Doin' the Dunes

With six adults and eleven kids, the road to the Sahara is long! We made six hours into nine, but had a wonderful time talking along the way. The road covers the tree-covered Middle Atlas Mountains where we live, a rugged valley, a High Atlas pass (with some snow remaining in the distance), one massive plateau after another, mountains that looked as if they were cake batter poured into a pan, a gorge and a river-oasis . . . palm trees in a distinct river shape hugging the sides of the stream that give them life as if they are trying to hide from the brutal rocks and sand on either side of them.

The farther south we got, the more "Kasbahs," or Moroccan fortresses we saw. Hotels and restaurants like the one above were considerably more decorated than the average home, but they all had the same shape and color. Literally at the end of the road, we settled down for the night in a simple Kasbah hotel with mud walls as Ron so helpfully proved when the shower went crazy on him the next day, washing down clumps of the bathroom wall and knocking down the mirror which had been securely nailed into the mud!

Arriving at night, we could only assume that there were dunes close by. Early the next morning, I peeked out and saw them for the first time. A short distance from me and distinct in color from the drab gray/brown of the rocky soil I was standing on, stood one massive dune after another. Drawn to them, I began walking until I could touch that amazing sand - so pure and fine that it slipped through my hands and slid down the dune behind my footsteps like water. Through the day the sand changed hues depending on the light- from orange to pink to yellow to rust.

Covering nineteen miles, these silent hills loom up as high as 820 feet and amazingly, stay about the same height and shape over the years. These are the only true Moroccan "erg-" a huge drifting expanse of sand dunes mostly found in Algeria. Though there is more desert to the south and east, it is mostly the rocky, pale sand that makes up that area. But here, in the stillness of the morning, the beauty was striking.

In the late morning, the hotel owner drove us out in a four-wheel drive truck over the dunes. The man had one leg, so we never did figure out exactly how he managed this with a clutch. A roller-coaster like ride over one dune to another left us all howling with delight. Another ride with the kids later was so exciting that several kids ended up howling in fear! Stuck and suspended on the top of a dune with a steep descent on the other side, the kids and I decided we would meet the driver on the next dune!

In the evening after the heat of the day, we went out to our camp site in the middle of the dunes taking turns in the truck and on the camel train. That is Katrina at the back of this group. Both girls loved riding camels, though getting up and down scared them. A camel ride is not exactly a comfortable experience, especially when he is going down a dune, and you are trying hard not to fall off or squish the little person in front of you. Gerald and I had the "camel walk" for a few days which is the very distinct way that you move after riding a camel! But it is exciting to be traipsing through THE desert on one of these amazing creatures behind a "blue man" (the desert men so-named because when they sweat, the blue of their turbans runs onto their faces), over the immense sand to the campsite provided by our hotel.

When we arrived, I thought I could never drink enough water to satisfy my thirst. Later, we had a lovely meal outside of the Berber tents and under the stars. We bedded down outside and settled in for a poor-night's sleep. It was the best bad night we've had, though, because every time we looked up, we could see the desert sky in perfect clarity. Also entertaining, the night was filled with the sound of one of the camels munching, swallowing, and burping. I never knew camels could have acid reflux, but I guess they can! I actually got to watch a bubble travel all the way up his throat and produce a lovely belch :) Camel Tums, anyone?

Early in the morning, we were woken to see the sunrise over the sand. I climbed as high as I could on a dune and was rewarded with a wonderful view. Then our guide got out the snow boards, and the guys experimented sliding down the hills. I was content to take flying leaps down the dune with only one out-of-control somersault mixed in. The girls loved playing in "the biggest sandbox in the world." Then it was back to the hotel and then home where we all took the longest showers we possibly could and shook all that glorious sand out of our suitcases and clothing!