We’re finally in the Sahara
I’m currently at Erg Chigaga, on the edges of the Sahara Desert, and the scenery is absolutely spectacular.
It feels surreal to be staying here although, I have to say, the description that we were given on the Intrepid website of camping in the desert doesn’t really do this place justice. The place is actually a desert retreat consisting of various bungalows around a central courtyard, along with a full restaurant, hot showers, and everything.
It’s so nice, in fact, that the single supplement doesn’t apply to today – and we have to share a room with another member of the group – because it’s quite expensive to stay here.
The pottery of Tamegroute
The day started at Zagora where, after breakfast, we made our way south towards the dunes. On the way, we stopped at the town of Tamegroute which is famous for its green pottery.
We spent some time being given a tour of the town, including the local town centre, the mosque, the library, and the various residential areas before being taken to the place where most of the pottery is made. We saw a demonstration of how the pottery is made by hand, using a manual pottery wheel, before being shown the area where the clay is fired to make the finished product.
After that, it was time to shop. I’ve tried to avoid spending too much money whenever we’ve stopped for one of the pre-planned shopping experiences, as they can quickly make the budget of any trip skyrocket. However, the pottery here was lovely and I did buy a few items – some for myself, some as presents for other people.
The quality of the work, and the variety of what they’re able to make, considering that it’s all done by hand using the traditional methos, was great.
Onwards to M’Hamid
After Tamegroute it was on to M’Hamid, which is a frontier town on the edges of the dunes. It’s from here that everybody sets of for their time in the desert, and so there are a lot of shops selling scarves, desert gear, etc and lots of 4×4 excursion operators.
The scenery in this part of Morocco is so different to anything that we have seen so far on this trip and we are definitely in the desert now. On the way here, we went over one final mountain pass and the scenery changed completely to the dry expanse of sand and rock that we would all associate with the Sahara.
We stopped in M’Hamid for a couple of hours, at the hotel owned by the operator of our desert camp, to have lunch and to relax for a little while. The stop was also used to charge up our phones, as we had no idea what the power situation would be like at our overnight camp, and as we were told to bring as little as possible for the night.
During our time here, some people decided to swim in the pool but I had just been swimming last night, and so decided to catch up on notes for this blog instead. The grounds surrounding the pool were a great location to relax, though, so I could easily have spent more time here.
Into the Sahara Desert
After a couple of hours relaxing at the hotel in M’Hamid it was time to jump into the 4×4 vehicles that would take us out to the desert camp.
The journey took a couple of hours, as it was almost 50km distance over rock and sand, but the views were amazing and we had lots of opportunities to take photos and enjoy the scenery. The ride was an adventure, driving up and down the dunes, but I really enjoyed it.
I do like an adventure, after all!
Over the course of the journey into the desert the scenery changed quite dramatically from frontier town, to hard desert, eventually turning into sand dunes as far as the eye could see.
A camel ride across the dunes
There wasn’t much time to relax after arriving. We were assigned our rooms, and it was then time to jump on some camels for a short ride out into the dunes to watch the sunset.
I have ridden Camels before, but those who haven’t found it a challenge – especially getting on and off the Camel. I found it fun, however, and it was a great experience to ride them across the dunes as I’ve only ever ridden them on rocky terrain before such as in the Canary Islands and the area surrounding the Pyramids of Giza.
We were running a bit late so didn’t have time to climb one of the bigger dunes to watch the sunset, but there were still great views from where we were, and it was just so peaceful. I wish that we had gone straight to the camp, rather than waiting around at the hotel for a few hours, as this would have given us a chance to have a longer Camel ride, and to climb one of the big dunes.
But the experience tonight was still amazing, so I can’t complain.
An evening in the Sahara
Dinner tonight was back at the camp, and consisted of the usual selection of tagine, couscous, and other traditional Moroccan foods that we have been used to on this trip. It was basic, but plentiful, and was served in the dining tent which was a short walk away from camp.
After dinner we were treated to a performance of some traditional music from the region, around a camp fire. Some people were persuaded to join in, but I managed to avoid being drafted and instead soaked up the atmosphere of our situation – overnight in the sand dunes of the Sahara.
I’m back in my room now and there is time for a quick shower before bed, ahead of a long drive tomorrow. This is going to be the longest drive of the trip, to get to Agadir, of around 12 hours in total, but the rooms here are great and we should get a good night’s sleep.
We were scheduled to stay in another remote village tomorrow, which would have needed a shorter drive. However, due to the earthquake, this just isn’t possible at the moment. Agadir wasn’t originally on the itinerary, though, so it’ll be nice to see the place since I’ve heard a lot about it.
A few more photos from today
Here are a few more photos from today which didn’t quite make the cut above, but that I wanted to share with you.
