Sunset Over the Sahara
While seeing all the interesting and beautiful sights on our way to and from Merzouga was wonderful, the main purpose of our trip was to visit and camp in the Sahara Desert. Although I’m not sure if what we did would qualify in any world as “camping” when our desert camp was so luxurious. Even glamping doesn’t seem to do it justice!
We started our journey into the desert by camel. We got to the camels around 4:30 pm, but it was probably around 5:00 pm when we started in a train of six camels, joined by two lovely ladies from Arizona. We rode into the desert for about an hour or so. Then we stopped and spent some time in the sand dunes for probably another hour. Jon and I climbed up one taller sand dune and wow were our lungs burning. It was a tough climb. Way harder than it looks!
The girls experienced the same thing, but quickly adjusted and were running up and down the dunes, playing in the sand, and having the best time ever. They utterly adore playing in the sand! Jon and I decided that relaxing at the top of the dune, chatting, watching the girls, and enjoying the peace and quiet was more our speed than running up and down the dunes! We also loved running our hands through the ridiculously soft sand, making patterns and swirls. It was so relaxing. It reminded us of those little Japanese Zen gardens people rake to relax. We stayed up on the dunes to watch the sunset before making our way back down to our camels and continuing the last half hour or so of our trek to the desert camp.
It was dark by the time we reached our camp ay Ideal Desert Camp, which was so beautiful at night. There were so many lights everywhere and it looked right out of a fairy tale or movie. We walked up to the gazebo in the centre, where we were greeted with tea, cookies, and nuts, and told to have a seat and relax for a while. After, we were taken to our private tent, which was spectacular. It had a full ensuite bathroom and a small sitting room. I’ve never been in a tent with full electricity and indoor plumbing before! We all agreed that our tent is the most luxurious accommodation we have had since we left Canada!
We were left to settle in for a little while and then made our way to the restaurant building for a four-course dinner. The food was all absolutely delicious. But there was so much of it we could barely do it justice. Except for Jon, who ate every morsel. I don’t know how he does it! We really do love that dessert basically everywhere in Morocco is usually fruit, which was the same here. Such a refreshing way to end your meals!
Once it got dark, the temperature really dropped! While it was 30oC and hot when we got to the desert, it couldn’t have been more than about 5 or 10oC at night. They left us traditional desert clothing in our tents that we could wear, which we did. Wow, we may have looked a bit silly, but we were warm as could be!
We had a big lounger in front of our tent, as well as a table and rocking chair set. We brought blankets and pillows from our tent out to the lounger and we all piled on there to snuggle up together and do some star gazing. I think we watched the stars and tried to pick out various constellations and galaxies for a good hour. It was so beautiful and peaceful there, just the four of us and a big open sky. There were other people at our desert camp. There was one group of four, two groups of two, and one larger group of maybe 15-20. But we didn’t see any of them while we were outside star gazing.
Eventually, though, people started making their way to the fire pit area. They lit a big fire, and everyone sat around there while the locals played their drums. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. I think we might have been the only ones not dancing. Our girls are not people who enjoy or appreciate loud or busy places. They like quiet, calm, and more secluded areas. They had their ears covered and were not interested in this part of the night. We stayed for about 15 minutes, which in the girls’ eyes was 13 minutes too long, before heading back to our tent to snuggle outside together and do more star gazing.
Jon and I also aren’t people who love loud music and busy places. According to Hamid, our driver, this is a pretty important cultural part of the nomad life, and we wanted to experience some of it. Often nomads are alone out in the desert, but sometimes two or three families will be together for a bit. Evenings would involve sitting around a campfire, making music together, telling stories and riddles, talking together, and just enjoying a simple time together. This is why the desert camps make sure to include campfires and music, to provide a glimpse into nomad socialization.
By 10:45 pm we decided to pack in the star gazing and head inside to get some sleep. We knew we were going to have an early morning, getting up to watch the sunrise. Thankfully, at this time of year, sunrise is at 8:00 am, so we didn’t need to wake up until 7:30 am. We were told to be outside about 20-30 minutes ahead of sunrise to enjoy the beautiful pink sky before the sun fully rises, which we did.
It was a cloudy morning, which obscured some of the sunrise. Unlike the previous day, which was completely clear. But it was still beautiful, and the girls enjoyed playing in the sand more while we sat and enjoyed the sunrise progression on the dunes just outside of our camp.
After sunrise, we walked back to the camp restaurant and had a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, we asked what time the camels would leave and were told to come back in half an hour. Which was perfect, as it gave me enough time to shower and for us to get our luggage sorted out. About 25 minutes later, Jon walked over to sort out the final details and was told there were no camels. They were all gone, and they hadn’t sent camels for us to ride. They thought we wanted to get a ride back in a 4×4 vehicle. I’m not sure where that idea came from, as the girls were practically vibrating with joy about riding camels and were so enthusiastic about taking camels both ways. There was no mention at all from us about 4×4 vehicles. But, alas, somewhere there was miscommunication of some sort (English was not a well-known language by anyone out in the desert camp), or possibly assumptions on their part.
In the end, it was ok. We had a great time. We were given a sandboard (really, it was a snowboard, but we didn’t strap our feet into it for sandboarding) to use. Jon and I each tried once, which was enough for us. We let the girls go to town and enjoy it. They did a couple of runs on the little baby hill to practice and then moved to a slightly bigger dune. They still stuck with a smaller dune so it was close to camp and because it was tough to carry the board up the dune. It would not have been manageable for them to carry the board up a larger dune over and over again.
After about 30-40 minutes of sandboarding, the 4×4 was ready for us. We took off, driving at crazy speeds through the dunes. We bounced around, went up the dunes and around, and listened to the girls laugh with pure joy. Katia compared it to the best roller coaster ever, which was a pretty apt description!
We stopped for a break partway back to Merzouga, where we got out and enjoyed the dunes. The girls ran around, played games, and burned off a lot of energy! Jon and I sat at the top of a dune, enjoying the peacefulness of the desert and the simple joy of watching our children having fun. The man driving us back to Merzouga was a lot of fun and played games with the kids, running races up the dune, pulling them down by their ankles, and making them laugh. Their favourite was definitely being pulled down the hill by their ankles! LOL
After a 20-30 minute break to play and relax out there, it was time to head back to Merzouga and meet Hamid at around 10:30 am to start our trek back towards Marrakech. Our time in the desert wasn’t even a full 24 hours, but it was a time full of peace, relaxation, and contentment away from the outside world. It was a time none of us will ever forget in our lives. A truly once-in-a-lifetime experience!
