The Saharan desert---before the trip I had my own preconceptions of what it would be like riding a camel in the desert. Alhamdulillah the experience was truly magnificent and had exceeded all of my expectations.
When Muhammad picked us up from Erfoud we drove in a 4*4 car....Muhammad didn't say much and had put on nasyid music which fitted in well with the scenery as we drove along the desert...at first the view was of rocks and dust but as we drove further into the desert we started to see the sand dunes which looked calm and somehow unreal...and just like pics from a postcard.
The video below was the moment where we saw Auberge d'Nord -our checkpoint before we rode on the camels.
A few people who have been on camels had varying stories of their experience...some said the camels were smelly and would spit on you. Some said sitting on the camels would be uncomfortable and not as nice as riding a horse...As you can imagine after hearing all these stories, I was prepared for the worst.
When we arrived at the Auberge d'Nord, we prayed and had our last shower for the day since there weren't any toilet/shower facilities in the desert. We met some girls who were working at the Auberge and they were kind enough to allow us to use their rooms to pray and to get changed. Amazingly we managed to communicate between my broken French, English and sign language. Its amazing how humans can still communicate even though we don't speak the same language.
After drinking mint tea, the time arrived for us to get on the camels......all of us didn't want to be the first to get on but Hanisah ( who was most scared about the camels) decided to overcome her fear and was the first to get on. She did fine...and turned out to be the one who was most comfortable with the camel riding out of all four of us...
Once all four of us were on the camels , our Berber guide Hammi led us to our camps in the desert. The ride to the tent lasted around 90 minutes but it didn't feel long at all, in fact it was so peaceful as we rode in the desert with the slight breeze keeping us cool in the heat of the desert.
We chatted for parts of the ride but there were occasions where all of us were silent as we rode and enjoyed the beauty of the desert and watch the sun sets down.
It was dark when we arrived at the campsite. Hammi helped us with our bags and we reached the campsite which was well laid out. As Hammi prepared dinner we chilled in the middle of our camp site which had mattresses laid out in order for us to sit. We prayed Isya' together in the middle of the desert which was truly beautiful...I felt close with nature and God..it is a feeling which I will try to treasure throughout my life.
As Hammi waited for our dinner to be cooked, he came to chat with us in the night...at first Hammi appeared nervous---who wouldn't be with four girls against one guy right?
Hammi was youngest than all of us in the group so we considered of him like a younger brother...we found out that he was born in the desert as his family were previously nomads. However, after he was born his family decided to settle down. His love for the desert grew as he grew older and became a guide for these organised tours. His English was good considering he had never formally learnt English. He learnt the languageafter two years by merely being with tourists on the desert tour. That is a practical examle of how we can learn a language through on the job training.
For dinner, Hammi cooked us tagine-Berber style with chicken, potatotes and chilli which we ate with some bread. It was a simple dish but so yummy especially as we ate further into the tagine to discover the chicken which could only be reached once you reached the middle of the dish.
After dinner, everyone was more relaxed and Hammi tried to tell us some Berber riddles which I can't remember now but it was entertaining at the time.He then decided to show us the wells which were located outside of the tents in the middle of the night. These weren't wells like the ones you might think but more pool of water located underneath the sand i.e. like an oasis.
I tried the water and it was soo cooling and refreshing....no amount of filtering can replicate the natural state of oasis water.
It was summer so sleeping in the tent would have been too hot so we decided to sleep outside in the open space watching the stars....
I have never been interested in astronomy except for watching programmes on how man landed on the moon. But that night, learning about the Big Dipper , the North star and Cassiopeia were amongst some of the stars we saw, I realised at that moment how lucky I was to have the chance to see it in its entirety. While Nabiha and I were chatting we would spot several shooting stars throughout the night...I could not sleep that night as the views were amazing as the stars moved and changed positions.....Even the bright moon was shining brightly down us and changed as dawn approached....
I understood why the desert people didn't want to leave this place as it was so peaceful and if you treat environment kindly, the environment will be kind to you.
As dawn approached, I managed to take pictures of the sunrise...we had intended to walk up right at the top of the sand dunes but the view from the tent was sufficient enough.We were qui
te tired but the views were spectacular and we tried to savour the moment as long as possible as we had breakfast at our campsite. Hammi entertained us with his art of making mint tea. Basically mint tea is a combination of good chinese tea, good silver teapot, boiling hotwater, sugar and lots and lots of fresh mint tea.
Hammi wanted to take us to visit a nomadic campsite which was 500 m from our campsite. We thought it wouldn't be that far but after taking account of the soft sand and the numerous camel droppings (which looked like little cadbury buttons) it actually took us longer to get there than we thought. We ended up walking by foot but it still took us a while to get to the camp. There wasn't anything significantly different to the nomadic campsite tour site from our own site...they were just normal people with families ..the only difference is the families do not stick to one place...but the who does nowadays...i guess we are all modern nomads in one way or another.
Before the day became hotter we got ready to set off back to Auberge d'Nord on our camels...I decided to sit at the back of the group this time so that I could take more pictures. However the camel I had on the way back weren't as comfortable as the one I had the day before but that was a little price to pay for the pics I got to take....As we rode back..I felt a tinge of sadness as it may be a while or it may be my last time that I get to experience the desert life...it was truly magnificent...
Hammi gave us a parting gift which was a traditional Berber water cooler-which kept water cool and kept us cool during our long drives..
We were knackered (mainly due to the lack of sleep from the night before), however our trip continued as we headed towards Fes. Before we met up with Khalid our driver, we were picked up by another driver to drive us to Minalt where we would meet Khalid. We were entertained by a taste of Berber music which I absolutely loved as you can hear in this video.
Overall, the Saharan desert is truly a magnificent experience despite having to rough it out for the night it is worth it when you get to watch the stars, experience riding the camels and watching the sunset and sunrise in the desert.
Next stop--Fes...
He was very hospitable to us serving us mint tea and showed us an array of exquisite rugs....Nabiha and I ended up purchasing rugs for us to take home. I look forward to having the rug in my room back home. :)
We visited the Kasbah near Ait Benhaddou where films such as the Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator were filmed. The kasbah are villages in the mountains which often have a row of craft shops which are made by the Berber people. We visited the craft shops and I even managed to try out the desert style of wearing a scarf.
It was a long day as we had covered a fair bit around Marrakech--and we were looking forward to just relaxing back at our 2nd riad which was Terraces des Oliviers. This was one of the best riads we stayed in during our stay...the rooms were massive and the architecture in the buildings were just exquisite..what I love about the riads are from the outside it looks plain but once you get inside it surprises you. There's always so much light coming through the courtyards which brightens up the whole place. We spent the whole night chilling at the Riad since we had a long day drive the next day--it was a good decision because we were well rested for the journey ahead.
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