WEATHER: Hot and 38C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Riding the camels in a sand and rain storm
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Riding camels in a sand storm
BUYS OF THE DAY: Picnic lunch bought from a supermarket for 2AUD – details below
WORD OF THE DAY: Berber word – enwah meaning slut / ripe - Arabic word / Malika meaning Queen and English word / Good timing as it’s what we had all day
Today is a drive day for 5 hours in total to get us to Merzouga, which is located at the edge of the Erg Chebbi sand dunes of the Sahara Desert. Camel day has arrived. Everyone is having a grand old time at my expense, from calling my name in ‘camel’ to Issam receiving phone calls from the camels to check that I am still coming. Har dee har har – always funny when it is some-ones else’s expense. I am still nervous as hell and my knee is looking a little worse for wear. I smothered antiseptic cream on it last night before I went to bed, and this morning I have woken to the scab all white and now soft, so not ideal for this afternoon when I hit the sand dunes – I don’t want sand getting into it. So I have decided to keep it uncovered for the day and before we head out to the dunes, cover and bandage the sucker for the time we are out there. And just in case I fall off the camel again, the wound is dressed. Just in case…….
The scenery changed so much today, as we passed the highest point of the day of the Eastern High Atlas Mountains at 1960m. Rocky outcrops, passing over bridges with little or no water, tree oasis’s, mountainous terrain that looked like the Grand Canyon and then as we came down the other side of the Atlas, we found ourselves in what is the start of the Sahara Desert, which is flat and has darker sand. 13% of the Sahara Desert in Morocco is sand dunes; the rest is the flat desert that we drove through for half the day. We got some awesome photo stops along the way. Issam is great at stopping the van, letting us all out for 10 minutes to get our photos and then back in the van again. It helps break up the drive as well and we all get awesome shots rather than trying to shoot out the window and they are blurry or you get the tree or the only light pole for 100m in the snaps. We have all been there and they just never work out.
We decided to stop and have a picnic lunch today. We stopped at Errachidia to go to the local supermarket to buy our own supplies for lunch and then Issam was taking us somewhere nice to picnic. The supermarket was like a local market, but a little upscale. There were the fruit and veggie guys, the bakers, the general store guys and the nut guys. Now I bought a fresh bread roll, 2 tomatoes, an onion, an 8 pack of laughing cow cheese and 100g of almonds and the grand total was 2AUD!!!! Two dollars!!! Once again, off the beaten track and things are SO CHEAP! This nearly has to make the buy of the trip, well beside the 1EUR shots in Ios, that’s a pretty close second! We then drove, after stopping for a photo opportunity, where we were looking into a valley, and instead of seeing water, it was a valley full of palm and date trees mixed in with villages. It really looked like a river of trees with the red rock as a backdrop. It was just an amazing view, amazing photo stop and that was where we were heading for lunch. Once in the valley, we walked for about 5 minutes to get to a small plot of land that was well shaded, we pulled up some palm fronds for chairs and we tucked into lunch. I was able to bust out my Swiss army knife for the tomatoes and onion and it was probably the best 2 dollar lunch I have ever had.
I haven’t mentioned the temperature today as yet, in case you hadn’t noticed. I am not sure if we are just getting used to it, or it has something to do with us being in the van for 5 hours, but as it is still hot as an oven, it hasn’t seemed to have worried me as much today. It was 38C when we left Errachidia, so now being in the Sahara Desert, I am sure it is a little hotter than that, so it has to be at least 40C! Sound hot? As we drove further in the desert, we saw some whirly winds, tumble weed and lots and lots of sand. We finally turned off the main highway and had to drive 14km off road to get to the Auberge. This was rough driving, as there wasn’t a road as such, just a dusty, sandy track for Abdul to follow. At one point he had to gun it over a sand dip and we got some serious air time on the back seat, literally, air time. He said if he had of gone any slower we would have got stuck in the sand! It was so funny! Another photo stop on the plains of the Sahara Desert, with the yellow sand dunes in the back ground, beautiful blue sky as a back drop and the black – orange desert made for some awesome pictures. Temps here definitely must have been in the 40C.
