They served us dinner. It was chicken and vegetables, like a stew. It was good. For dessert we got oranges. They were sweet. Since we had been in Spain we have seen a lot of orange trees.
By the time I ate I was ready to just lay down and sleep. We had small pads and blankets.
November 21, 2003
Last night was the coldest night I have slept in a while. I even put my Goretex rainpants, fleece, hat, and gloves on. I still wasn't completely warm.
It was pretty neat to be there. After breakfast of bread and jam and butter, we had to head off on the camels. We had to go back the same way. I was almost in tears I was so uncomfortable and in pain. I was so happy to get off the camel. I was thinking that I would not ride the camels in the afternoon.
We just drove another long day. The scenery was nice but the drive was so long. We finally got to the sand dunes and it was spectacular. This was in Merzouga. I was told that this camel ride would be much nicer because it was on sand. This ride wasn't suppose to be long.
As soon as I got on the camel, which in itself, was difficult, I could tell this ride would be better becaue it felt more comfortable. The ride was fantastic and I loved it. We saw a family out there and we were told that they lived out there year round in a tent on the sand dunes.
We got off our camels and climbed the sand dunes to watch the sunset. From there we could walk down the other side to our camp. Hassan, our guide out here, served us tea. We had set up our pads which we doubled up outside. We decided to sleep outside. Hassar played the bongos and we relaxed on our pads with our blankets. It was very peaceful.
Hassar served us dinner. The same we had last night, but with beef. The meat has been so tender.
I asked if anyone wanted to walk up the sand dunes. So Angela and Callan, and I walked up. It was very steep. It was hard going but we made it. We sat on the ridge of the sand dune and enjoyed the night sky.
We got down and I quickly got under the covers as it had gotten colder.
Hassan came around putting extra blankets on us. He took very good care of us.
November 22, 2003
I had a great sleep last night. I was toasty warm. It was wonderful.
We got up and we were on our camels about 6:30. We were walking to see the sun rise. It was very cool to be on the camels in the sand dunes watching the sun rise.
We got back to the place where we started from yesterday about 7:30. We had our breakfast of tea, and bread. Then Hassan showed us his polished rock fossils. Laurie and I bought them as a way of tipping him. He was very good and we wanted to tip. I think he would have been insulted if we just gave him money. So now I have a nice little souvenir of our night in the sand desert with Hassan.
We set out for our ride of the day. Angela, Callan, and I sat in the back. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we sleep, and the rest of the time we just stare out the window. It gets tiring and boring.
We had a stop at the Todra Gorge. We took a walk between brownstone walls that were close to 1000 feet high. Angela swears the movie "The Mummy Returns" was filmed here. We just took a short walk then returned for lunch.
After lunch we stopped and had a little tour of a village and its gardens. The gardens had small little plots for each family to grow their vegetables that they use for themselves. There were also olive trees and I don't know if they use them to sell.
We then strolled over a river and all of the women were down there washing their clothes in it. Next we went into the Kasbah and got a tour of it. It was pretty interesting and you would never think people live in there from the outside.
We were then brought into one family's home. We got a demonstration of a woman carding wool, spinning, and weaving. The spinning was done on a small instrument like a top. We got a chance to try it ourselves. We also had a man explain a little bit about the Berber culture and how men and women meet. Of course, times have also changed a little here and not everyone follows tradition. We were then shown the wedding rugs that are made. The woman makes one for the man and the man is suppose to make one for the woman. It is to tell by symbols of each others wants before marriage and then to see if each other accepts it.
It was all very interesting, but it was also a selling situation where the man comes out with more rugs. These rugs are called Kilims. They are made either of silk, cacti, or camel wool. They were nice and certainly less expensive then the one I bought in Fez. The patterns were similar to southwest patterns of the US.
No one bought anything and we were out of there for our next ride. This was to Dades Gorge. The rock formations and colors were incredible. Mostly a red clay color. There were also quite a few Kasbahs. They are made with the same color clay and they blend right in with the landscape.
The ride was a little hairy. The road was not very wide or well maintained. It was very curvy and some places it looked like the road had fallen away. There were no guard rails and it was a steep drop off into the gorge. Abraham was driving a little fast for my taste. I know others were uncomfortable and I finally said something. By that time we were close to the hotel.
We got into the hotel and there were no lights on. They were using candles. They had lost power for some reason. We got the key and went to the room. A man came around and gave us extra blankets
