We left Zagora headed to the Erg Chigaga dunes and the Moroccan Sahara. First we stopped at a cooperative of seven families that make clay pottery, plates , bowls, etc. Watched a teenage boy make a plate out of wet clay in about one minute. He was sitting with from the waste down in a pit in the ground with his feet turning the spinning wheel. As opposed to sitting at a table. Tough working conditions. Don't remember what happens next, but it will take about a week for that plate to dry in the sun, then be fire dried in a kiln and then painted by the women in the coop. This type stuff has been for sale everywhere I've been.
Almost to minute when we drove off the road into the Sahara, it started sprinkling. How many can say their first trip included rain. About 3 hours of off road riding thru some small dunes and some hard pan, we reached the Erg Chigaga dune complex. For those of you familiar with Jockeys Ridge, this place was that hundreds of times over. We drove around the edge of the main dunes for about an hour before coming to the tented camp where I stayed. There were about 7 tents with beds inside plus an eating room that they called the restaurant and a bath/shower building. All within about 50 yds of each other and surrounded by sand. At about 4pm, I decided to walk up into the dunes to be in position to take some good sunset pics and to test out how easy or hard it would be to walk in the sand. That turned out to be a good idea as the next couple of hours was the best weather of the two days in the desert. I got some good pics of the shadows on the dunes near sunset and headed back as I didn't want to get lost after dark. Sahja had told me that if I didn't show up for dinner he would turn on the car lights so I could find my way. Made it back ok right at dark and right when the wind started blowing.
Dinner was served and turns out I am the only guest, but 10 Moroccans are supposed to come the next day. Who shows up as my waiter but Hassan the guy who picked me up at the Marrakech train station. Turns out his brother owns the camp. Berber soup, followed by spaghetti with some kind of sauce followed by l'orange chicken. It was all very good.
With nothing to do and the wind howling, it was back to my tent. About as cold and windy a night in a tent as possible. Plus when Hassan tucked me in, ie put a few concrete block size rocks on the bottom of the flap that served as a door, he didn't get the job done. So I had to listen to that thing flap all night.
The good news was that I was able to steal the blankets off the other beds. All night I'm wandering is the wind and blowing sand going to cancel the camel ride.
Dawn brought clear skies and more wind. After breakfast, Yahja said that my camel man would show up a little before 10. Low and behold Ali showed up with his three camels and looked like one of the wiseman with them following behind. The lead camel, at 17 yrs of age, had the saddle and the daunting task of hauling my butt around. After a few pleasantries, I got on and was told to hold on tight to what amounted to the handle bars. A camel has a unique way of getting to its feet. Takes about 4 unique movements to get the job done. Kind of like a Charles Barkley golf swing. So off we go with the wind howling and the sand blowing.
Somehow Yahja had gotten the impression that I wanted Ali to take me to where some nomads live to see how they do it. That would have been about 4 hours each way. Well 30 minutes into it my hip joints have been stretched to an extent that they have not seen in years and that I decided might not be in my best interests. So I got down and walked with Ali for a while. What happened next saved the day
Ali points over a small dune where a camel is laying down out of the wind. This camel was smarter than me. We went to look and on the other side of the camel was a baby camel. Ali said it was three days old. I was fascinated. Ali said the baby was cold and the mom was blocking the wind to keep it warm. Camels are born black to absorb more heat from the sun and turn browner over the years. Because two humans and three camels were within a few feet, the mom got a little agitated and stood up. The baby started nursing. Amazing to see. One of the best Nat Geo moments ever. But Ali says we have to go to keep searching for the nomads.
I get back on my camel and we head off. About 30 min later its time for lunch. The boys back at camp have sent their version of a picnic lunch with us. Not sure what it was, but I had brought a Coke and Snickers with me just for this situation. After we ate and rested the camels, Ali was ready to keep going. I asked him where the nomads were and he motioned in about 180 degrees. Basically he had no idea.
So I said lets go back and see if we can find the baby camel and call off the nomad search. This seemed to please Ali as it would shorten his day big time. We found the mom and baby. This time I was on my camel and rememberd that I could take video with my camera. You will really like what I shot. Got Ali to circle the two of them so I got a bunch of angles of them interacting.
Then we headed back. Wanted to take a shower, but Hassan mentioned something about needing 30 min to disinfect the water, so I told him I'd do without. Plus with the sand blowing any clean feeling wasn't going to last. Waited for dinner. With the 10 Moroccans, but they didn't show up. Proves they are smarter than me too. More Berber soup followed by what amounted to beef stew. Very good again. Slept a little better because I got Hassan to bring some additional cinder blocks.
This morning we headed out for a four hour off road drive back to civilization. Going a different direction across a dry lake bed, we came to a fossil area where in five min we picked up a half dozen rocks with trilobites and such in them. Not worth four hours in the saddle, but interesting.
Now I'm writing from my hotel in Tisselday and waiting for dinner. Tomorrow am we have about three hours back to Marrakech. Spend the night there and hope for on time planes starting at 9am Tues. can't imagine much happening worth writing about, so this will be it for this trip.
Til next time, Rock the Kasbah.
