We knew we had to be up early to start our desert tour, but an overly enthusiastic rooster had us up a bit earlier than intended… Stupid bird!
However, the fowl wake up call did have the benefit of giving us enough time to enjoy warm pan chocolate and tea before heading to the lobby to meet our tour guide. It was then that we learned an important lesson: Mohammed is always right. In this case, Mohammed happens to be the riad’s jack-of all-trades, who kindly (and firmly) offered to walk us to where we’d meet our driver, while Jess, politely, but just as firmly insisted we had an email that said they’d be picking us up at the riad. Suffice to say, 30 minutes later We were following Mohammed through the winding streets of Fes to meet Said, our guide for the next 4 days, and started driving south.
Our first stop was Ifrane, the “Switzerland of Morocco” where the king of Morocco is known to take ski vacations (yes, you read that tight: skiing in Africa). We did a quick pit stop to stretch our legs and visit their stone lion, which was carved in honor of the last Atlas Lion, the now extinct native feline of Morocco. Apparently the last of its kind was found in Ifrane and the national soccer team is named after it. However, as Ifrane is only an ~30 minute drive from Fes, we didn’t stay long.
Up next was the cedar forest, where we were able to observe “wild” monkeys in their native habitat: hanging out by the side of the road, snatching bread from tourists. At least we now know where the trained monkeys in Marrekech are from!
Then we drove toward the soaring peaks of the Middle Atlas Mountains, which still had a few lingering traces of snow.
Then our favorite bit: Ziz Canyon and Valley. Carved by the river that runs, copper-green, at its bottom, the walls and surrounding mesas are awash with colors – red, brown and yellow, as well of splashes of green. As we drove along we saw locals trying to beat the heat by swimming, though Said says it only makes you hotter once you’re out.
Then, at one point we turned a corner and the valley had been transformed! Where there had been a sluggish rivers, there was now a river of palm trees – date palms to be exact. There are 40 types of dates, the biggest and highest quality is known as Medjool, which is funny as it means “unknown” in Arabic.
A few (ie: lots of) kilometers later, another natural wonder was revealed – a natural spring fountain, shooting water at least 20 feet into the air, while around it cool, fresh water springs bubbled and boiled. Around it, tiny brown-red travertine had formed and little cascades tumbled into the desert. It was like being at a tiny Yellowstone, but without all the sulfur stink and fear of boiling alive if you fell it – in a word, surreal.
The second to last stop of our our 400+km drive was a beautiful green archway called the Gateway to the Desert. According to Said, who grew up in this part of Morocco, you aren’t officially in the desert until you pass through this gate. It was shortly thereafter that we finally saw them — the dunes!
Rising over the top of Merzouga, the town that was serving as our base, the Erg Chebbi dunes are the starting point of the Sahara in Morocco and make up 30 kilometers of sand.
The tallest dune sits right atop the town’s main drag and stands 250 meters tall; almost 80 stories!
Of course, when faced with such heights, we did what comes natural and tried to climb some!
It’s much harder than it seems as the sand is baby powder soft and slides under your feet.
Dinner was an informal affair as we were apparently the only folks staying in our hotel, but came with a show: a grey bat swooped around the lights gobbling anything that flitted, while a pretty looking kitty munched her way through a series of small locust that were also by the lights. It was weird, but we’ve had worse dining partners!
After dinner, our host encouraged us to head up to the rooftop terrace for some stargazing, which was excellent. The town is small enough to have minimal light pollution and we were able to capture a few excellent long exposure shots.
Then it was off to bed, with only a few ill-timed rolling blackouts (making teeth brushing more exciting than your typical dental hygiene) between us and some shuteye…
– J & G