Merzouga

It wouldn't be a vacation for us unless there was a little adventure so the next morning we decided to take some quad bikes into the dunes.  Our guide took us up and down the dunes, taking wide corners and over large jumps.  The bikes aren't very well liked in the dunes for the tracks they make over the sand.  I on the other hand loved using them.   It had been awhile since I had been on a bike and it was great to use those skills again.  Josh got a ton of pictures as he tried to both drive and man the camera.  Amazingly he was able to get a pretty good video of the guide and I cruising over the sand.  This will probably be one of my favorite parts of our trip.  I mean how many people can say they went four-wheeling in the Sahara!

Quad biking in the Sahara

Beautiful sand dunes

Josh and his quad bike

After tearing through the dunes, we headed South to a small village called Khamalla.  Here descendants of Sudanese and Mali slaves keep alive the traditional music of Gnawa.  Josh and I watched as these men played traditional drums and clave-like hand instruments.  In addition to the music they chanted and danced along.  Not only do they perform for tourists and visitors but they participate in nation and world wide music festivals.  We picked up a CD of some of their newer pieces.

One of the drummers 

On our way back to the hotel we convinced Mohammed, our tour guide and driver, to stop at a large dune on the side of the road.  He thought we would just take a few pictures but Josh and I decided that it would be best to take pictures from the top :).  The trek up wasn't too bad except the short downhill stretch.  The sand didn't give as much as Josh thought it would and he ended up tumbling down a few feet.  After checking to make sure the camera was ok, we had a laugh and kept on going.

It only took us about 30 minutes to reach the peak and the view was amazing.  We were able to see into the dunes and surrounding villages. The trip back down the dune was a little tricky as it was hard not to go rolling down.  The key was to dig in your heels despite getting a ton of orange sand inside your shoes.

Josh after his fall :)

A bug on top the sand dunes

For lunch we indulged in a Berber "pizza".  It wasn't anything like what we would expect with the crust being on the bottom and top.  The inside was unique as well with hamburger and an array of spices.  Nevertheless it was very good and a treat to try another traditional dish.

After lunch we checked out of the hotel and met our guides for the long camel trek into the dunes.  To be honest, this part of the day was not something Josh and I were necessarily looking forward to.  We had heard that camels can be a bit bumpy and the saddles are usually not very soft.  But just as thousands of caravans before us, we decided that we would experience this part of desert life as well.

I'm pretty sure I was ready to be off at this point

Josh on his camel

The long trek to camp

Caravans as large as 20,000 camels used to transport gold to and from Morocco centuries ago.  Most were headed to Algeria to trade in the large salt mines there.  Nowadays camels are used mainly for tourism although the few remaining nomads use them regularly to travel as well.

We had been on the camels for about an hour when we were able to get off to rest.  We spent the next hour watching the sun set over the sand dunes under the watchful eye of our guide.  He didn't speak English and didn't quite understand when Josh asked for a little privacy.

Stopping for sunset.  Note the turban.

The remaining trek didn't take long and we were greeted in camp by tea and a warm fire.  After the sun sets in the desert it gets cold fast.  The fire was a warm reprieve.  Even though the tents were traditional Berber, the insides were pure luxury with indoor plumbing, warm beds and hot showers.  Josh and I enjoyed a five course dinner in the spacious dinning tent before climbing under the mountain of blankets to sleep.

The luxury tented camp we stayed at for the night.

Although the camp wasn't in the heart of the dunes as we had expected I am so glad we decided to trek out into the Sahara.  The views from the dunes were spectacular and I'm pretty sure the stars were the clearest I have ever seen.