We are up for some more punishment so we had decided we wanted to do a more extreme Sahara Desert experience by roughing it nomad style with a five day camel trek. The Merzouga dunes were great but we wanted some more genuine desert time. We also decided that we would go directly to the source, to the isolated town of M' Hamad in the South near the Algerian border where we had heard we could negotiate a trek with the camel guides who live there. The sand dunes are called Erg Chigaga and are supposedly the biggest ones. Punishment i said.
Last night in Ait Ben Haddou i left the internet room i had found in someones basement to return to the hotel at 11pm. I then found i had been locked out of the hotel and Nadine was asleep inside. They could have told us there was a curfew. After banging on the door and shouting like the lunatic i am with no result, i went around the side of the hotel but found there was no way in, over or around the high mud brick walls or through the heavy doors. I yelled some more. I was concerned about the random men hanging around the front of the hotel thinking they may start to harass me and there was nowhere to escape to and also started to think i would be out all night with the cats. After 45minutes a local man from the big Kasbah palace came over to offer me his room there for the night. Turns out he was a driver for a wealthy tourist who had paid for a room in the palace for him to stay in. I refused. I started to bang on the doors surrounding the hotel until a neighbour came out to help me to get inside.
The next morning we flagged an illegitimate taxi down on the main road where the driver who was a Paul Hogan / Gilligan from Gilligans Island look-a-like floored it at breakneck speed to Quarazate where we caught the Almou Daraa local bus to Zagora. The bus was decorated retro style in sand dunes and date palm tree graphics, there was no engine cover and we knew we were in for a slow ride South. The better quality CTM bus was not due to leave for a few hours so we took our chances on the retro rig. Once it finally rattled away from the station and the usual arguements over seats and tickets, beggars on board etc had subsided we realised we were sitting next to a beautiful Muslim woman in full veil who had a bandage covered in blood wrapped around her head and keeping her mouth open like a gag. She was silenced and in some pain. It was very obvious that the man behind her was her husband and the offender of this horrendous act. We sent her some love and gave him death stares. You love Morocco and you hate it. Men constantly picking their noses is a nationwide past time. The hot and tiring drive through the Draa valley was spectacular especially when viewed from the left hand side of the bus. The Atlas mountains rising up and large gorges opening below. The slow, local bus took hours and made many stops along the way to pick up and drop off passengers along the sides of the roads but this made the trip more interesting and it is on these trips we get the closest to the people.
Once hitting Zagora we were immediately hit up by young, handsome Sahara desert boys whose job it is to speak a little French, Spanish or English and tempt you into taking expeditions into the desert or hotel rooms they get commission for. We stuck to our plan to make it to the source and tried to get a collectivo grand taxi the rest of the way to M Hammad. Problem is, breaking the Ramadan fast was about to happen and nobody was travelling unless of course we offered a giant sum of money. There was a brawl in the taxi car park and everybody was Ramadan-grumpy with eating dates on their minds. Eventually we came across the information that the plusher, faster CTM bus we has passed up back in Quarazate was due to pass through Zagora in one hour and could take us on to M Hammad. Sweet. We shared some dates at the break the fast time whilst still fighting off touts then boarded the bus.
The driver seated us near him at the front and told us he would take us to the good hotel in town. The bus guys probably thinking of their own commission refused to let any of the young Sahara touts sit near us on the bus. Some of them get on the bus spinning tales and try to lure in travellers who are yet to make reservations. Business cards were thrust at us from all angles. We didnt commit to anyone. Problem with our plan was that the touts have mobile phones and everybody in M Hammad knew we were that rare type of fresh meat with no reservations for hotel or trek sorted.We were hot property indeed. When the bus came to a halt i couldnt find my backpack at first and held the dreaded thought for a moment that all my survival gear, my home on my back was gone forever. At the same time about 15 of the young Sahara men in kaftans hounded and attacked us pulling our arms this way and that in an attempt to get us to their respective hotels. They were crazier because we were two lone women with no male companions. I shouted La! La! La! - No! No!No! like a barking dog and some fell away but two remained. One of these guys was Jamel who we would later come to know as our friend. We eventually checked into the dive of a place Hotel Sahara quite late at night and after much negotiation and questions and countless cups of mint tea plus a few puffs of apple flavoured tobacco from a hookah, we settled on a five day budget camel trek leaving at midday the next day. The trek is to include two camels, two guides and all food and water. We also look at a basic map drawn with pictures with no scale to see where we will be trekking to. Details are sketchy but we did bargain the tour down to half price by saying we would be choosing a different company in the morning. Mission accomplished.
