Erg
Chebbi is Morocco's only genuine Saharan erg (sand dunes), a drifting chain of sand dunes that can reach 160m and seem to have escaped from a much larger dune field across the nearby Algerian border. The place we were staying arranged a camel ride and stay in a Berber tent for us.
Our camel-man,
Mohammad, arrives with 3 camels. He is a 26 year old who lives in the town of
Merzouga and has been doing this for 10 years. He is extremely nice and soft-spoken. His mother is Berber, a people with Saharan, Mediterranean, and Sub-Saharan African roots who have inhabited Morocco for at least 5000 years.
We set off across the dunes mounted high on our camels. Actually,
Mohammad tells us, they are
dromedaries, not camels. Camels have two humps and these only have one.
It turns out
Mohammad is a great photographer. It is evening when the heat of the day is not at its harshest. Now don't get me wrong, it is still probably somewhere around 40, hence the wraps we wear on our heads and faces.
I turn around to get a shot of Nigel who is not as well padded in the derriere department as I am and who felt every jolt...for 2 hours.
The air is dry and hot. As we watch civilization vanish behind us we ride farther and farther into the dunes. It is incredible to think that
Mohammad knows exactly where we were.
We stop and I switch
dromedaries (okay lets call them camels) at one point as mine is acting up. When they are getting up and down you have to grip the bar extremely well in order not to be hurled over the head of the animal. They go down front first.
As the sun set it still does not cool down, but we finally reach the camp. We are cooked an amazing
tajine by a man who
care-takes the small horseshoe of tents. At one point I hear a baby crying and realize he lives in the lone tent I had noticed about 20 metres away. It is astonishing to me that someone lives with a baby (and family) in such extreme conditions in the middle of nowhere. Nigel observes that world war 3 could break out and you just wouldn't know it here. It is silent and remote.
The moon comes out very brightly and lights up the entire camp including the low table and benches we are eating our dinner at. Half way through the meal it seems to be slowly changing from full to crescent.
Mohammad looks at it several times and says, something is not right with the moon. We learn the next day there had been an eclipse.
We lie in cots in the tent at night and feel the hot air. When I say hot, I mean oven-hot. It feels like half your body weight is being evaporated away and the other half is pouring out of your pores. I wake up with my eyes tearing trying to stay moist even while closed. My lips are parched and chapped. I am sticky with sweat and often feel it form into a stream on my skin and run into the sheets. The air is so dry it felt like my nose wanted to bleed (in fact, it does in small spots for the next few days).
The tent carpets that are the door have been flipped over the top to allow some breeze. In the middle of the night a wind starts blowing sand that gently settles over the bed, our sticky bodies, faces and hair.
The next morning I adjust my head gear as I know the sun is coming up and it will be unbearably hotter than it already is.
I think Nigel looks like a real Berber. He has on the traditional coloured head gear for men. If you are in town or most anywhere you see men wearing them.
Occasionally winds whip up even in town and you can easily protect your face from sand that fills the air.
The camels have had a restful night. We are told they do not sleep. We ask if horses are ever used in the dessert. No, camels are much better suited. They have very wide feet or toes which don't sink in sand like a horse's would and don't need to drink that often.
In the morning we have breakfast in the large Berber tent. It is the familiar Moroccan fare of mint tea, breads, jams, and cream cheese.
We set off this morning this time with only two camels as one has been taken by the caretaker. We meet him on the way and he has loaded what looks like a large tent onto the camel. They exchange greetings and a camel and we are on our way again.
The sun starts to come up and it is incredible how much hotter it starts to get. I am glad we set off when we did as it is again a two hour journey.
All I could think of is the 3 wise men from the Christmas story when I take this picture.
The dunes are a scene of constant change and
fascination as s sunlight transforms them from pink to gold to red.
Slowly we start to see some plants emerging from the sand. A sign we are drawing nearer to civilization again.
Trees crop up.
And a village.
We can see our place, but Nigel is starting to lean over as much as he can to get some buttocks relief. I don't think he will be on a camel for a long time after this.
We say goodbye and thank you as we dismount our
dromedaries.
...and watch as
Mohammad wanders off with our rides.
Our camel-man, Mohammad, arrives with 3 camels. He is a 26 year old who lives in the town of Merzouga and has been doing this for 10 years. He is extremely nice and soft-spoken. His mother is Berber, a people with Saharan, Mediterranean, and Sub-Saharan African roots who have inhabited Morocco for at least 5000 years.
We set off across the dunes mounted high on our camels. Actually, Mohammad tells us, they are dromedaries, not camels. Camels have two humps and these only have one.
It turns out Mohammad is a great photographer. It is evening when the heat of the day is not at its harshest. Now don't get me wrong, it is still probably somewhere around 40, hence the wraps we wear on our heads and faces.
