Camel trekking in the desert

Erin smiling on her steed, ready to go, it's not so bad just yet.
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The prospect of trekking into the Sahara on camels and then sleeping in nomadic Berber tents was quite alluring and exciting. The reality included some other less fun aspects...

We signed up for the camel trek at an agency in Marrakech run by some very uninterested people who rushed us through the brochure and list of activities that would be done on the trip. That was a good warning of what was to come. We left the next morning with a couple of Basques, their Irish friend, a couple of Japanese, and 2 Kiwis. This was a good mix and we all laughed and enjoyed the company without the help of our driver or guides.

Sahara Sahara!

The rest of the camels, waiting to head into the desert.
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The bus ride out to the Sahara had us passing over the Tizi n Tichka Pass of the Atlas mountains to Ouarzazate, then to Ait Benhaddou, to Agdz and finally into the Draa valley. That's a ride through the mountains from 7am to 5pm. Unfortunately the stop at Ait Benhaddou was solely to take a photo from a nearby hill of this abandoned clay city. We were not to go in.

The Draa valley was as lush as you might hope an oasis could be, with kids running along the road trying to sell us dates, and lots of palm trees. At Zagora we stopped at an antique store and of course a carpet store!) that also was a camel rental stop. We learned how to tie a turban in the Berber style, and all donned some blue turbans before heading to meet our beasts. I wish they had spent some time teaching us a comfortable way to ride the camels as well. Both Erin and I were squirming throughout the ride trying to get comfy, and I had a seriously chapped back side for the next week. I came up with the following 5 guidelines to follow when planning to ride a camel:

Close up of the nasty animal who made the next 3 hours so unconfortable.
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1) Don't ride the camel, walk instead.

2) Bring a spare pillow to sit on.

3) Plant your butt and crotch, don't let them move in the seat.

4) Let the lower back rock and move to absorb the movement.

Heading into the desert, shadows getting long.
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5) Adjust legs for comfort periodically.

Our arrival to the berber tents was a surprise since we could still see the highway in the distance, and numerous clumps of tents all around. We asked one guide how many people live in the desert, he paused and said: "Many, now that the rains have been good. They will leave when it dries up." Makes sense, nomads go where life is less hard. We spent the evening taking turns playing some drum/tamborine instruments while the 3 guides sang rhythmic songs from the desert. Apparently the songs were about life in the desert, quite fitting, since they seemed pretty similar to each other and did not have a clear climax or end.

The other members of our caravan ahead.
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We also all rolled around and had a good time in some sand dunes which have a surprising structure. The windward side is steeply inclined and yet very soft and lets your foot sink in to your calf. The sheltered side has a hard compact sand that you barely sink into. And if you dig down 6 inches you get to a very warm baked sand that is nice to cover yourself with. The sand is so fine, even though you might be covered head to toe in it, just a quick shake and brush off and you are free of all sand! Our guides gave us some good laughs, as one kept repeating "Sahara sahara" every time conversation died down. We heard it 50 times or so that night, which vexxed one of the Spaniards so much that he walked out into the desert for some peace. Another guide tried to explain that later we would try to mate the camels. This was a joke gone wrong, he wanted to say we would eat camel meat, but that was not clear.

The othewr members of our caravan ahead of us.
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We woke at 5am the next morning in order to beat the heat, and rode back to the town to say goodbye to our camels. James the Irishman was smart and walked back. Of course every tour has to include the compulsory gift shop commission for the guide, so our driver would not leave until we went into the antique store and looked at some carpets. That done, we played car games for the next 8 hours on the drive back to Marrakech.

Erin and I enjoyed James's company one more night for dinner in the Medina where we convinced him to try the Pastilla. Yum!