Morocco Day 4: Desert Day

When the 8-hour bus expedition to Merzouga finally concluded, I was beyond excited. The ride through the mountains and rural desert cities was beautiful but so very long, and all I wanted was to finally see that sunset over the dunes. So when I realized I had to drive even further to our campsite, I was slightly annoyed, but not for long.

My annoyance quickly turned to awe as the thrill of the four-wheel drive over desert terrain took control. The rocky orange scenery matched with our driver’s Moroccan playlist made for a ride to be remembered.

We briefly stopped to take pictures and view a turtle fossil our guide just 'happened to find’. I wasn’t exactly interested, it just looked like a weird rock, and after further discussion with Bryan, he explained he saw red paint on the underside of the fossil and noticed the desert camp workers were snickering around us. Essentially, it was a tourist dupe. Something I became accustomed to after associating with the pushy Medina vendors.

The desert drive came to fruition before a large gathering of Dromedaries (one-humped camels). I walked through the pack in search of the dromedary that would become my steed through the dunes. I wandered to the far right of the pack and a camp worker beckoned me over to the second in a line of seated single-humped camels. I got situated on the smelly creature and found it to be reasonably comfortable.

The others eventually found their way onto their respective dromedaries, even if the animal protested. Eric’s dromedary threw a fit and thrashed about when the camp workers insisted it stand. It wasn’t a happy site, especially when one worker slightly kicked the animal to get it up, but I just reminded myself that people do that all the time with horses, and forced this observation into the back of my mind.

When a dromedary stands, you have to lean back and hold on tight, and all at once you’re viewing things from an entirely new perspective. I was grateful to find I was actually second in our little caravan line, apart from Neil, all I could see was pure desert for miles. Honestly, I was fairly jealous of Neil, but my jealousy dispersed when I peered back at the long line of people behind me.

The sky was clear and rich with color, and the dunes were ablaze in the sunset’s glow. Words and photographs do not capture the majesty that is the Sahara at sunset. Feeling that dry breeze flow through my hair was magic. “Wow,” was all I could muster when asked ‘what I thought of the ride,’ or, ‘what’d I think’.

As the dromedary’s marched toward the camp, I felt serene. I braced myself for landing by leaning back once again, and I stepped away from my camel friend. I said thank you and gave him a pat. He was very talented at his job. When we came to a steep dune he walked down it with such professionalism I barely needed to lean back. It’s no wonder he’s second in line. I was honored to have shared the ride.