Wednesday, September 24, 2014

9/24 -- Drive to the Sahara

Although we are in a hotel tonight, we have actually been in the Sahara since about noon. The landscape is dry and rocky, with the occasional canyon. Tomorrow, we complete our trek to the Sahara, and camp for 2 nights in desert tents and walk dunes.

Ifrane homes
We had a long drive, punctuated by a few stops. Our first rest stop was in a village called Ifrane, home to ski resorts at about 6300 feet of elevation. It is the site of the first private university in Morocco, established by King Hassan II of Morocco and King Faud of Saudi Arabia in 1994. The city itself is known as the Switzerland of Morocco, more for the pointy roofs of buildings that for the steep slopes. All the other housing in Morocco has been flat roofs, many with roof-top terraces so this was quite a visual departure. There was also actual landscaping in the town, so it hardly looked like we were still in Morocco.

Obedient sheep lining up for their water
Back on the road, we encountered a family of semi-nomadic sheep herders who had moved into their winter quarters. We stopped first by the men who were watering the sheep, which filed nicely toward the trough, taking turns like they knew the drill. Then we ambled over to the women and children in their abodes -- walls were mostly made of stones with a framework of wood on top. The ones being used had tarps over the roof framework, which were held down by rocks. We were invited in and were surprised at how homey it was. About half the space was nicely arranged sleeping spaces on a hard dirt floor. The front and one side wall were lined with shelves and cooking pans. I was startled at how MANY pans there were. The women were friendly and the two kids looked about the same age, about 2, and entertained themselves without TV, massive numbers of toys or much of anything else. There was a substantial battery in the home and at least one electric light along with a satellite dish, though I didn't notice a TV. I did wonder how warm it would be in winter.
The walls and roof frames apparently are in place year around.

The inside was cosy (in a good way) and filled with pots!


Back on the road, we continued our trek south, which I slept through when the roads got too curvy or bumpy. Jim and Mike carried on a conversation about the types of rocks (Mike is a geologist who worked in the mining industry) for much of the ride. Lunch was a nice break in a large restaurant in Midelt, and from there the road got rougher. Jim took pictures, occasionally the bus stopped so we could photograph some canyon, and around 6pm we arrived at our hotel in Erfoud. It has a lovely pool and we had dinner here and prepped for our desert camp tomorrow. Anything that doesn't get published tonight will probably have to wait til the 27th, because I don't think we'll have wifi for a few days.

The photos below show the varied terrain we drove through today,

An oasis


Typical village on the edge of the Sahara



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