Thursday 12th May.
After a not so quiet night disturbed by some local taxi drivers having a “good” time parked in the area near our campers, we rose, had breakfast and packed up to meet Steve & Hammid at the arranged parking spot outside the village.
We thought we would arrive a little earlier to see if we could access the internet and Skype some of our family. With only 20 mins to spare before our group was to meet we were fortunate to call Kelly and she immediately turned on the computer so that we could see our 3 little granddaughters eating their spaghetti dinner. We were so thrilled to be able to see and talk to them and to see the baby Lily sitting up wide eyed in her high chair looking at us. Lucky for us all they needed was a quick chat and to so we hurriedly signed off and when to meet the others for our briefing.
We visited one of the local schools that had been set up by the generous sponsorship of Desert Detours and we enjoyed seeing the children singing under the shade of gum trees in the yard outside before having a look inside the classrooms and finding out about what subjects they learned.
We then said farewell to Benny, a young boy Esham and his young brother and took to the road again.
We stopped, took photos and admired the view of the river valley where we had stayed and were amazed by the contrast to the arid landscape surrounding it. Another stop a little later and we were shown the workshop where they carve fossilized rocks into wonderful works of art and interesting talking pieces. They feature fossilized Trilobite (extinct sea arthropod) Crinoid (invertebrate sea animal) Orthoceras or Ammonite (shell creatures) embedded in them and highlighted in the design of the piece.
Next stop the town of Rissani, the last major town before the desert. After parking the vans we decided to walk through the souk which was narrow, dark and crowded. We also had picked up a local who wanted to show us his shop and around the town, and even though we tried to ignore him he didn’t get the hint until Ewout had a talk to him and threatened to call the police so he soon took off. This town was different again from others we have seen, with a real frontier like feel to it. People, cars, bikes, taxi’s, trucks and donkeys along the roads with the smells of the animal market and dust blower all over. It was warm and busy so most of us wanted to find a place to have a drink and something to eat so we found a café just out of the main area and settled to while away some time until we had to meet Steve & Hammid again to resume our journey.
All aboard our motorhomes again we headed out to the desert following our tour guide at first along the bitumen road, then onto the dirt and sand. We traveled quite slowly allowing for the dust and the corrugations until we came to a soft patch which we were directed to drive around. Unfortunately though the guide vehicle being concerned for us found himself bogged down a soft sand patch and then because Ian and us has stopped, Clyde slowed down and also became stuck. So what to do? After putting some small rocks under the front wheels of Clyde’s vehicle and all pushing we managed to get him out, but the guide vehicle had become stuck fast with a large mound at the front making it hard to us to help him out. We were not far from the Auberge where we were to stay, so with Hammid on board we headed for our campsite, leaving Steve to wait for help from one of the staff.
Parked between two sand dunes we couldn’t get closer to a Sahara motorhome experience with the red sand all around and camel dung it finally was real.
The next day being rather hot, some of us decided to take advantage of the pool at the Auberge (Hotel), have a swim and find some shade to relax. Nothing like a cool swim with the view of the sand dunes in the background.
That afternoon Ewout and I decided we would go on the optional Camel ride and overnight stay in Bedouin tent. An opportunity we couldn’t pass up. So about 5.30pm we boarded our “ships of the desert” and set out on an unforgettable adventure. Climbing onto a camel is one thing, it’s when it gets to its feet that you get the feeling that you may what to hang on or fall off. Still once upright and settled into it’s stride you work out the rhythm and it is quite comfortable, though I found going downhill a little unnerving and had to hold on tight. As we were the only two in our group we were put at the end of a group of Dutch tourists and so we set off for our 1 ½ hour trek through the desert dunes to the Bedouin camp. It was quite pleasant ambling along on the back of the camel through the sand dunes, watching the dunes change shape and colour as we moved through the areas. We eventually came to the campsite and unmounted the camels, the guides then showed us where to leave our bags and then suggested we climb the rather large sand hill to see the sunset. So off we went with much enthusiasm, forgetting how hard it is to climb up sand and as a few of us got to the top before the others found that the view was just of another sand hill and ended up coming down saving some of us the arduous climb to the top. I must admit I was having trouble, since hurting my knee in Poland last trip, spraining my ankle in December and the trouble with my asthma since February I have become very “out of condition”.
We then all headed back to the campsite to be greeted by the attendants, invited to sit down on the rugs and given the inevitable mint tea and peanuts. While sitting there we were able to meet some of our other companions and got to talk to a friendly young Dutch couple who ended up sharing our table and meal.
When it became dark we all ushered into the dining tents to sit around the tables for the meal of Moroccan soup, Chicken Tagine and sliced melon and orange for dessert. It was a nice meal and we enjoyed talking to our table companions. After dinner our hosts showed us where we were to sleep, happily Ewout and I got to have a tent to ourselves; thought there is still not much privacy in the Bedouin style tents.
After an uncomfortable night on the hard, thin mattress and equally hard pillow we were up at 5.10 am to be ready to leave on the 5.30 camel ride back to camp. Most of the others in our group were staying for breakfast but somehow it had been organised that we would leave earlier see the sunrise on the way and have our breakfast back at the Hotel. It was a very peaceful trip on the way back with only 3 others in the group and the camel guide. Breakfast by the pool was great and Steve joined us as well.
Later that morning we had another optional tour organised, so with Una and Ian we went on a 4 wheel drive around the Erg Chebbie dunes, stopping to see the reefs of stone embedded with fossils, a visit to a desert dwelling where we had tea and saw how they wove their tent panels, a musical performance in a “slave” village and views of various parts of the dune system. Although we were supposed to be back about 3.30 – 4.00 I was quite happy to be back earlier and spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool reading and even had a little nap.
Late that afternoon the wind came up and we were engulfed in bit of a sandstorm. We had to make our way in the wind and sand to the Auberge and found out why the desert dwellers have their scarves. So handy to keep the sand out of your hair and face. That night was our tour leader Steve’s birthday so it was decided to enjoy a meal in the Auberge all together around one table for a real Moroccan meal. We had a great meal and enjoyable evening and lucky for us the wind had dropped when it came time to walk back to our campers. The sand managed to find it’s way into our campers in varying degrees and even though we have done a general clean since I think we will still be cleaning Sahara sand out of the crevices for a while.
