Down in the Dunes

I took a weekend trip down to the Sahara with some friends from school last Friday. The drive is about 8 hours South of Fes and doing the trip in only a weekend was pushing it but in the end, incredible worth it. We drove through the Switzerlan-esque town of Ifrane which is extremely green and also has very white winters. We continued south, through Er Rachidia and continuing on along the Ziz Valley which is a rich valley of palm oases fed from the Ziz River. The road was dotted with old, crumbling kasbahs and millions of palms heavy with dates. In fact, on Saturday we went to the Annual Date Festival in Erfoud. There were piles and piles and boxes upon boxes of dates along with some informational booths on dates and other agricultural goods from the region. Finally we made our way down to Merzuga. When you first reach the desert, there are miles nothing but flat, rocky earth covered in this black fossilized marble. Then, just like that, the alluring red dunes rise up from the rocks. We set out on a camel caravan around 4pm and stopped to watch the sunset as some of my companions rolled down some dunes. We reached the camp sight during the last breath of dusk and ate a delicious Berber meal, which was like a tomato-beef stew with eggs and onion. All we really wanted to do was star gaze and so we did. Of course they were spectacular and the Milky Way was clearly visible. We watched a couple of satellites mosey across the sky and just enjoyed the crisp desert air. I couldn't help but break into song singing "Night...and stars above that shine so bright...the mystery of their fading light ...That shines upon our caravan" to the ammusment of Victoria and Margot. Some of our guides started up a drum jam session, which was mellow and wonderful to hear. I miss all the drumming sessions everyone would create in Tucson...I never realized how spoiled I was by them. We fell asleep under the stars, content and frankly a little dumb-struck by it all. Then there was the sunrise...I forget how great you feel after waking up with the sun! We hiked out into the dunes, barefoot, and silently watched the sun break over the horizon...making me grin from ear to ear like a love-struck fool. But it was a brief ecstasy for soon I was back on Bilal (my camel) and heading back towards Merzuga. I hope I can return to the desert before I leave Morocco. It felt so good to be away from the noise and confusion on the city...so good to have a wide open space to play in. I hope you can get a taste of the deliciousness of it all from the pictures. Peace.