Flys, ants and sand attacked us through the night because the hotel has no windows, nice one. The first day of the trek was Nadines 39th birthday and i gave her a plastic blue flower and played Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen on the ipod for her. Happy Sahara Birthday!, not much luxury i am sad to say. We went to the general store to stock up on supplies like coloured pencils, cans of harden up and candy for kids. The town is like a step back in time with primitive items on the shelves of the store and old Moroccan men sitting around. There doesnt seem to be any women living here. It is an isolated desert town. We eat the basic typical breakfast of cheese spread and stale bread with orange flavoured jam then try to contact Australia to let someone know where we were in case we disappeared off into the desert forever. There was a chance of that. The camel guides kept coming into the computer room and telling us to get off the internet whilst Nadine was talking to her dad and i got into an argument with them in front of some French tourists. They weren't too happy about that but we are not used to being told what to do or being controlled by men so be it. Then Nadine has a go at them and we only pay half of the tour money in case they make a farce of it. We promise the other half on our safe return and i let them know that people know where we are and will turn up at the hotel if we are not looked after properly. Despite all the difficult dealings with the people in Morocco, we do adore the country. The adventure begins.
The camels chosen for our trek were the bottom of the barrel, last of the runt shocking looking beasts and not at all like the ones we had used in Merzouga. They were one humped dromedary camels, the ones favoured by nomads for their sobriety, endurance and speed. These guys were not pretty and we named them Grumpy-Bum-Burp-A-Lot and No Nostrils Dinosaur Breath. Of course we loved them anyway. The poor creatures had not been cared for much at all and part of their nose areas had been ripped out as a result of piercings made for ropes that they tie the camels together in caravan with. We felt bad for hiring them as they belched out in pain with the heavy load of our supplies, pots, water, food etc on their backs. You have a vision of what camel trekking is supposed to be. That is sitting on a camel riding off into the sunset surrounded by golden red dunes. Well, this was not camel trekking but in fact.........trekking with camels as in we walk with the camels carrying our gear just as the real desert caravans did in the Sahara in the past. Also the sand was not red here and the wind blasted it against us and whipped it into our faces. We tightened up our turbans for protection by wrapping our heads up like mummies and began the walk out into what seemed like neverending desert. We take a couple of cans of harden up from the supplies, we think we are going to need them.
Our guides Jamel and Aziz seem a little intimidated by us because of our lash out over the internet earlier. Jamel speaks some English and Spanish but Aziz is a true nomad camel man and does not speak much of the French, Spanish or English. We walk on foot for a couple of hours through barren desert passing strange alien landscape like giant dried mud hills and crater holes and sand dunes start to rise up before us.
We stop at some adobe buildings with sand floors and thatched palm and wood ceilings that offer some relief from the wind whilst Jamel prepares a salad lunch. These shelters are used by the nomad families in Summer when it is scorching hot. The camels are unpacked and their two front legs are tied together so they cant walk too far away. We huddle into one of the dark rooms together and sit on rugs. There are four other camel men in there and it is the first time the guides have seen each other in awhile so there is lots of chatting in Arabic and stories and messages from across the desert being exchanged. A fire is lit in the middle of the room and a small enamel teapot is put on the flame in prepartion for the usual mint tea. Jamel chops vegetables and salts a pot of water. Aziz gets out all the parts of his hookah from a storage bag and puts it together so he can share smoke with his friends. We are told the hookah is the modern Moroccan way to smoke what they call shisha. Shisha is a smooth, pleasant tasting and smelling, flavoured, natural tobacco that they put in a cone piece on top of the hookah. Next they cover that with foil and place hot coals on top of the foil using tongs. They all take turns sucking down the smoke through a hose. We are invited into the ritual. Aziz favours the apple flavoured tobacco. We cover our faces with our turbans as one of the guys pierces a a gas cannister with a metal knife. It smells of spices, sweat, camel shit, wet blankets and apple tobacco.
