A couple of years ago I rode a horse that could only understand Spanish directions. It was in a beautiful park with a narrow dirt path that sloped off to a small stream encased on either side by pebbles. The ground was slightly uneven but hey the local children were riding horses and encouraged by others I figured I could too. What a mistake…
I got off minutes later and cried. I was terrified. The horse started galloping over his uneven and rocky terrain, I felt like I had no control and unfortunately the horse didn’t recognise the word ‘stop’. I vowed never to get on a horse again and so when i found myself in Morocco 2.5 years later, safe to say I was not keen to ride a camel.
After days of trying to convince myself and not wanting to make my boyfriend, who I am travelling with, miss out on the experience I pulled myself together and got on the tour from Marrakesh to the Sahara desert before I changed my mind again. The desert is a long, long way from Marrakesh and the bus left at 8am and we didn’t arrive till around 5pm, with a few photos stops and food breaks along the way.
Lines of camels sit on the reddish-brown earth with padded blankets on their backs. Rope hangs from their mouth, linking them together. A couple of locals sit around ready to direct us on the camels and as soon as we’re finished taking photos they beckon us over and tell us to sit. To stand up, camels lurch forwards so their back leg straighten and your bending over the camels neck. After a few seconds, or more depending on your camel, they lurch backwards and straighten their front legs. I was terrified I might fly off the camel but the lurch is a lot gentler than it looks and if holding on, it would be pretty hard to fly forwards.
Once our group is all up on the camels, a local takes the rope of the first camel and we begin the slow walk to our campsite. A camels walk is quite gangly not smooth like a horse, and your body slightly sways from side to side as each leg moves forward. They’re incredibly slow so it feels safe, although hold on tight when going downhill as they kind of let themselves fall forward. We were taken over sand dunes and around them, bypassing huge lumps of red sand piled high and rippled from the wind. The ride to the camp took just over an hour and I was beginning to look forward to getting off. It’s not a lie when I say riding a camel is uncomfortable, I had a welt after only 2 rides!
Our campsite is a ring of white permanent tents that are completely secure to avoid any scorpions from getting in and running around. Due to this it’s like a sauna in the late afternoon but by 2am the room turns into a fridge. We are served Berber tea, which is mint tea and delicious although I think they are heavy handed with the sugar, and sit around on giant rugs in the desert waiting for dinner to be cooked. We are served a traditional meal of soup and bread, chicken tagine followed by fruit. The tagine is scrumptious as the veggies are cooked in all the juices and soak up so much flavour. After dinner we all file back outside to lay on the rugs and look up at the sky. A fire is lit and the locals bring out their drums beckoning a couple of girls to join. Soon the rhythmic beat of drums fill the air, a little boy dances around them performing cartwheels as he circles around and people are spread out on the rugs, laying on their backs with their hands interlocked behind their heads staring upwards.
But my favourite spot is just behind the tents where the beat of the drums is fainter, the glow of the fire is gone and all that you can see is black. The sky is alive with glowing white dots that sparkle against the jet black background. It’s like the sky has been sprinkled with white hundreds and thousands that twinkle and dance. It’s so unlike the skies you see back home. The sand is cool enough to sit on now and a small group of us lie on a sloping dune marvelling at the sky. After a while the drums end and silence pervades the air. It feels so empty and so quiet, like a blanket of serenity covers us all. I could lie out here all night just gazing at these bright stars, but eventually lack of sleep wins over and I’m forced to trudge off to bed stealing one last glance at the most beautiful sky I have ever.
Morning is an early wake up call to watch the sky lighten as the sun rises and forces us to start the day. Wings of yellow and pale orange flood the sky and slowly the sun climbs higher than the sand dunes and comes into view. After a quick brekkie it’s time to head back to the camels who take us out of the desert and back onto our bus. I’m pretty much wincing at this point and can’t wait to get off, although others seem to be enjoying their last ride. Our driver takes a shortcut on the way home and it doesn’t take us nearly as long to return to Marrakesh where I’m desperately awaiting a hot shower to wash the smell of camel off. Apart from the welt and extremely long bus trip, the tour was incredibly special and it was all worth it to see how bright stars can shine in the middle of nowhere.
madeleinecurby 