Day Eight - Merzouga (Sahara) to Mgouna Valley

Day  Eight

Date:     5 May 2013

Place:    Merzouga – M’gouna Valley (Valley of the Roses)

Weather:   Sunny and hot

Accommodation:   Sahara Desert!

At 5.15am the tom-tom sounded and we woke up to a dark Sahara Desert.  Actually David and I woke up around 4am as we were cold.  We pulled David’s goretex over us and cuddled in the Berber tent to use each other’s heat for warmth.  Upon discussion with the group when we were about to leave we discovered there were blankets available and we had missed the instructions …. one other lady missed them as well!

This camel had deep affection for Cameron and nibbled at his coat along the way.

Waiting for dawn....David, Desley and I.

 

 

 

Following the dunes!

 

Lil ole me!

 

This is fun!

 

How could I not post another picture of the shadows!

 

 There was no room for tardiness as we were up and away on the camels to catch the sunrise over the Sahara.  My baby camel (the runt of the litter and much smaller than the rest) was still at the rear of the camel train.

Slowly, the light gradually appeared and we were lead another way around the dunes heading back to the hotel.  It took about half an hour into the ride before the sun popped its bright head up over the dunes and we all were caught up in the moment taking photos and generally feeling pretty darn great!

It took another forty minutes before we made it back to the hotel and we enjoyed the changing colours as the day grew brighter.

We arrived back at 7.15am and had a quick wash before breakfast was served – boiled eggs, bread, jam, pancake like flat bread with coffee, tea and juice.  We all smelt like smoke from the fire and for most of us we were looking forward to the shower at the end of the day!

It was an earlier start at 8.40am and we were heading west to the Valley of the Roses.  Our guide was taking us to the Todra Gorge in the High Atlas which is where he was brought up.  At the mouth of the gorge is the town of Tinehir where we stopped and took in the views of the valley with its bare mountains, mud made homes and green lush valley with lots of date palms. 

At the commencement of the Todra Gorge where some scenes of Lawrence of Arabia were filmed.

Todra Gorge....Berber minding his goats.

 

The road wended its way up to the end of the gorge where the spring started and there were lots of people about enjoying the sunny day as it was the weekend.  A Berber had his goats near the spring and they were sitting on the rocks attracting attention from western tourists.

Only a little way back we had lunch at a Berber restaurant in Said’s village.  It was tucked down a tiny alley and we enjoyed the speciality of Berber omelette and some tagines before heading just around the corner to Said’s childhood home.  The house is three storey’s high, mud with bars on the windows.  A large door at ground level opened up to a barn area for the animals.  Our lovely guide stood proudly outside and took photos.

We then walked along the road for a few metres and ducked down a gravel road to a Berber rug co-operative where we were warmly welcomed by a Berber rug merchant.  Of course, out came the mint tea as we sat and watched carding of the wool and explanations of the natural dyes used in the rugs.  Beautiful carpets were rolled out on top of each other once again and four of us succumbed to more purchases (including the pilgrims!).

Mint tea followed by the hard sell!

 

Our last drive for the day was to the Valley of the Roses.  We passed through Bourmaine du Dades a large town which serves the gorge and there were major preparations for a rose festival happening this week.  The gorge is noted for its beautiful pink roses which were introduced by the Persians and they are very aromatic.  Aerial views of the gorge show there are 4,500 kms of hedges!  We didn’t stop for a view of the valley here as by now it was raining.

The drive up the valley was very arid with large rocky outcrops abutting the lower region but as we neared our accommodation for the next two nights the valley became greener and with more vegetation.

Our accommodation was described as a Berber house but is is more what the French describe as a gite or guest house.  The rooms are basic but comfortable with food included.  The dinner of couscous and vegetables with our Peregrine mates was a lovely end to a happy day.