Now we see that the tours of the smaller patch of sand dunes at Merzouga are really made for tourists and comfortable, this here is the real deal, it is the big desert and the only way to experience the real deal is by taking a tour with the real people of the desert. We were starting to feel more relaxed as the scarcity and simplicity of the desert emptied our minds and brought us to the present moment. The palava of the mission to get out there faded and we started to feel a taste of the freedom these camel men find out there. The environment in the Sahara is such a contrast to the Amazon jungle where we recently were yet the people who are living closer to their natural state in both locations have a certain similarity of spirit. They are happy here.
Our guides decided they were not doing the Ramadan fast and chose to eat, drink water and smoke but they did tell us that Allah would punish them if they didnt make up the days of pleasure at the end of the holy month time. This is the first time we have sen anyone break the rules during Ramadan. We couldnt help but think that Aziz and Jamel were really pirates. They kept asking us for cigarettes. The idea with trekking with camels is to walk in the morning then rest during the middle of the day when it is too hot then walk some more in the afternoon. Our Birkenstocks were getting a workout. I saw some desert snake egg shells. As the sun was setting we walked and made it to a camp where there was a small tent set up and two more guides plus a Spanish guy. We watched the sun set from the top of the dunes whilst a young Sahara guy sang beautiful Arabic songs that sounded like medicine songs then tumbled down the dunes doing handstands and flips to entertain us and make us laugh. We waited for the moon but it was covered in clouds this night. We joined in some energetic singing and drumming on buckets. We had a nice feast of chicken and meat tajines and melon to finish plus the mint tea again and again.
We slept in our sleeping bags outside and woke to a light drizzle and camels walking passed our heads at daybreak the next morning. One of the camels had a good go at trying to bite me. We all piled into the tiny tent and chatted before waving goodbye to the other crew. We played songs on my ipod speakers. Everyone wanted a turn at it. Tatu, Mariah Carey and Shakira were popular but Aziz wanted to hear Celine Dion over and over again. He would sit holding his heart and looking at the ipod. A sweet and gentle guy he is. We were alone with the lads and unfortunately a bit of sleaze started to happen. This was a shame because apart from the hitting on us, the guys were lots of fun with masses of energy and we liked their company. There is a lot of sitting around on the desert trips eating or waiting for the sun to cool so it can be quite intimate in regards to space. The Sahara boys excitedly tell us it is their first time taking out two women alone on a trip, normally they take couples or men. I dont think they knew how to treat us or react but they tried to be in our personal space all the time and were always trying to talk to us, make us laugh and entertain us, nonstop. Jamel tried at every possibility to seperate Nadine and I so they could be alone with us. Aziz would sit and stare at me and was attempting to talk to me in Arabic all the time. I would respond by ignoring him but he never gave up. Moroccan men are known for their persistence. He would tell me all the English words he knew and kept asking if i would like a massage and telling me what to do. We could feel that the sleaze factor was escalating but were enjoying the desert time nonetheless. Finally late in the afternoon we packed up camp and walked further into the desert. We had been at camp all day, the Sahara boys move slowly.
We cross a dry river bed and Jamel shows us the dry bones of a human, yeah right, they are from a sheep or goat. We did not make it that far and it started to rain hard with sand winds too. It was getting dark so we made a camp in the flat area in the middle of some higher sand dunes used for protection. We had to huddle up in thick blankets whilst the guys quickly whipped up a tajine that we all scoffed down captain caveman style using our hands straight into the pot. Some mysterious meat that we suspect was goat turned up in the pot so we ate all the vegetables around it. The boys kept telling us to eat the food but the meat has been unrefrigerated in the camel baskets in the Sahara sun for two and a half days at this point and we refuse firmly. Conditions were bad and we were two hours from any shelter. Shocker. The guys considered putting us on top of the camels and walking us to the shelter in the dark but we all just slept there in the rain instead. We used our sleeping bags hoods over our heads and put our faces all the way in the bag like a coccoon as protection from the rain and dug in for the night, we had no choice but to stick it out.
