia in the morning, we said goodbye to Merete when she left towards Todra Gorge with a German woman who had a hire car. A Spanish couple told us about a good mountain trek with mules near Marrakech and we have added it to our plans. We dont really have a plan nor do we have a guide book for this section of the trip, its more of an adventure this way. We had really enjoyed our time and conversations with her and would like to visit her in New Zealand. We were going to take some time out together and do the overland local bus backpacker thing because we like torture.
We bought some rare meteorite fossil (wink! wink!) for the kids from Hassans shop out the back of the restaurant.
