Morocco - Sahara, Taraoudant

We woke up at 6am for the 4 hour drive in the 4x4's out of the Sahara to the town where we met the van.

It was dark when we started and the drivers somehow managed to navigate the featureless dark landscape. We stopped for a break to watch the sunrise.

We were also entertained for a while by a little desert mouse.

The way out of the Sahara passed over a very flat, prehistoric lake bed, where the drivers pulled out all the stops and started racing. Pretty fun.

We also stopped at a place that was covered with fossils: seashells, parts of plants, etc. You'd think with all the tourists over the years it would be picked over, but there were fossils on the ground all over. 

The town at the edge of the Sahara, Oulad Dress, had a bustling market. We walked around, had a coffee, and loaded back into the van.

On the highway we had to stop for a sandstorm.

We continued driving toward the city of Taraoudant. On the way we saw the famous goats in the trees -  the goats climb up the branches to eat the Aragorn nuts.

After the long day we arrived at Oulad Berhil, just outside Taraoudant. The hotel was actually a former palace of a regional governor, with a beautiful garden, and a large ornately decorated dining hall.

The next morning we started on the long drive to Essaouira. We stopped at Taraoudant for a coffee, which has the remains of a old fortress wall.

Morocco -Tamegroute, M'Hamid, and Sahara camp

 First thing in the morning, we went to a shop in Zagora to buy scarves for wearing in the Sahara.

On the way to the Sahara, in the morning we stopped in a Tamegroute, where we visited an Islamic school and library. 

The library had over 4000 books from before the 15th century, the oldest one being a Koran from the 11th century. All the books were written by hand in calligraphy. There were books on literature, and books on sciences translated from Greek. Where the word Allah appeared, it was written in gold lettering.

Afterwards we walked through narrow passageways between buildings made of plaster, which is warm in winter and cool in summer. Tamegroute is known for it's green pottery. The clay comes from the local river, and the glaze is made from mint flower, magnesium, and copper. We visited a workshop were the pottery is made and sold. 

We left Tamegroute and drove through a flat dry landscape, and then over another mountain pass, until we got to the village of M'Hamid, on the edge of the Sahara. There we had lunch with a Berber family.

At M'Hamid we left the van and loaded everything to three 4x4 jeeps for the drive to the Sahara camp. It was a couple of hours ride through desolate looking, flat rocky landscape with drifts of blowing sand and sparse scrub vegetation.

Then we reached the area of the huge sand dunes, called Erg Chigaga, where the camp was. We settled into the camp and then scampered up the dunes for a bit. Really a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Then we all got on camels to ride over the dunes for a couple of hours. During a break we climbed some of the bigger dunes, and watched the sunset.

An advantage of the Sahara at night is that not only are you away from city lights, but there is no moisture in the air, so the view of the stars in incredible.