We made it to the Auberge where we were to store our bags for the night and use their camels for our ride out into the desert. As we got there a little early, Mohammad, the camel guy, didn’t want to leave till 6pm, so it would be cooler; leaving at 4pm would have been a Burke and Wills mission. So I had some time to prepare myself and get myself into the right frame of mind to get back on the camel. At this point I had butterflies in my stomach and was really quite nervous, with India in the back of my mind, I had to overcome this stupid fear and just get on the bloody camel. Issam went as far as introducing me to Mohammad prior, said he’s the best in the business and that he had the best camel picked out for me – yeah I bet you say that to all the chickens!!! In the spare time we had Dr Issam patched up my leg the best we could with the Intrepid First Aid kit. The wound still looked manky, so we swapped it with alcohol, benadin, gauze and then finished off with a large band aid and then wrapped in a bandage. There was no way that a bead of sand was going to penetrate that dressing. I asked Dr Issam if he had anything for camel nerves and it was a flat no – damn.
I could see the camels over the back wall of the Auberge, and they look darker than any of the camels I am used to seeing. I think it makes them look meaner, but let’s not judge a book by its cover. They were saddled up, and I have to admit, with India back in the picture, those camels we rode had more of a saddle, so it was like trying to squeeze myself into a size 10 saddle, and it was uncomfortable and things poking and into you. Besides falling off, I was so bruised from the saddle as well; it really was a bad experience. Well these camels didn’t have saddles as such. They had like a large cushion that wrapped around their hump, so you would now be sitting the same height at the hump. Well that looks a hell of a lot more comfortable than India, so this put my mind at ease on this part of the journey; it was not the saddling up now, but the lurching ascent and descent that I had to survive.
More for the fun of it than any other purpose oh and to look more the part, Issam wrapped all our scarves into turbans and we all looked so cool. Little did we know that it would actually help us, once we had started on our hour’s journey to our desert camp for the night! I need to mention that we heard thunder at this point and a dark cloud was starting to form, but it is a desert for goodness sakes and it was the first time it had rained this year, FIRST time!!! And it has only rained a handful of times in the last few years – so the chances were slim right!?
So as we stood in line, waiting for Mohammad to call us forward to get us on our camels, he loaded from the last camel to the front camel. We had a blanket that we put down on top of the cushion saddle, you jumped on and held onto a little metal handle and then the camel gets up in 3 parts, forwards, backwards and then stands. So I waited and waited and waited and what did you know, I was the last person on the ground which meant I had the front camel. They are all tied together by ropes and Mohammad leads them from the front camel, aka me, aka I was on the leader. Not sure if this was to keep an eye on me, Jimi Hendrix (yes that was his real name) was the best camel for me, or Mohammad just liked me (he is only human) I had the lead camel. I had to get a leg up from Mohammad to even swing my dodgy leg over the saddle, and I closed my eyes and held on for dear life! The first part is the hardest, the forward lurch, as you have to try and lean back without letting go of the handle, but what do you know I made it up and DIDN’T FALL OFF!!! The rest of the crew gave me a big cheer and we up and away. Hot diggity dog I’m back on a camel.
So we set off, all laughing and looking forward to hitting the dunes, which only took about 10 minutes from the hotel and then we hear the sound of thunder again. I asked Mohammed if it would rain and he said no, we are heading in the other direction to the storm. It was at this point it started to get really windy, like really windy, and the sand started to pick up and start hitting us in the face and really shaking up the dunes. Okay not so much laughing now, but it is all part of the experience and most of us had our turbans on so we were able to cover our nose and mouths with them to keep the sand out. Michelle dropped her sunglasses at this stage, so the caravan had to stop and Issam jumped off to retrieve them, and then we were on our way again. Drop, drop, drop – you wouldn’t believe it starts to rain! Apparently it is good luck for it to rain in the desert and we had timed it that we were there. Well with the sand storm and now the rain turning from drops to a heavy downpour the camels started to freak out and this is when I hear this cry from behind ‘um excuse me, um EXCUSE ME and we turned around and it was just Mohammad and I 10m away from the rest of the group that was left standing behind us as the rope had come undone!!! Mohammad hands me the lead rope and says hold this and then runs back to re gather the group! What, where are you going, don’t leave me…..and he was gone.
