Marrakesh, Morocco
Thank you, everyone, for your loving birthday messages! They really mean a lot to me!
I had a fantastic birthday!!! I traveled with a delightful group of eleven (myself and ten others, including two British couples, an Australian couple, a Brazilian couple traveling during the man's sabbatical leave from a university where he teaches Sociology, and two students from a university in Scotland, one English, studying Religion, and one American, studying International Relations). We left in a minivan early on Friday morning (my birthday) and headed south into the High Atlas Mountains. If it hadn't been for the date palms and donkey carts, we could have easily been heading west into the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains out of Denver. We stopped at the beautiful kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, where we crossed a small river on donkeys to visit the picturesque fortress (seen in such movies as Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator), and then on to the town of Ouarzazate for lunch. Again, as we descended from the snow-covered passes of the High Atlas, the landscape looked very similar to the Western Slope of Colorado giving way to the winding sandstone mazes of the Canyonlands of Utah. That night we stayed in a freezing little guesthouse in the Dadès Gorge, where the Berber hosts cooked a delicious saffron chicken tagine (as a wanna-be vegetarian, I haven't been too terribly excited about Morocco's meaty cuisine, but some of the tagines, like this one, are pretty tasty) and played drums into the night.
The next morning (Saturday) we drove to the Todra Gorge for lunch, stopping along the way in the old Jewish kasbah of Tinerhir. Our Berber driver, Hassan, who spoke no European languages and apparently only broken Arabic, dropped us off on the side of the road without explanation (of course, with Hassan, there was no possibility of explanation). We were then met by our local guide, Hassan, who walked with us through beautiful green patties, taking us up into the kasbah from the river below. Hassan brought us into a Berber "nomad dwelling" (a "nomad dwelling" complete with electricity, running water, and a credit card machine) where we were placed in the very awkward situation of ooohing and aaahing at Berber rugs, and then not buying any of them. Finally, under some pressure, the Brazilian Sociology professor brought out some toothpaste, soap and deodorant, and bartered for a small piece. We were all very happy to escape back into the van and head to the majestic Todra Gorge for lunch.
Late Saturday afternoon we entered the Sahara Desert -- flat, rocky, hot and dry. When the road stopped, we kept going, pushing deeper into the dusty emptiness. Finally, the Erg Chebbi sand dunes rose up on the horizon like some fantastic mirage. As we approached, the individual dunes came into focus, and the vast expanse of the Erg Chebbi became increasingly apparent. Arriving at the base of the dunes we were met by our Berber guide Hassan (not to be confused with our other Berber guide Hassan, or our Berber driver Hassan, this Hassan spoke reasonably good English, had a great sense of humor, played the drums better than anyone I've ever heard [except, of course, the Director], and was the first Moroccan I've heard express criticism of the government). Hassan loaded us onto our camels (the cutest animals on earth, I'm going to buy one for my appartment when I get home!) and off into the desert we went. The sun was low on the horizon, casting dramatic shadows on the golden and pink dunes. We saw desert sparrows (seen nowhere else in the world, or so claimed Hassan), the tracks of dersert gerbils (or so claimed Hassan), and two nomad encampments during our 1 1/2 hour ride. Camels, while cute, are not the most comfortable animals to ride, so we were all perfectly happy to dismount after what seemed like a long journey.
Throwing our packs into our tents, we all scurried up to the top of the nearest dune to watch the spectacular sunset over the desert. Returning to camp, we were served a delicious meal of round bread and a beef tagine, eaten in the traditional Moroccan style with our fingers out of one big bowl. We had tangerines and tea for desert, and then Hassan began his drumming. He has traveled to Spain, Algeria, and Dubai to play in international music festivals, and what an extremely imressive musician. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Hassan had recently sprained his wrist, and he stopped playing after about 45 minutes. While the music had been most extraordinary, we were then treated to Hassan's delightful banter. He talked at length about all the "crazy" tourists he had met, tilting his head back and letting out deep laughter at the end of every story, the laughter always trailing off into the most charming "Oh my God!" exclamation I've ever heard. He talked about the frightening French girls who dance seductively, and who still give him nightmares to this day. And he talked (quite surprisingly) about the international plight of the Touareg, with whom he sympathized emphatically.
The next morning we rose before sunrise and climbed back up onto the dune to watch the magnificent show (see photo). We then rode back to the place where we had begun our camel trek, ate breakfast, and began the long (11 hour) drive home. We all went out for beers upon returning to Marrakesh (filthy dirty and stinking of camel sweat, a beer nonetheless sounded good), and I am meeting two of the couples again tonight for dinner.
Tomorrow I am off to Casablanca!
All of the pictures of Morocco on this blog are now taken by me. You can scroll down this page to see more, with a brief description of the photo at the end of each posting, and you can click on the image to enlarge it. I burned my memory card onto a CD, and as soon as that CD has been uploaded onto the kodakgallery.com website, I will give you access to all my pictures.
Thanks again for all the birthday love!!! I have the best friends and family in the world!!!
(Photo by Eric: Sahara sunrise, Erg Chebbi, Morocco, 5 February 2006)
Thank you, everyone, for your loving birthday messages! They really mean a lot to me!
