Camel 'saddles' are not comfy and sand dunes are big.

The title is all you need to know.










I had a lot of fun over the weekend. I saw a ton of Moroccan countryside as well as the Sahara. We set out Friday after lunch (skipping all afternoon classes) and made our way down to a hotel in Erfoud. The city seems to be pretty small - mostly just a place for hotels. Or all of the hotels are outside of the city (totally possible, I just don't know which.) They are definitely built around people headed to/from the desert. Since the trip was organized by school, we stopped on the way down there for bathroom breaks at set hotels that knew we were coming.

The hotel we stayed at in Erfoud was ridiculously nice. Giant rooms with two double beds (and directions on how to make them stay together in case you wanted one realllllly giant bed. Then a TV and two couches to sit on. The bathroom had the toilet separate with its own door, which is pretty standard in France as well as many hotels, but the rest of the bathroom didn't have a door at all. So to get to the shower, you walked around this corner, and hello!. I ended up rooming with a very nice girl that I hadn't met before. She actually isn't studying at ALIF, she's doing an internship in Rabat. A group of students from her school is here, though, so she asked the professor and got permission to come on the Sahara trip with us. That first night we swam and ate. The food was a big buffet and for once there was plenty of fruit and vegetables! I was so very happy about that. I didn't even have a piece of bread.

A bunch of students had decided it would be a good chance to get drunk, too (no drinking in homestays, of course, or at school or the study center, so you are limited to not drinking or to drinking in hotels.) As you might guess, many of us felt that actually drinking was probably about the worst thing to do before heading into the desert as it would probably just make you dehydrated and possible hung over - not the things one wants to be while riding a camel in the heat. So I swam a lot and talked and showered and went to sleep.

The 'sitting area' of my hotel room the first night

The next day, we ate breakfast, had the option for more swimming (since it was all sunny I didn't want to be in the water for fear of getting totally worn out) and hung around for a bit until we moved to the second hotel. The second hotel was really just a staging area to get out on the camels. We had lunch there, could swim again if wanted, but a lot of us just relaxed. There were two rooms - one for the girls' stuff and one for the boys'. And these rooms were quite a bit smaller than the last ones, so it really was just peoples' stuff in them.

We grabbed what we would need for the desert (a lot of water, scarves, jeans and long sleeves) and met around 5:30 to meet the camels. Camels are pretty big animals. When they sit down on the ground, they are not that tall, but they have some serious legs on them! The guides would gather a small group of people and then start putting us on camels. And those serious legs make for an interesting experience as they stand up or sit down. Hold on tight and lean in the opposite direction of where you're trying to fall off. No one did fall, though. The saddles or seats or whatever you want to call them were the problem. Sort of boxy and squared. Covered in a blanket, as well as wool sewn directly on to it, but I have no idea what was under there because it was sooooo square feeling and awkward. The way out there wasn't much of a problem. It was waking up the next morning and standing up that you realized how uncomfortable you must have been. Which did not make the prospect of getting back ON a camel to head back the least bit appealing.

My view from the camel's back

The first ten minutes of the ride, I think that the only thing I was thinking was why hadn't I thought about the fact that camels are BIG animals. And not always happy to have riders. They move around, you shift with their every step, and I am not so sure what to do with animals. I've only even ridden a horse a few times, and you are closer to the ground with horses. Or at least the saddle feels better. After I got a little used to it, and quit gripping the thing you hold on to quite so tightly, I would take off one hand to take pictures (strap securely around wrist.) Like so very many things, pictures just can't do it justice. I mean, you're in the middle of a sea of sand. And it's so pretty but so big and dry. And those kids in A Far off Place? Never would have made it, even with the native friend's help. I know it was a different desert, but they were not dressed well and would have needed sooooo much water.


After about 2 hours of bumpy camel ride, we made it to the oasis that we would stay at. It was pretty funny because the place was divided into about 4 'camps' that are apparently owned by different families or people at least. We got settled and, as it was a little before sunset, some of us decided to climb the sand dune directly to the west of the oasis. It really didn't look that big. We started climbing. And got tired. And kept climbing. And climbing. And became exhausted. But refused to stop all the same. Forget stairmasters, some genius should make a sandmaster - that would be the true work out.

Brilliant me, I had left my scarf at the camp because I was hot and sweaty. So when I was about 15 feet from the top (maybe 5 minutes at my pace by then) the wind started to pick up. On our way in, we had heard thunder and I just thought it was cool. When that became sand blowing in my face, it wasn't so cool. I stayed at the top for a bit, feeling the sand attack my skin, lips, ears, nose and eyes. It didn't hurt in my eyes, really, just felt weird (at least not til I tried to get some out of my eyes.) After maybe 15 or 20 minutes at the top, enjoying but only having time for one picture before the wind was too strong (don't want sand in camera!) we headed back down. Some people had been up there longer than me, others shorter. Walking down was soooo much fun! The annoying part of getting up - feet sliding backward all the time - became a game of seeing how far a single step would take you. But that thing was much bigger than we thought, as my pictures of the tiny camels from the top should tell you.

From the very top of the sand dune.

Back down at the bottom, the winds continued. It wasn't a full-on sand storm, but it definitely got sand EVERYWHERE. At least I was at the bottom with my scarf by then. Still, it was very uncomfortable. Someone said we were all getting free microdermabrasion. And it's true that my hands were really soft afterward and my lips stung when I had orange for dessert. Didn't make up for it all, though. We had to have dinner inside this big, low tent. It was very hot in there, and the bodies of 45+ people did not help it in any way at all. We had a giant dinner for here (lunch is the main meal of the day) with different vegetables and tuna with rice, followed by kefta (meat balls) and fruit for dessert. I'm pretty sure the stuff was brought in on ATVs, not camels, as we saw plenty of tracks on our way it. I would much rather ride a four-wheeler than a camel.

After that there was drumming by some berber guys that was really cool sounding and a bunch of people got up to dance. I'm find with dancing, especially if it's having fun and learning how they do it. But instead it was a bunch of sweaty Americans sort of moshing around. And being covered in sand and hot, I decided it was better to stay out of the dancing and enjoy the sky. I think I have seen more stars once - at the MacDonald Observatory in west Texas. And probably only because there were some clouds and the moon was near full. It was still amazingly pretty. So pretty that two other girls and I decided to sleep out of the tent (most everyone did in the end). One of them grabbed pillows, but as soft as sand is when you're directly on it, when it's covered by a heavy carpet it's just hard and lumpy. We lied there for about 5 hours, but I probably slept 3-4.

We got up early to climb the dune again to see the sunrise. I guess desert sunrises can be amazing, but this one was very nothing. The sky just lit up, and the sun came up. No cool colors, nothing surprising at all. There were some people who stayed on the hill longer, and later it sounded like they were waiting for more. Um, sorry people, that's not how a sunrise works. We headed back, uncomfortably, on the camels and I was soooooooooooooo ready for 'breakfast' once we finally got there! I was crazy hungry, but unfortunately they didn't think fruit was a breakfast thing at that hotel so it was mostly bread stuff. I did have a hard-boiled egg and a tomato at least.

Then we showered (there was a shower building, not just the one in the room) and headed out. The van was hot and sticky both directions. The air was on, but not high enough. And I was just in a skirt! I don't know how the people in jeans survived. After lunch at another hotel (which seems to have upset my stomach) we made it back to Fes about 11 hours after we left Merzouga (camel start/end hotel city.) It was cool and I had fun and it was great to do something different, but I was also tired and happy to be out of that car!

I think I got a little sick from lunch at the last place, but here I am at school all the same. I'm sure I will live!