Was I only 20 miles from the Algeria border? Was there not a single liability warning before riding a large animal into a seemingly bleak nothingness? Is this man leading us up a sand dune at midnight trustworthy? These are among many questions that we chose to ignore in order to have the experience of a lifetime this past weekend.
One of the first things the group of volunteers talked about Monday morning at orientation was how much we wanted to visit the Sahara. With Ramadan upon us in less than a month, where traveling becomes much slower and more difficult, we figured we had better get ourselves to the Sahara. We road a tram to a train station, took a 3 hour train, waited in a sketchy café until our bus came, and road 9 hours overnight on a charter bus to a town called Merzouga. The first leg of the trip made it seem as though the stars were crossed and our trip was destined for failure. One girl couldn’t leave work early and missed the tram, yet she managed to show up at the train station just in time. Our bus was an hour late, making us wonder if we had actually booked a bus to begin with. On the bus, two creepy men sat behind me and another girl and kept looking around at our bags, putting us on edge for 9 long hours. Yet all eight of us somehow managed to make it to Merzouga. We stepped off the bus and were immediately told to get into cars, which began driving us into the middle of the desert. Whilst praying we were actually being brought to the hostel and weren’t just going to be another sequel to the Taken movies, we got our first glimpses of the Sahara.
Vast. That is the only way to explain how incredibly huge the Sahara is. It really puts into perspective how big and how wonderful the world is. None of the photos I post will provide any justice to how amazingly beautiful the landscape appears to the eye. Even photos I have seen in National Geographic can’t provide the feeling you get when you experience the 360-degree views of the expansive desert. Even if we were starring in a real life Taken film, at least it was with beautiful scenery right?
One of the first things the group of volunteers talked about Monday morning at orientation was how much we wanted to visit the Sahara. With Ramadan upon us in less than a month, where traveling becomes much slower and more difficult, we figured we had better get ourselves to the Sahara. We road a tram to a train station, took a 3 hour train, waited in a sketchy café until our bus came, and road 9 hours overnight on a charter bus to a town called Merzouga. The first leg of the trip made it seem as though the stars were crossed and our trip was destined for failure. One girl couldn’t leave work early and missed the tram, yet she managed to show up at the train station just in time. Our bus was an hour late, making us wonder if we had actually booked a bus to begin with. On the bus, two creepy men sat behind me and another girl and kept looking around at our bags, putting us on edge for 9 long hours. Yet all eight of us somehow managed to make it to Merzouga. We stepped off the bus and were immediately told to get into cars, which began driving us into the middle of the desert. Whilst praying we were actually being brought to the hostel and weren’t just going to be another sequel to the Taken movies, we got our first glimpses of the Sahara.
Vast. That is the only way to explain how incredibly huge the Sahara is. It really puts into perspective how big and how wonderful the world is. None of the photos I post will provide any justice to how amazingly beautiful the landscape appears to the eye. Even photos I have seen in National Geographic can’t provide the feeling you get when you experience the 360-degree views of the expansive desert. Even if we were starring in a real life Taken film, at least it was with beautiful scenery right?
The cars took us to a hostel (Auberge du Sud) where we were guided to a room with fresh breakfast (lots of bread of course, but also coffee (!!), orange juice, jam, and cakes). In the classic Moroccan way, we of course were later charged 30 dirhams for this breakfast, but at this point I did not care. We ate to our starving-college-student-in-the-desert’s hearts content and then crashed in the rooms for a while since we had yet to actually sleep. I got a solid two hour nap in, but it was too hot for me to sleep anymore. I spent the rest of the day by the pool reading and wishing I had somehow thought I would need to bring a swimsuit to the desert.
At 6pm, we met with our guide for the evening. He tied our scarves around our heads to protect from the sun and the bugs, and we were off (on camelback)! Riding a camel is quite similar to riding a really tall horse, except you mount the camel while it is sitting, and it kind of bucks its way up to standing. We had saddles with handles, so the ride was very enjoyable. We watched the sunset as we rode into the desert (once again, hoping we weren’t being Taken because at that point, we were lost in the sea of orange sand).
About an hour later, we arrived at the campsite. Originally, we were supposed to go on the standard camping trip, which entailed sleeping in a big tent with about 50 other people. However, the company had messed up the numbers, and we were upgraded to the luxury camping package for free. This was the furthest thing from camping I have ever seen. The tents were privately shared with one or two others, had a Western toilet and a shower, had running water and electric lights, and were nicer than many hotels I have stayed in. I felt more like a Moroccan princess than I did a camper in the desert. I feel bad for the three couples that paid to have a romantic evening in the desert because they had to put up with eight loud college students all evening.
They served us a full meal for dinner and played music after. Hasan, our guide, played drums and sang, then forced us to attempt to play. After some judging and realizing that we had no musical talent from Hasan, we realized it was pretty late. The couples all were in bed at this point, and Hasan offered to take us up to the top of the dunes to stargaze. After a moment of considering it might not be a good idea to wander in the desert with a man we do not know, we followed him into the desert. The photos may make the dunes look like pleasant, soft hills, but my goodness no they are not. They are steep mountains where your feet sink into the sand with every step, making it feel like you are actually moving backwards. After getting enough cardio in for the month, we were at the top of a huge dune. We laid down, looked up, and had our breath taken away. The moon was so bright and the sky so clear, and we were so far elevated that it felt as though we were among the stars. I am incapable of focusing apparently because I missed all of the shooting stars that others saw, but it was still magical. As we were laying there gazing upward, Hasan was giving us life advice. The one that stuck with me was “smile with life, and life will smile with you.” Definitely an experience to remember.
We woke up just a few hours later to climb the mountain of a sand dune (again) and watch the sunrise. We enjoyed a breakfast at the campsite before heading back to the hostel on the camels. We spent another day relaxing by the pool before heading back to the overnight bus and train. I returned to my host family’s home at 9am Sunday and slept wonderfully until the early afternoon.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever have an experience nearly as incredible as the one I experienced this past weekend. An amazing start to an amazing journey in Morocco!
We woke up just a few hours later to climb the mountain of a sand dune (again) and watch the sunrise. We enjoyed a breakfast at the campsite before heading back to the hostel on the camels. We spent another day relaxing by the pool before heading back to the overnight bus and train. I returned to my host family’s home at 9am Sunday and slept wonderfully until the early afternoon.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever have an experience nearly as incredible as the one I experienced this past weekend. An amazing start to an amazing journey in Morocco!
2 Comments