Days 8 and 9, Erfoud to Ouarzazate

Out of touch yesterday as we were at Erg Chebbi, the dunes in the Sahara, near Erfoud. Can't have the net everywhere!
December 27th, we awoke after a nice night's sleep at Xaluca Maadid. The birds were chirping in the rushes and palms outside our rooms. Breakfast was a buffet affair for the family, fruits, eggs, cereals, pastries and good coffee. We had the morning free so each of us did something. I went for my first run in Morocco down the road from the hotel. I kept track of donkeys vs. cars passing me and the donkeys won. People including women in black to the ground stared a bit even though I was dressed conservatively. I saw the system of dikes and irrigation ditches which floods fields and creates the green corridors through the south. Sure enough when I stopped in the town for a few seconds to catch my breath, a local Berber came up to speak to me in the usual mix of English, French and Arabic, offering to be my guide in the kasbah of Maadid. He listed the movies filmed in the area and like others, wanted to be a host. I thanked him and headed back the few kilometres to the hotel to rejoin the others sitting around the pool. We organised our belongings to only have a small backpack for our night in the Sahara. We stowed our bags at the front desk and headed out for a drive before lunch. We passed through Erfoud, a dusty southern Moroccan town with many shops, including fossils and minerals. The Xaluca rooms had marble sinks filled with fossils such as nautilus shells. By stopping in a factory store, we learned that the area had been part of a sea 450 million years ago. The owner showed us how the stones were cut and the fossils made visible, polished and works of art created. We had the tour of the workshop and he showed us beautiful tables and fountains created from these fossil stones. We had to settle for a few smaller pieces. Then back to the hotel for a quick lunch. Our driver picked us up at 15:30 in a big Jeep and we headed south, first crossing the river in the 4X4 over a bridge/dam with water up to the mid wheel. Then we headed off road across the flat sandy area which had been the inland sea for about 15 km. There were mountains around this flat plain including the border area with Algeria but even more spectacular were the sand dunes rising up a few hundred metres above the desert. These were the classic dunes we've all seen in movies. In the middle of nowhere, a series of kasbah hotels ringed the area each with a tent city of Berber tents with woolen roofs. Ours had several hundred tents in rows arranged on the sand with alleyways lined with carpets and lanterns. Each tent had a large bed with heavy blankets a small table and a bare light bulb. So we had two tents , one with an extra bed for "la gazelle" as she was called everywhere. Next to the hotel camels and drivers were waiting. First we were welcomed in the hotel with a mint tea and then explained the options of camel rides at sunset or sunrise or both. We opted for sunset only at 300 Dhs each. Once cash paid (and we thought this had been included in our prepaid trip), we were taken out to camels and climbed up on our five beasts. A herder led our camels tied together up the dunes with a host person chatting away to us. There were many other  groups on various parts of the dunes. Our beasts bore us uphill, snorting, and creating camel chocolate the whole way. We held on with two hands and tried snapping pictures at times. Once near a summit, but not the highest, we were lowered and dismounted.  A blanket was produced and we all sat and watched the colours change as the sun slowly sank to the west. The dunes and the sky were transformed over a half hour of digital snapping and conversation with the locals. I was decorated with turban and blue gandoura and Guittel had her head turbanned as well. A little dune sliding on a blanket completed the activity as well as a little sales negotiations with our herders for more fossils. After a short session sitting around the fire, mellowing out on little stools, we were served dinner in a large tent heated with propane lamps like we often see on terasses in Montreal. Each table had their waiters and we were given soup, couscous and a chicken tagine, all quite tasty. Dessert was the usual tangerines, slighlty more tart in the south. After dinner, there was drumming and singing by the same staff along with the spectators (at least the Moroccans) joining in.
At 9:30, it was brush the teeth in the washroom, put on all the clothes and climb under the covers. I could see the moon through our tent roof as the temperature dropped. We quickly drifted off and it was official lights out as the bulbs were turned off. (I wonder if all the electricity was solar or otherwise produced since I saw no cables. )Anyway, like in summer camp only the nose stuck out from the blankets. We all slept dressed and in our coats. It was easy to hear the next tent snorer. The idea was for people to get up at 6AM to ride up the dunes for sunrise. We had planned to just go up on the roof of the hotel. I woke at midnight to go to the washroom, and the moonlight was so bright that everything was visible along the carpets to the facilities. You could easily read by moonlight. Back in bed again until awakening at 5:30 AM with our noisy neighbours, including children, awakening and getting ready for their camel climb. At that time the stars were visible in huge numbers and the moon had disappeared, so the effect was like a planetarium night sky. I even saw a shooting star. Gradually a thin strip of light appeared on the eastern horizon. I awoke Guittel and Kate and we bundled up and headed to the roof. All the camel riders slowly wound their up the dunes in a noisy procession with camera flashes going off. The sky brightened and cast shadows over the dunes, changing the colours from brown to pink to yellow. Finally the sun peeked up over the mountains and the sunrise was official.  A spectacular natural display on these towering dunes. The colours of our Berber camp were also revealed with the bright blue sky. Breakfast and warming up took place in the tent. Coffee and a buffet helped warm up the group. The bags were packed, the camera battery pack exhausted and the crew climbed into our 4X4 for the bumpy drive back to Xaluca Erfoud. We were all happy for the experience!

Once back in Erfoud, a quick rest-stop, baggage loading and we took off for our day's drive of 320km to Ouerzazate. The road was pretty easy through irrigated fields and towns all looking the same for the first 100 km. We reached Tineghir and kept going, not reallising that we had missed the turnoff for the Todra Gorge, supposed to be spectacular. The snow covered Atlas mountains formed our backdrop and there were lesser mountains and gorges to see. At Boulmalne, we turned up the Dades gorge valley, the valley of hundreds of kasbahs. A twisty, narrow road wound its way for 30-40 km up the valley with reddened cliff walls and homes and towns perched in places they should not have been. The base of valley was gree fertile terrain but anything above was pin-red rock and towns. My height-challenged crew complained about the road up and eventually forced me to turn back after a set of family postcards some 20 km up valley.  So we missed the end of the valley as well. We stopped in the next town El Kalaa M'goun, famous for its rose water and rose festivals later in the spring. After another sales pitch, we left with a small bag of product, and headed to lunch further down the road. We sat at a little restaurant outside on the sidewalk while they prepared tagine, brochettes and kefta on the edge of the sidewalk. The restaurant was not anything to speak of but the food was good. Once back in putt-putt we rolled along at a good clip past palms, the snow capped mountains appearing closer and many transitions from dirty plain to green valleys. Sunset saw us drive into Ourazazate and finding our hotel, without help, a first for the trip. We settled in the Mercure with the usual acrimony over who gets the extra bed. It was dark when we walked down the hill to see the Taourit Kasbah, a UNESCO site that was closed. However handicrafts beckoned, bargaining was done and a bag was filled. Back at the hotel, the hammam was used by Guittel, Kate and Michael with years dropping off with the water. Supper and off to bed.