Morocco - Merzouga (Saraha Desert)

One of our guides (Hassan) on the dunes.

We got an overnight bus down to Risanni from Meknes. We arrived a 6 in the morning.
There were a few other tourists on he bus and we got a 4wd with them in to Merzuga (where there are huge sand dunes). We thought that we were going into the main part of Merzouga but ended up about 15-20 km outside in the middle of the desert. We kinda knew that the ride was taking us to a hotel, and that we'd end up going on a dromedary (camel with one hump) trek with their company, so we werent too worried.

The Auberge (hotel) we were at was right by a big seasonal lake. On the other side was the huge Erg Cherbi (massive shifting sand dunes). At some times there are flamingos on the lake, but not when we were there. The building was all mud brick, and some sort of straw based plaster. It looked very cool. We liked how African it all felt.

Entrance to the Auberge, and dromedaries.

We banded together with 2 other tourists to haggle over the price of our trek. It took about an hour to set a price and was full on. It ivolved them starting sky high (1260 dirhm) and us starting at what we thought was fair (500 dirhm) we eventually went up to 550 but had to get up and leave, and pay the taxi, and be about to walk to the next hotel (across desert) before they agreed to do it for our price.

The dromedaries were really cool. They had pretty big faces with huge eye lashes. Their feet are soft and hairy for walking on the sand and they make the weirdest farting, and groaning noises. They were all boys (the females arent strong enough to carry people) and most of them were grumpy (we were told they get like that in winter).

The saddles wrapped around the hump so your sitting on it, but it doesnt hurt. They kneel down for you to get on, and getting up and down is a bit rough. You cant steer and they have no stirups, so you basically sit there and enjoy the ride. And it was a very cool ride.

The trek was 2 nights in the desert. We left on our dromedaries at about 4:30 in the afternoon, and rode for a bit over an hour and a half through the sand dunes. We then stopped at a camp site, where we hung out, had a fire, and ate a huge tajine, that our guides cooked us. There were 6 of us in the end, and we all got on really well.

The guides played drums, and sang, and we got to sit out and watch the stars. The desert is amazing. Its sooooo quiet, its almost uncomfortable for your ears. The sand changes colour throughout the day, as the sun comes from different angles. At night its pitch black and you can see more stars than I think Ive ever seen. Plus its freeeeezing at night.

The next morning we woke up early (not quite early enough to see the sun rise) for a breakfast of bread, local butter (its really good), jam, and sweet green tea (this is served at all times). We climbed up one of the dunes for a look, and a stretch.

We had a 2 and a bit hour trek on the camels in the morning, and we crossed more dunes, some gravelly desert, and big patches of desert made of volcanic rock. Then we stopped for lunch at a berber house (they said nomads but the house looked permanent). We hung around there for the rest of the day, and then went to see their gardens in the afternoon. We also had to collect the dormedaries, who despite having their legs tied together had wandered about 30min walk away. The guide said that if they had their way the dromedaries would just wander back to the desert.

We stayed in a room that the family have for guest, and ate couscous. The family was quite un fazed by us, but the kids played with us, and they were really cute.

To entertain themselves the kids ran around a tyre, or rolled a bike tyre around the desert.

The next morning we rode the last hour and a half back to the auberge. The other people in our group headed straight on the the next town, but we stayed another night in the hotel. We basically rested, we needed to after 1 night sleeping on a bus and 2 on the floor, and showered. The sand gets everywhere, and you feel soo dusty. We had a fatastic meal there that night. There was bread with dishes of mixed spices, salt, and olive oil to dip in. Then a salad of cucumber, tomato, and red onion. And the main was a slow coked dish that was all onions, chopped meat, tomatoes, spices, and then egg poured in the middle. It tasted amazing, and you could mop it up with bread. About 5 of the guys who worked there put on a show over dinner of drumming, singing and a bit of shuffling around.

So we had a great time, the auberge people were a bit pushy, and we had to work hard not to be ripped off, but the trip was great, and it all worked out well.

Morocco - Meknes

The bus trip from Chefchauen to Meknes was very hot, long, and involved stopping to pick up any layman who flagged us down.

Meknes is not as charming as Chefchauen. Its a relativley big city, and feels like it. The Medina isnt quite as cool, but we spent a few hours walking around it, and bought some local foodstuffs (dates, nougat, mandarins, almonds). There are heaps of cafes around the town, but not many that welcome women.

Medina gate, and narrow medina alley.

The king was visiting Meknes so there were armed police all over the place, and people seemed to be hanging out waiting to see him drive past at all hours of the day.

On our last day we went out to Volubilis (ruined roman city). There are some really well preserved mosaics around the ruins, as well as a few pillars, and a big archway. It was a fantastic chance to get out into the countryside, and we really enjoyed wandering around in the sun. There were lots of flowers in the ruins, and they smelt fantastic. We also saw a small owl, which was a cool treat.

To get out there we had to catch a "Grand Taxi". They are big old mercedes that you pile into. They get 3 in the front and 4 in the back and dont leave till full. We were a bit nervous about negotiating the destination, but it turned out fine, and is a good cheap way to travel between small towns.

Donkey!!!

Morocco - Chefchauen

Chefchauen is a pretty small town in the Rif mountains.

Its the main dope growing region of Morocco, which makes it one of the biggest producers worldwide. 90 percent of the farming land is used to grow weed. They make most of it into hash, and send 1800 kg of hash to Europe a year.

Not many tourists used to come here, but more and more people do now as its really very safe, and beautiful. The walls of lots of the buildings are painted with an amazing blue wash, and dead end streets have the walls, and floor all painted the same blue.

We were staying in the heart of the Medina (old arab part of the city). It was really nice because there are no cars in the tiny streets.

We went to the local produce market one morning and bought fruit and olives. It was very cool, and they had huge piles of mint, oranges, olives, and all sorts of spices, plus there are loads of donkeys that they all come into town on and then carry stuff away on.

The food has been amazing. The first meal out we got free mint tea, then got bought bread and seasoned olives. To eat Rita had a vegetable couscous, and I had an omlette with seasoned lamb mince. The couscous was fantastic, its all seasoned with cinnamon, and tastes sort of pickled. The couscous is realy tasty. Weve also had a tajine, kinda like a stew, of chicken, with preserved lemons and olives, a huge salad, with lots of red onion, and fresh goats cheese.

We are pretty into the new culture. Everyone in Chefchauen wears the traditional clothes. The men have these big long robes with pointy hoods, and the women wear head scarves, and long robes. Its very cool.