Morocco - Part 6 - Sahara

Zegora was our next stop on the road trip and was our final point of call before heading out into the desert. 

We stayed the night in an original mud-walled Kasbah on the way to Zegora in a town called N'Knob which is pronounced rather rudely. The Kasbah was an interesting insight into traditional Berber life as goats were kept in the gardens and dinner was served in a berber tent. 

The hotel in Zegora was a little slice of heaven for us, now weary, travellers and we had a half day relaxing by the pool, enjoying the view of the desert and relaxing in the beautiful garden, filled with fresh flowers. 

The following morning we woke up to rain. I repeat, RAIN! In the desert! Apparently it hasn't rained in over a year so we were a little unlucky really. We decided to view this as a positive thing as we gained a little snapshot of Morocco that other tourists never get to see, I mean rain in the desert is pretty much a once in a lifetime moment. We used the wet morning to venture into the buzzing metropolis that is Zegora in order to stock up on desert supplies and to snap a pic by the famous Timbuktu sign. 52 days by Camel to Timbuktu, we decided to give that one a miss. 

Later we hopped in our 4x4 to venture into the desert and enjoyed a wonderfully thrilling and bouncy ride over the dunes with our friendly guide Majoub! Thank goodness we had a guide because there is literally nothing as far as the eye can see and no tracks to follow. After a day's driving we were well into the dunes and found our camp for the night, which was very basic and wonderfully peaceful, that is, if you don't mind sharing a toilet with hundreds of creepy-crawleys!

The camels took us for a ride over the dunes and into the sunset, which set beautifully over the sand, despite the rainy morning. 

Camels are very funny looking and make the oddest sounds but are nevertheless a wonderful companion and amazing creatures. 

That evening the camp hosts whipped up the best tagine we had during our whole trip, no mean feat considering they were in the middle of a desert! We were then treated to a little song and dance and enjoyed watching the guys beating out a mean rhythm on a few drums. 

The next morning we woke early to watch the sunrise and I celebrated my 23rd birthday in pretty much the most awesomely beautiful place on earth. The guides made me feel very special by playing happy birthday on their drums and presented me with a handmade henna plate. Sadly we only had time for one more barefooted run up the dunes before we had to head back out of the desert to continue our journey. 

Mood - Missing the peace 

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