Camel trekking...Part 2!

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10 Sep - an all day drive through the spectacular scenery of the Middle Atlas and High Atlas mountains as well as the cedar forests before arriving on the edge of the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert in the village of Merzouga. En route we stop to see a pack of hungry (and extremely lazy) monkeys on the roadside.

By the time we check-in to our auberge and climb the sand dune behind our rooms we have missed the sunset but it's still an amazing sky. The landscape of the reddish-pink sand dunes, interspersed with greenery is completely breathtaking. We are completely in the middle of nowhere in the heart of berber land (the nomadic people of Morocco). Dinner is followed by impromptu live berber music and singing in the auberge courtyard by the berber hotel staff before heading to our (extremely hot) room...well, we are in the Sahara after all.

11 Sep - a simple but tasty breakfast then chillout for an hour or so before visiting a berber village to listen to Gnawa music & dance and drink mint tea. This trance type music has religious connections and was the music of the slaves who came from Sudan to Morocco. The wee kids from the local school gather to see us and pose for photos. We then visit the Nomad Depot and are shown various carpets from different areas / tribes together with other berber handicrafts ie another selling opportunity.

We set off for my next camel experience in the late afternoon. There are 5 camels in our camel train and we are led by our cameleer, with me at the back. We trek for two hours through the sand dunes. It's different to the Wadi Rum experience as there's lots up bumping up and down the dunes so I cling on for dear life. We arrive at camp just as the sun is setting in the Sahara...magical.

We're in the middle of the desert at the foot of the tallest dune in Erg Chebbi - a huge, shifting expanse of pinky, orange sand that's 17 miles from north to south and 5 miles from east to west. There's just 3 berber tents and the cooking area, however we have our best, tastiest meal yet - Moroccan salad and a nice spicy beef tagine and lots of melon and mint tea. We chat and gaze at the blanket of stars before getting ready for bed, some sleep in the tents and others under the stars. I go for the tent but it's completely open at the front so I can see the stars while lying in my sleeping bag. I fall asleep quickly (trying not to thinks of beasties which might be crawling about) but wake up in the middle of the night cold, fine once I put my fleece on though. The sky starts to get light, the wind picks up and we know it's time to get up when the camels start grunting and moaning from behind our tents...a magical alarm call and an amazing experience and sunrise.

12 Sep - 6.30am, back on to my camel...reluctantly as I have v sore bum and thighs! However, the trip back is slightly quicker and as I'm a bit more used to it I relax and enjoy the wonder of the dunes - the colours, shapes, vastness, stillness and amazing shadows. We arrive back at Auberge Sahara for a tasty breakfast and quick de-sanding shower.

Drive to Tineghir for a yummy lunch of Omlette Berbere - onion, tomato, herbs and spices. We then have a relaxing walk through the Palmerie (oasis). We are guided by Hassan who explains all of the vegetation, including alfalfa, date palm trees, pomegranate and quince to name but a few.

We drive to Todra Gorge and our hotel which is literally in the heart of the gorge with us having to cross the river to get to reception. Aya and I go for a walk along the gorge before dinner, to the village, passing some climbers on the way. If it wasn't early evening and starting to get dark I would have joined them, the rock looked amazing. Truly in remote country with limited water and electricity.

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