Under the Desert Sky

Yesterday we set off at 7am for a tourist trek to the Sahara, led by the Berbers. First you must take a very long ride throught the Atlas Mountains and the Draa Valley to reach the desert. This involves riding in the dreaded and perilous MINI-BUS. Hairpin curves, donkeys with large loads of straw, and the ever-present potholes make these mini-bus journeys even more interesting. Once a critic, I have now become a fan of Dramamine. We scored some at an airport farmacia in Spain called 'Biodramimine'. Not sure what makes it 'bio' but we made it through the mini-bus adventure without throwing up so it must be the right stuff.

At Zagora near the Algerian border, we said our tearful goodbyes to the mini-bus and also our non-English speaking guide (no French speakers in our group). Some of us knew a tiny bit of French but things got a little tense when we tried to tell him that we need to use the bathroom by shouting "toilette s'il vous plait" from the back and he yelled back, "No" and didn't stop for another 30 minutes.

Then we mounted our camels. The landscape was beautiful from the camels and the sun was just beginning to set in the clear desert sky. Little children ran alongside our loping camels shouting at us for 'bon-bons'. In exchange they made little camels out of palms and would toss them up on to our (live) camels.

We ate dinner in the Berber's tents and then sat and slid down the sand dunes while the Berber guides sang us traditional songs and played their drums. Among us were Welsh, English, Colombian, Polish, Canadian and Mexican--a 'mixed salad' as the Berbers called us.

Dawn came quickly at 5am and it was time to again mount the camels although some of us felt like we would rather eat sand than re-mount the beasts with our soreness. I rode for maybe 30 minutes and then dismounted and enjoyed a nice walk alongside the camel for the remainder of the walk out of the desert.