Day 8: Our Night in the Sahara, Part 2

Favorite picture thus far

After a short rest and some tea with the owner of the hotel/ camel expedition director, we were wrapped in scarves and ready to go. We were led to an area where all the camels were lying down, waiting. I’m not sure how we were assigned camels, but they seemed to know exactly who was to ride which camel. I was assigned to camel #2209, or Charlie as I liked to call him, and we became fast friends. The camels were tied in a caravan of sorts, in three groups of four. Each group was led by a Berber, who traveled on foot through the desert, as did Hamsa. Talk about a calf workout.

Owner and his son

Camels!

Malone and Kate

            Riding the camels was absolutely amazing. I liked it more than riding a horse, maybe because we moved more slowly, or maybe because of the mound of blankets that we sat on. Nevertheless, our butts were sore the next day. I was amazed at the sand dunes and how they looked JUST like they do in pictures—(especially that generic desktop background, know which one I mean?). The smoothness of the sand made it look so perfect and untouched. The color of the sand was incredible and the texture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

            We rode the camels for an hour and a half, reaching our destination—about 40 km from the Algerian border—just in time to watch the sunset. The Berber camp we stayed at was really cool. It consisted of multiple tents with 10 or so beds in each, as well as a tent for dining. Two other groups joined us in the camp, one speaking French, and the other speaking Italian (we think.) Hamsa seemed disappointed, as he was told we would be the only group, but we didn’t mind the company at all.

Berber camp

However, the quantity of visitors definitely caused the delay in dinner. We ate at 9:00 PM or so, and we were starvin’! Another tagine for me. Repetitive, yes, but I am still very grateful for how accommodating everyone has been for vegetarians.

Dinner

After dinner, we were entertained by a Moroccan/Berber drum show. Very fun. We also participated in some dancing, led by a crazy guy who kept making all these weird noises. We were convinced that he made them only to hear us try to replicate them. It was a good time.

Struggling

Frenchies dancing!

The best part of the night followed, when a few of us went to the top of one the dunes, laid back, and watched the shooting stars. In the middle of the desert, there is really very little competing light, making the stars super bright. I think Malone counted the most shooting stars, 10 I believe. Some of them were crazy intense and looked like fiery comets. It was awesome.

We brought our mattresses outside and quickly fell asleep under the Saharan sky.  (Tacky, but true)

Bed!

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            The next morning, we were woken up at 5:30 AM before the sun rose to pack up and travel back on the camels while the sun rose. We left at 6:00, riding the same camels, except for Andrew who chose to walk instead (crazy). The hour and a half ride back was significantly quieter than the ride the afternoon before had been. The sunrise was beautiful, naturally, and we arrived back at the hotel/departure point to breakfast awaiting us. I am LOVING crepes and apricot jam. I’m going to have to learn how to make them.

Sunrise

Andrew walking the dunes

Saying bye to Charlie

            At this point, we all felt disgusting. After 5 hours in the van, a night in the desert, all anyone wanted was a shower. Too bad though, because we had a 10 hour bus ride ahead of us. We slept most of the way back, seeing as we had each slept at the most 4 hours the night before. We stopped for lunch at the same hotel in Zaida and I had, you guessed it, tagine.

            It was a long ride back to say the least, but we finally made it around 6:00 PM. A shower has never felt better in my entire life. I felt human again. It was an early night for all of us and I was definitely still tired this morning at the orphanage. But honestly, I can’t even explain how fantastic this trip to the desert was, and all I have to say is that THANK GOODNESS I took so many pictures. :)

Crazy

Until later with pictures from yesterday in Casablanca, au revoir!

-Allie