The third part of our trip was a camel trek in Merzouga from Thursday morning until Saturday night. We arrived in Merzouga after a 7 hour bus ride on Wednesday and were picked up from the station by the proprietor of La Roche Auberge. The mud and straw traditional building where we stayed was built around a large courtyard. After arriving we were led into a large dining room where other travelers were already enjoying after dinner music with a number of young men who worked there playing drums and guitar. There was a comraderie already between these people that we had yet to understand. Also, the functionality of the building we only understood later. Our two friends, Alaina and Wajida, were already waiting for us in Merzouga and we spent the evening catching up.
In the morning we got on six camels, one for each of us, and were led by our two guides into the desert. Moustapha and Adi were about to become our greatest friends yet. The dunes were spectacular. Words just cannot describe the experience. It looked like a computer desktop background. The sun shone the entire time. Not a cloud in sight. The days were hot. The nights were cold. The stars were bright. The food was delicious. The sand was in everything. Our clothes were dirty. We were smelly. We laughed and danced and never felt more freedom in all our lives.
I won't say more about this part of our trip, though my conversations are full of anecdotes of these two nuts we traveled with. Words cannot describe the beauty and there would never be time to tell each experience. In sum, we spent the first day wandering to an oasis where we drank tea and to a second hut where we slept after singing and dancing. The second day we trekked to a nomadic woman's tent where we ate lunch as her small children ran around. That night we slept with goats at a second nomadic home. The final day we trekked back and reflected on our experiences. At different points I hoped to never go home again and also was dying to read the news. I made a concrete decision about how I hope to lead the rest of my life and who I want to do it with, (you know who you are). I will let the pictures tell the rest.
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| Waka waka, Zanga zanga |
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| Our camels: Jimi Couscous, Bob Marley, Obama-Massage, Qdaffi, Jimi Hendrix (mine), and Zenga |
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| The quintessential camel shadow picture. |
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| A-Knowing is A-Going |
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| djellabas are warm. |
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| Adi and the guy whose name I can't remember. |
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| Moustapha playing with fire. |
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| Adi |
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| The berber woman's home. |
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| Cute little Hassan |
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| Well water for camels. |
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| Where we slept the second night with goats. |
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| Wajida, Alaina, Me, Moustapha, Macarena, Abesha, Anna |
The third part of our trip was a camel trek in Merzouga from Thursday morning until Saturday night. We arrived in Merzouga after a 7 hour bus ride on Wednesday and were picked up from the station by the proprietor of La Roche Auberge. The mud and straw traditional building where we stayed was built around a large courtyard. After arriving we were led into a large dining room where other travelers were already enjoying after dinner music with a number of young men who worked there playing drums and guitar. There was a comraderie already between these people that we had yet to understand. Also, the functionality of the building we only understood later. Our two friends, Alaina and Wajida, were already waiting for us in Merzouga and we spent the evening catching up.
In the morning we got on six camels, one for each of us, and were led by our two guides into the desert. Moustapha and Adi were about to become our greatest friends yet. The dunes were spectacular. Words just cannot describe the experience. It looked like a computer desktop background. The sun shone the entire time. Not a cloud in sight. The days were hot. The nights were cold. The stars were bright. The food was delicious. The sand was in everything. Our clothes were dirty. We were smelly. We laughed and danced and never felt more freedom in all our lives.
This looks like a wonderful adventure. Hope you have many more of these in your life.
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