Desert

We journeyed 9 hours from Fez through the snowy Middle Atlas Mountains down to the desert to meet the four wheel drive Land Cruiser that would take us to our camels. The drive to the Kasbah with our camels took about 45 minutes over gravelly sand. At the Kasbah, we and our backpacks mounted our camels for a one hour meander over endless sand dunes.

I've heard that camels spit; but, thankfully, none of them did. Our group was 5 camels tied together.  The guide led our 'caravan' with a rope tied through the nose of the first camel. Camels are amazingly well built for the desert with their soft padded feet sloshing through the sand. However, riding a camel is not as comfortable as it appears. Going up hill went well. Going downhill, I clung to the hand holds and braced myself not to catapult over the camel's neck. It was a long hour ride. On the way back the next day, I decided I would walk with our guide.

When we arrived and dismounted at our tents (camels have some tough front knees), the guides encouraged us to quickly summit the highest dune in order to see sunset. As we attempted to scurry, we discovered how exhausting it was to walk in the sand. I reneged on walking with the guide the next day. Several times, I stopped to catch my breath. Yet, we still summitted in time to see sunset. Swiftly, the air cooled as the sun disappeared. We cruised down the slope to waiting mint tea and dinner.

I haven't written much about Moroccan cuisine. The signature dish is the tajine, which is a clay pot with meat and vegetables. Usually, this is preceded by Moroccan salad, which is a variety of cooked veggies (beets, carrots, eggplant, zucchini) and beans (fava). And followed with either fruit or cookies. No meal is complete without a flat, soft bread. Our tajine in the desert was a tajine to end all tajines. Chicken, eggplant, and zucchini all in one big pot, followed by wonderfully sweet watermelon, accompanied by two guides providing some after dinner drumming.

Finally, our guides led us to our tents, which were heavy blankets on wooden frames. The doors were heavy, woven rugs. Our beds were small twin mattresses with sheets and heavy woolen blankets. Although I'd planned on sleeping outside, the large moon shone so brightly, we didn't even need flashlights. I curled up under the warm blankets inside the dark tent and fell asleep to the sounds of drumming and clapping from a nearby group.

Morning light crept through the blanket tent; and, I hurried out to see the sun crest the eastern sand dunes. We only hiked about halfway up the western dune for a vantage point this morning. Neither sunset nor sunrise provided brilliant colors. Perhaps the air is too clean to prism any sunlight. After the sun crested, we ate a light breakfast of bread and tea. Then, we mounted our camels for our return to the kasbah and our waiting Land Cruiser.