I turn around to get a shot of Nigel who is not as well padded in the derriere department as I am and who felt every jolt...for 2 hours.
The air is dry and hot. As we watch civilization vanish behind us we ride farther and farther into the dunes. It is incredible to think that Mohammad knows exactly where we were.
We stop and I switch dromedaries (okay lets call them camels) at one point as mine is acting up. When they are getting up and down you have to grip the bar extremely well in order not to be hurled over the head of the animal. They go down front first.
As the sun set it still does not cool down, but we finally reach the camp. We are cooked an amazing tajine by a man who care-takes the small horseshoe of tents. At one point I hear a baby crying and realize he lives in the lone tent I had noticed about 20 metres away. It is astonishing to me that someone lives with a baby (and family) in such extreme conditions in the middle of nowhere. Nigel observes that world war 3 could break out and you just wouldn't know it here. It is silent and remote.
The moon comes out very brightly and lights up the entire camp including the low table and benches we are eating our dinner at. Half way through the meal it seems to be slowly changing from full to crescent. Mohammad looks at it several times and says, something is not right with the moon. We learn the next day there had been an eclipse.
We lie in cots in the tent at night and feel the hot air. When I say hot, I mean oven-hot. It feels like half your body weight is being evaporated away and the other half is pouring out of your pores. I wake up with my eyes tearing trying to stay moist even while closed. My lips are parched and chapped. I am sticky with sweat and often feel it form into a stream on my skin and run into the sheets. The air is so dry it felt like my nose wanted to bleed (in fact, it does in small spots for the next few days).
The tent carpets that are the door have been flipped over the top to allow some breeze. In the middle of the night a wind starts blowing sand that gently settles over the bed, our sticky bodies, faces and hair.
The next morning I adjust my head gear as I know the sun is coming up and it will be unbearably hotter than it already is.
I think Nigel looks like a real Berber. He has on the traditional coloured head gear for men. If you are in town or most anywhere you see men wearing them. Occasionally winds whip up even in town and you can easily protect your face from sand that fills the air.
The camels have had a restful night. We are told they do not sleep. We ask if horses are ever used in the dessert. No, camels are much better suited. They have very wide feet or toes which don't sink in sand like a horse's would and don't need to drink that often.
In the morning we have breakfast in the large Berber tent. It is the familiar Moroccan fare of mint tea, breads, jams, and cream cheese.
We set off this morning this time with only two camels as one has been taken by the caretaker. We meet him on the way and he has loaded what looks like a large tent onto the camel. They exchange greetings and a camel and we are on our way again.
The sun starts to come up and it is incredible how much hotter it starts to get. I am glad we set off when we did as it is again a two hour journey.
All I could think of is the 3 wise men from the Christmas story when I take this picture.
The dunes are a scene of constant change and fascination as s sunlight transforms them from pink to gold to red.
Slowly we start to see some plants emerging from the sand. A sign we are drawing nearer to civilization again.
Trees crop up.
And a village.
We can see our place, but Nigel is starting to lean over as much as he can to get some buttocks relief. I don't think he will be on a camel for a long time after this.
We say goodbye and thank you as we dismount our dromedaries.
...and watch as Mohammad wanders off with our rides.
4 comments:
the blue head gear makes nigel real arabic man. Terrific...
Your journey is also exotic and fantastic..
Hope both of you back to London safely...
Hannah.
Nigel will be happy to know someone has commented on his picture.
Camels and Dromedary are magnificant beasts! They can do a lot things most animals can never do, including us.
They can drink so much water, diluting their blood to such an extent that, if our system was that diluted, our blood cells would swell up and we would die from water poisoning.
On the other side of the scale, their kidneys can handle extreme salinity so that they do not waste much liquid. They can literally drink sea water and still extract out the salt. We, on the other hand, would get more and more thirsty if we drink sea water.
While we have to wear gowns and hats to keep the heat from hurting us, camels do it naturally. They store all their fat in the humps which, in conjunction with their fur, is used to keep the heat from the rest of their body. When the sun beats down on us from the top, we start sweating to keep our head cool. Camels can handle much higher temperature and don't sweat as much, keeping their precious liquid supply.
They once had a race between a horse and camel. After one day, the horse was slightly ahead at 176km. But in the next day, the horse died and the camel easily kept going. A Greek named Yiannis Kouros is at one of the extremes of human ability. His record for the 1600km race was 10.4 days which averages out to be 153km/day, not quite 176km. Camels can do this on a whim.
Camels and Dromedary are incredible creatures. It is no wonder why they are called Ships of the Desert!
Steven, it is friends like you that keep me informed of all the interesting aspects of things I don't take the time to learn myself. Thanks for the fascinating information.
I did notice that after an hour or so the dromedary would sweat only one stream that came from the back of his neck close to his head.
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