We woke up wet with sore backs from lying on the floor and went for a walk to discuss the situation. It was at this point that we worked out we had been lied to because the large dunes, the reason we had come were still so far away and we didnt seem to have the time to make it there during the five day trek. Most people take a 4WD to visit them. So we questioned the lads about not having shelter and about the itinerary. They told us we could make the dunes but would have to walk 35km in one day, this is impossible to do in one day in the desert heat. We were going to have to visit a well to find some water before continuing too. I told Jamel that we didnt believe him and Nadine even thew in a in our country we tell the truth statement. So, we didnt get any real answers. Jamel went into a flurry and told more lies, all Moroccan businessmen do this, it is their job. Jamel drew a dodgy map of the ititnerary in the sand and Aziz kept telling us that he had nothing to do with the tour agency, he was just the camel guy. This must have happened before. We couldnt just walk away considering the guys had our camels and our water. Aziz gets afraid that he will be in trouble with the owner of the hotel and they tell us that we cant go back early, it will be a problem for them and gets the boss on the phone to us. Somehow there is mobile phone reception here. Considering the weather unpredictability and the sleaze factor, we decide that we want to return to M Hammad before we get further out. We decide to pay for the full five days so no-one gets in trouble and to cover the cost of the supplies bought for us. The guys are still scared that we are going to tell the owner they have done something wrong and are stressing out.
We start the walk back and Nadine gets on the camel for this leg. The boys are talking and i lead the camels as they try to work out what they are going to do when they return to the hotel with us earlier than the set itinerary day. We suspect they are taking longer to get us back so the boss thinks we were further out in the desert than we actually were. I dont think the boys wanted to return to their society and all its rules either, the camel trips offer them freedom. We stopped for a pasta lunch for quite a few hours during the heat of the day and the boys started to laugh again. We had lots of fun running around the desert, dancing, pretending we had a flying carpet and playing with monkey. Nadine set up a massage rug and we had two wedding ceremonies where we all got married. I married Aziz in a hookah ceremony and Nadine married Aziz in a camel wee ceremony. The boys collect the camel wee and rub it on their skin for sun protection. Aziz really did want to marry me, wanted me to meet his family and offered many camels, a life in his nomad tent village and his heart many times. I told Aziz i would send my sister but he refused. I told Jamel to stick his head in the sand and he actually did it until we pulled him out by his feet. The argument of the morning was forgotten and we were glad we had pulled the plug and aborted the mission. These guys really are crazy lads with infectious laughs and good attitudes to life, its just a shame they are so desperate when it comes to women and that they dont tell the truth. They use their charm and tell lies to manipulate situations and to get you to part with your money and then are not offended when found out. They are really cool guys, you love them one minute but hate them the next. They are exhausting too.
After the camels snacked on dried dates, we all headed back to the Sahara Hotel in the dark and i had a turn at jumping on the camels back. We stopped for fresh dates with some people in a 4WD breaking the fast for the day and Jamel tells us not to speak of them not doing Ramadan, they could be arrested for breaking the rules. We chat about Ramadan and we try to describe Christmas and Easter holidays to the boys who think it is hilarious that there is an Easter bunny and a Santa Claus. We finally make it back and meet Habib, the owner of the hotel who calls us in for a talk. Habib plays the part of King in these parts and floats around the hotel in white flowing, gold embroidered robes whilst giving orders to the Sahara lads he employs. Many locals sleep on the floor at his hotel and he seems to have a big heart. We have a shower, pay up our money, do the obligatory mint tea ritual, eat some Harira soup and recieve gifts of horrendous, trashy matching diamante ring, earring and necklace set costume jewellery from Jamel before buying tickets on the only bus leaving to Marrakech at 6am the next day. We scrounge around in our backpacks to find some gifts to exchange. We say goodbye to our new husbands and Aziz is upset we are going. We are asked to have our photo taken with the lads and the pimp daddy hotel owner Habib in front of the hotel before we can slip off to bed. The reception guy tells Nadine he loves her and can she email him. We were given some business cards and asked to promote the tour for them.
The Sahara trek company provides an adventurous, fun and authentic desert experience but women travelling alone are advised to take along a male escort. Warts and all, we will always remember our time and the experience in the desert with our new husbands Aziz and Jamel, the crazy Sahara camel men from M Hammad.
By the way, we never saw the big Chigaga dunes but we left completely happy with our unique experience.
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