Camel Ride in Merzouga

Saturday, December 7

Sam:

We woke up at about 6 am to have some breakfast. For breakfast we had bread, Moroccan pancakes, cream cheese, honey, jam, hard boiled eggs, coffee, mint tea, and fresh orange juice.

We got on the bus and as we were driving, we watched the sunrise. We hiked to see a place called Life Valley (in English) to learn about Berber nomads. To get to the next area, we had to cross a big river but it had no bridge. It didn’t have a bridge because it is usually a small river, but it rained yesterday, which it only does about once or twice a year. We had to build a bridge across it with some tree trunks placed nearby.

After we crossed the river, we went into a carpet shop to learn about the different types of dyes and carpets, see a big loom and have a bit of mint tea. We thought the carpets were beautiful, but we didn’t buy one.

We stopped at a big canyon with a river running through it, but to our group’s surprise, the water was warm! The source was an underground spring. The water was bubbling up from between some rocks.

We stopped at a local restaurant to eat lunch and there were tons of cats everywhere. We then drove towards the Sahara desert.

Charlotte:

About halfway there, we stopped by a souvenir shop for scarves in the desert. You are supposed to put them around your face in a special way to protect from sandstorms so you wouldn’t get cut by the sand and to block the desert sun. My whole family got scarves. I think nearly everyone on the tour also bought them. I also got a purse at the shop. It is really pretty. We also got a fancy jar to fill with sand in the Sahara so we could take some of the Sahara back home with us.

When we were all finished getting the scarves, we went back in the van and started driving to the Sahara. We weren’t going to take any more stops from there.

Finally we arrived in the Sahara Desert. We were going to ride camels and sleep in Berber tents. This is the part I’ve been waiting for forever!

We mounted our camels. Even though the camels already had names, we decided to give them nicknames. I named my camel Bertie. Mom called hers Alice. Dad’s camel was Winnie (the Pooh) because it pooped so much. Sam’s called his camel Princess because it was scared of many things and seemed more delicate than the other camels. I love Bertie so much. It was so scary going up because they were not very graceful animals. I felt like I was going to fly off, but luckily I didn’t. They were really fun to ride, a little uncomfortable, but it was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be.

Then, because it was almost sunset, we stopped the camels at a great place where we could take pictures of the sunset. We had to climb up a big sand hill to get to it. It was kind of hard because the sand kept falling as we walked on it.

We stood up there, looking over the Sahara. We all took our shoes off because the sand was so soft. It was nice. I like the feeling of it between my toes. I loved playing in the sand and running down it and coming back up and doing cartwheels.

Then we got back on the camels and rode to the camp. We were in tent number 4. I was pretty happy about that because 4 is my lucky number. The tent just had one bed, but then the people who ran the tent brought in two small beds for Sam and I so we wouldn’t have to share one. I was happy about that.

Then we had dinner there. First, they gave us some soup. Then they gave us another dish with chicken and veggies that we thought was a full meal, so we ate all that and got full on it. But then… they brought another tagine, and we couldn’t eat it because we were too full!

When we went back to our tent, they started giving us so many blankets so Sam and I wouldn’t turn to icicles. Then there was a campfire with music and dancing under the stars. We didn’t stay until the end because we had to go to sleep for the early wake up the next morning. We went to bed, and they weren’t lying – it’s so cold!

Sunday, December 8

Sam:

We woke up in the tent at six am because we had to get some breakfast at six thirty and mount our camels at seven. About halfway through the desert, we stopped to take a break and watch the sunrise. As soon as the sun came up, it got so much warmer!

Charlotte:

After the sunrise, we rode back to the parking lot. I had to say goodbye to Bertie. I was going to miss him so much! Then we went back in the bus for a very, very long ride back to Marrakech. I was not that excited about it, but we had to get back. We got back after about 10 hours. The tour guide dropped us off at Aqua Mirage resort at 9 p.m. which was really nice. After that we went to a late dinner at the buffet.