It’s a long drive from Fès to the Sahara desert (about 7 hours), but we made it in plenty of time for a sunset ride on camels. Well actually, in Morocco, they are dromedaries – one hump, not two.
I’d be lying if I said it was a comfortable ride. Particularly getting on, off and holding on for dear life when they stand up or sit down – whew! But, I did it, no matter how ungraceful it looked.
The dunes are hundreds of feet high. It’s an amazing sight.
The long drive was interesting. We could see the snow-covered High Atlas Mountains in the distance, as we drove through the Middle Atlas Mountains. Part of this area is ski-country and looks very European.
Here are a few scenes from the road:
A Visit to Nomads
Our Audley Travel guide took us far out in the desert to visit a Nomad encampment. It was shockingly primitive. They seem to live just as they did thousands of years ago.
BTW, we are in Morocco’s eastern corner, actually close to the Algerian border. The Sahara stretches across 10 African countries.
Back at Camp
We were in Erg Chebbi at the Desert Luxury Camp.
After a dinner of typical Moroccan dishes, we listened to some music outside around the fire pit and then took advantage of the darkness and minimal moon to do some serious star-gazing. I wish I still had my school-days knowledge of all the constellations. A few standbys were easy to find as was the Milky Way.
Tomorrow we are up before dawn for sunrise in the Sahara.