Today we started the long drive into the southern part of Morocco to the Sahara Desert. We had a couple of longer stops along the way including a park full of monkeys and hotel where we had lunch. We were heading into fossil country which was particularly fascinating to the geologist in our group. Just outside the restaurant was our first opportunity to shop for fossils and geodes.
The bus could only take us so far, so we switched into 4-wheel drive vehicles to take us to the tent camp. The road system is pretty loose in the desert with each vehicle taking a slightly different route to stay out of the dust kicked up by the car in front of them. Air conditioning wasn’t really an option so it was windows down and full speed ahead.
The tent camp which would serve as our home for the next couple of nights was made up of several sleeping tents in a circle with the center covered with rugs. The tents contained a bed, a couple of chairs and a cement floored bathroom at the back with a toilet and shower. Some might consider this glamping. A dining tent served as a meeting point with an outdoor gathering place of pillows and a fire (I think mainly to keep flies away and provide atmosphere because God knows we didn’t need it for warmth). We arrived a little late for sunset so we went straight for the wine.
After our group dinner under the stars, we set up our cameras on tripods to practice our Milky Way and star shooting. It can be a real challenge to get settings correct when you can’t really see your camera. After the shoot, most of the group gathered around the fire for the drum session. You could hear other camps in the distance also performing the drumming ritual. These can become quite entertaining with guests dancing to the beat. I passed on the festivities opting for bed since we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow.
Some of our group opted to sleep under the stars while others of us stayed in the tents. It does cool down in the desert at night which helped a lot.
Tomorrow: Camels and Nomads
The bus could only take us so far, so we switched into 4-wheel drive vehicles to take us to the tent camp. The road system is pretty loose in the desert with each vehicle taking a slightly different route to stay out of the dust kicked up by the car in front of them. Air conditioning wasn’t really an option so it was windows down and full speed ahead.
The tent camp which would serve as our home for the next couple of nights was made up of several sleeping tents in a circle with the center covered with rugs. The tents contained a bed, a couple of chairs and a cement floored bathroom at the back with a toilet and shower. Some might consider this glamping. A dining tent served as a meeting point with an outdoor gathering place of pillows and a fire (I think mainly to keep flies away and provide atmosphere because God knows we didn’t need it for warmth). We arrived a little late for sunset so we went straight for the wine.
After our group dinner under the stars, we set up our cameras on tripods to practice our Milky Way and star shooting. It can be a real challenge to get settings correct when you can’t really see your camera. After the shoot, most of the group gathered around the fire for the drum session. You could hear other camps in the distance also performing the drumming ritual. These can become quite entertaining with guests dancing to the beat. I passed on the festivities opting for bed since we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow.
Some of our group opted to sleep under the stars while others of us stayed in the tents. It does cool down in the desert at night which helped a lot.
Tomorrow: Camels and Nomads
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