I had a fantastic birthday!!! I traveled with a delightful group of eleven (myself and ten others, including two British couples, an Australian couple, a Brazilian couple traveling during the man's sabbatical leave from a university where he teaches Sociology, and two students from a university in Scotland, one English, studying Religion, and one American, studying International Relations). We left in a minivan early on Friday morning (my birthday) and headed south into the High Atlas Mountains. If it hadn't been for the date palms and donkey carts, we could have easily been heading west into the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains out of Denver. We stopped at the beautiful kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, where we crossed a small river on donkeys to visit the picturesque fortress (seen in such movies as Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator), and then on to the town of Ouarzazate for lunch. Again, as we descended from the snow-covered passes of the High Atlas, the landscape looked very similar to the Western Slope of Colorado giving way to the winding sandstone mazes of the Canyonlands of Utah. That night we stayed in a freezing little guesthouse in the Dadès Gorge, where the Berber hosts cooked a delicious saffron chicken tagine (as a wanna-be vegetarian, I haven't been too terribly excited about Morocco's meaty cuisine, but some of the tagines, like this one, are pretty tasty) and played drums into the night.
The next morning (Saturday) we drove to the Todra Gorge for lunch, stopping along the way in the old Jewish kasbah of Tinerhir. Our Berber driver, Hassan, who spoke no European languages and apparently only broken Arabic, dropped us off on the side of the road without explanation (of course, with Hassan, there was no possibility of explanation). We were then met by our local guide, Hassan, who walked with us through beautiful green patties, taking us up into the kasbah from the river below. Hassan brought us into a Berber "nomad dwelling" (a "nomad dwelling" complete with electricity, running water, and a credit card machine) where we were placed in the very awkward situation of ooohing and aaahing at Berber rugs, and then not buying any of them. Finally, under some pressure, the Brazilian Sociology professor brought out some toothpaste, soap and deodorant, and bartered for a small piece. We were all very happy to escape back into the van and head to the majestic Todra Gorge for lunch.
Late Saturday afternoon we entered the Sahara Desert -- flat, rocky, hot and dry. When the road stopped, we kept going, pushing deeper into the dusty emptiness. Finally, the Erg Chebbi sand dunes rose up on the horizon like some fantastic mirage. As we approached, the individual dunes came into focus, and the vast expanse of the Erg Chebbi became increasingly apparent. Arriving at the base of the dunes we were met by our Berber guide Hassan (not to be confused with our other Berber guide Hassan, or our Berber driver Hassan, this Hassan spoke reasonably good English, had a great sense of humor, played the drums better than anyone I've ever heard [except, of course, the Director], and was the first Moroccan I've heard express criticism of the government). Hassan loaded us onto our camels (the cutest animals on earth, I'm going to buy one for my appartment when I get home!) and off into the desert we went. The sun was low on the horizon, casting dramatic shadows on the golden and pink dunes. We saw desert sparrows (seen nowhere else in the world, or so claimed Hassan), the tracks of dersert gerbils (or so claimed Hassan), and two nomad encampments during our 1 1/2 hour ride. Camels, while cute, are not the most comfortable animals to ride, so we were all perfectly happy to dismount after what seemed like a long journey.
Throwing our packs into our tents, we all scurried up to the top of the nearest dune to watch the spectacular sunset over the desert. Returning to camp, we were served a delicious meal of round bread and a beef tagine, eaten in the traditional Moroccan style with our fingers out of one big bowl. We had tangerines and tea for desert, and then Hassan began his drumming. He has traveled to Spain, Algeria, and Dubai to play in international music festivals, and what an extremely imressive musician. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Hassan had recently sprained his wrist, and he stopped playing after about 45 minutes. While the music had been most extraordinary, we were then treated to Hassan's delightful banter. He talked at length about all the "crazy" tourists he had met, tilting his head back and letting out deep laughter at the end of every story, the laughter always trailing off into the most charming "Oh my God!" exclamation I've ever heard. He talked about the frightening French girls who dance seductively, and who still give him nightmares to this day. And he talked (quite surprisingly) about the international plight of the Touareg, with whom he sympathized emphatically.
The next morning we rose before sunrise and climbed back up onto the dune to watch the magnificent show (see photo). We then rode back to the place where we had begun our camel trek, ate breakfast, and began the long (11 hour) drive home. We all went out for beers upon returning to Marrakesh (filthy dirty and stinking of camel sweat, a beer nonetheless sounded good), and I am meeting two of the couples again tonight for dinner.
Tomorrow I am off to Casablanca!
All of the pictures of Morocco on this blog are now taken by me. You can scroll down this page to see more, with a brief description of the photo at the end of each posting, and you can click on the image to enlarge it. I burned my memory card onto a CD, and as soon as that CD has been uploaded onto the kodakgallery.com website, I will give you access to all my pictures.
Thanks again for all the birthday love!!! I have the best friends and family in the world!!!
(Photo by Eric: Sahara sunrise, Erg Chebbi, Morocco, 5 February 2006)
posted by Eric at 4:28 PM
<< Home