Meanwhile the storm, sand and rain, is in full swing and Jimi starts to freak out and turns around wondering what to do, when Mohammad came back and re-attached the group and then we decided to just stop and wait out the storms. Jimi had turned against the wind, so I had it only hitting my back, but some of the others were face forward and were getting hammered with rain and sand. I screamed to Mohammad how the camels like the rain and he said ‘they don’t’. Oh… great…… Not what I want to hear when I am on the back of a camel in a rain storm……
The storm lasted around 10 minutes, but it felt longer, and as quick as it had started, it had finished and left us all wet and sandy and a little dumbfounded that it had actually rained! We were then back on the sand (road) again. What an experience though, it is one of those one in a life time things and all in the timing to be caught in something that would happen only a handful times a year. We were in the desert and not only in a sand storm but also a rain storm – AWESOME. A little scary at the time, but we were in good hands. Mohammad had given me a special name Malika, which mean Queen, and being on the camel leader, it just made sense to me! Queen Bernie – bring it on!!!
It took us a little longer to get to camp, due to the storm delay, and I think the descent off Jimi was easier than the ascent and when my legs hit terra firma again, I was so happy, even if it was in a sandy area covered in camel dung, which for your information is the size of a date! I made it alive and in one piece! The camp was pretty cool. We had 4 tents surrounding a communal area that had a table and Moroccan carpets with cushions for us to sit on. If the weather was going to play ball, we were going to sleep outside the tents and out under the stars. With both storms passed we thought this was going to be a likely option. As we had a MASSIVE sand dune behind us and kids will be kids, they had a race out of the group on who would be the first to the top. Tom went straight up, the girls went with a zig zag plan and Issam (who I am sure has done it before) walked to the start of the dune (the smallest end) and started his climb up. It was a close race between Amy and Issam, who just pipped her at the end. Myself, Jeff and Michelle held the fort at the bottom and credit to all; they made it to the top and spent about an hour up there, hoping to catch the sunset up there, which with the storm clouds was a non-event.
There are 13 cats at the camp. I am not a cat person by any means, but these cats have a job to do, keeping the desert critters at bay. You know desert mice, snakes etc….. So I tolerated them rubbing up against me, as I would prefer a cat than a snake any day! They had a drop toilet at the camp, hidden in like a toilet tent. No paper could be dropped in the squat; it had to go into a plastic bag provided, so needless to say I didn’t need to go the whole 13 hours we were out there. I must say I do have a pretty good bladder when it comes to things like that!
Dinner came with us on the back of some-ones camel, so it had to be prepped and cooked. Once again all in the timing, when it was ready to be served, the wind had picked up again and clouds had blown in, hiding all the stars, so we were forced to eat in the dining tent, as there was sand blowing around and we would have been eating it with our food. The chicken tangine was so delicious, and to have that prepared out in the desert was just amazing. With melon for desert it was a great way to finish off what was a wonderful day. I checked on Jimi at one point, as they were tethered out the front of camp, and he was actually sleeping. You can tell when camels are sleeping as their necks are stretched out and resting on the ground, apparently they only sleep for 2 hours a day. Rest up Jimi, we have an early start tomorrow back to the hotel.
Some drums appeared, and Issam showed us all how to play them with your hands. Tom probably did the best out of all us – and the sound from them was pretty cool. Susan went out to see how the weather was faring and as mentioned it’s all about the timing, the wind had passed and taken all the clouds with it and we had a beautiful starry sky!! We pulled our mattresses out from our tents, gathered out blankets from the blanket box and then Mohammed, Ali and Issam, got the drums and played us some tunes for about half an hour. Mohammad even let me have a bongo with them at one stage, showing me some simple rhythms (Demi Moore style). They sounded AWESOME, and add that to the best day we had, looking up at the stars, and watching the satellites pass over and shooting stars – yes I saw 2 shooting stars, Amy and George saw 4 – it was a FABULOUS way to end our day. That is what I call a real life experience!!!
Night night Jimi – thanks for being a good camel and see you in the morning xx
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