Sahara Sunrise

The busiest day of our trip started bright and early with breakfast and goodbyes at the family-owned hotel where we spent an incredibly comfortable night, despite the modest accommodations.

A quick stop to view the Todra Gorge was followed by a winding walk through dusty streets to a small carpet weaving store. The owner was so friendly and introduced us to the hand-made carpet weaving process from sheering the sheep, lambs and camel to processing the wool to collecting the materials for dyes (local minerals, plants and flowers) to the dye process to the weaving done by looms or hand-stitches.

No two carpets are the same and some require months of work to complete because the detail is tiny and intricate the women who weave them can only work three hours per day or they risk injuring their eye-sight. The colors were vibrant and it was honestly inspiring to see the pride they took in their work. We enjoyed mint tea while we listened, viewed and touched all the different samples.

We made another brief stop on the way to the desert at a fossil factory. Morocco is specifically famous for being a hotbed of prehistoric fossils. The Erfoud area - where we stopped - is home to one of the worlds biggest fossil trades. We purchased a few ammonite fossils and admired many more along with trilobites, prehistoric squid and megalodon teeth.

A few hours later we found ourselves at a small boutique exploring Berber fashion in preparation for our night of desert camping. The Berber are an indigenous people of Northern Africa (also called Amazigh or “Free Men”) who pre-date the Arab conquest of the area and trace their roots back to at least the Roman Era. In Morocco, 80% of residents can trace their lineage to the Berber community.

While we certainly try to be socially aware and mindful of appropriation when exploring new cultures, “Berber fashion” of loose garments and wrapped head scarfs is widely worn and practical in the desert. So, we happily obliged the opportunity to try on some garments and ultimately everyone except Josh purchased a headscarf for our desert trek later in the day. M - a skilled negotiator - teamed up with the saleswoman to also guilt us into purchasing her a dress and jeweled headpiece to wear with her scarf. She was beyond adorable and quickly garnered the nickname Princess Fatima (an Arabic warrior Princess) amongst the staff at our desert camp.

The trek to the desert was the most anticipated thing about our trip, which M had gleefully shared with anyone who would listen for the last several weeks. The most scenic way into the Sahara desert camp is by camel!

M was a bit nervous when it came time to hoist ourselves on the camels so she decided to ride with me. This meant we got the biggest camel - and the leader of our caravan. M named her Runny and I am so very thankful she did NOT live up to her name!

Josh’s camel (who M later named Rough-y), did however cause quite the stir when she refused to continue on with the journey after we stopped for a break to watch the sunset. She tried to bite Josh, refused to get up and then tried to make a run for it before settling down for the second leg of the journey.

We have explored many, many modes transportation in our travels and I can confidently say camel is the worst! Though M thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the rest of us ended up a bit sore and uncomfortable. The trek was an hour and thirty minutes and I would say that was probably an hour and twenty minutes too long for my liking.

The photos were incredible, though. And watching M play on the enormous sand dunes with the setting sun in front of us was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that more than made up for the hip and lower back pain I’m feeling today!

Camp was an amazing experience with - once again - unbeatable hospitality. It is hard to describe our tent as modest, as it was quite luxurious compared to other tent accommodations we’ve experienced. The tent had electricity, running water, a private toilet and hot showers. No complaints from me here!

The desert weather was quite chilly, so being welcomed with warm mint tea was very much appreciated. After time to relax we joined the rest of our camp (a European couple and a group of American college students studying abroad in Morocco) for dinner. It was tagine again, but honestly, if you have to eat the same meal multiple times in a row, there are worse dishes then roasted chicken, onions, rice and root vegetables. Again, no complaints from me!

After dinner we were invited by staff to join them around the fire for a traditional Berber drum circle experience of music and song. A few of the college students joined in on drums and afterward the staff members shred their instruments with the group for a truly unique experience which resulted in everyone organically playing together in the same rhythm. M loved a chance to play the drum and stayed mostly on beat.

After that, the guys took M out stargazing and bug hunting. The cold sent me to our tent to prepare bedtime things and get the bed warm for M and Josh (or so I said when they woke me up upon their return about 45 minutes later).

Morning came much too early and much too cold. Uncle Matt, who had a tent to himself a few tents down said he slept in all his clothes and nearly froze to death in the night. After a light breakfast we (or I, rather) opted to return from the desert via truck rather than camel caravan.

One camel ride was more than enough for us! Plus we got to watch the sunrise over the sand dunes while we waited on our Toyota.