The Merzouga Desert Experience

Salaam wa aleikum!

This weekend, I went to the desert. And there was a lot of sand. The end.

…

Nah, I’m just messing with you!

So Thursday, at about 5:30 pm, my host mom and dad, Elizabeth, Eric, and I all hopped in the car and headed out of Meknes and towards Merzouga, a desert town that is located almost literally on the border between Morocco and Algeria. The majority of the students in my program had gone the weekend before, but since my family was going to be going (and I wouldn’t have to pay) I decided to just wait until this past weekend. And I think it was a good choice.

So we headed out from Meknes, going towards Azrou and we stopped at a town that was right over the mountain for Iftar. It was nice because we literally stopped in the side of the road, parked, and went and sat at a restaurant-store-thing with our bag of food and broke our fast. The owner brought us some tea and we just chilled there for about an hour and a half.

After that, we hopped back on the road and continued on our rather long journey. We stopped off at the other town about an hour later, grabbed some fruits, and then started up again. From then on, we drove straight through to Merzouga, meaning that I saw some towns, but didn’t really see them. There were also an awful lot of winding roads through the mountains that got a bit scary at times. However, at 2:30 in the morning, we finally reached Merzouga and arrived at our hotel-hostel-thing. We had some tea (because that is logical thing to do at 3 in the morning, and then picked out our rooms (which we didn’t actually sleep in).

I woke up the next morning with the sun (because that is just what I do) and then tried to doze for a few hours while I waited for somebody else to wake up. We then ate breakfast and headed to this different hotel where we swam for a few hours. I didn’t have a swimsuit. But I certainly didn’t let that stop me!

So after lunch at this different hotel, we headed back to our hotel to get ready and hop on the camels!

We rode for about two hours, and I started off riding properly, but quickly decided that that was far too uncomfortable. I then moved around to find a different (more comfortable) position, and ended up side-saddle. Because I’m clever like that.

We then arrived at the camp, located at the foot of a huge sand dune (mountain-thing). The sun had already set, so we went into the camp, found our tent, and put our things down before going to look at the stars, which were absolutely ridiculously beautiful. For real.

They gave us some tea, dinner, and fruit, and then we had music and dancing, which was super fun. Miriam and Mahmoun had no shame, which meant that Eric and Liz didn’t either. I was feeling kind of sick, so I mainly just sat and laughed at them. It was awesome.

We probably went to sleep around 1:00 in the morning and I woke up with the sun (as I usually do). We climbed on the big dune and watched the sunrise over the desert (something everyone should do at least once in their life). We then hopped back on our camels and headed back to the hotel as the sun rose. I once again rode side-saddle, meaning that I didn’t suffer debilitating pain in my thighs when we got off. Go me.

We all chilled for a little while and then decided to go shopping with Miriam. The market in Merzouga is much smaller than the one in Meknes, but everything is so much cheaper and the clothes there were actually so much more interesting. I bought some clothes for some people and then took pictures as Eric and Liz got buried in sand.

It’s actually a type of therapy that Merzouga is famous for. The heat of the sand is great for muscle pains and rheumatism and it causes to the sweat so much that you purge your body of toxins. We saw tons of people doing it while we were there, but because I was still feeling a little sick, I decided against it. After feeling that sand on my feet, I can say that I think it was a good decision.

After burying themselves in burning, Mahmoun, Liz, and Eric all were herded into this special tent for recovery. Apparently the fact that Liz is a girl kind of freaked the guys out, but Mahmoun assured them that it was totally fine. They were then brought copious amounts of tea and water so as to make sure they did not become horribly dehydrated, and then die.

Miriam and I chatted for an hour or so while we waited for the others to leave their rehabilitation tent, and when they did, we all went and took some naps. Well, they took naps. I managed to finish Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Good books. I recommend them.

We then went to this other place with these guys who looked Sudanese and whose group originated in Sudan, but who are not actually Sudanese. But they were awesome regardless. Here’s a video, be amazed!

After that, we grabbed some food (which was an exercise in frustration) and then headed back to the hotel and got massages! It was beautiful.

The next morning, we (I) woke up and started getting ready, going out to the desert to take a few more pictures before coming back and making sure I had everything. We grabbed some breakfast (still an exercise in frustration) and headed out to Rashidia. Except we kept stopping. A lot. Sometimes it was for cool photo opportunities and all, but sometimes it was just because Mahmoun is incapable of taking a straight path to a destination. But still, enjoy some pictures.

After four hours, we finally arrived at the family house in Rashidia, where I was confronted with my inability to successfully Darija. For real. It was bad. But they were still super nice. We ate lunch there (at about 4:30) and then just chatted for a few hours.

We finally got on our way at about 7:00 and drove through to Meknes. We did stop for dinner (for about an hour and a half), but I was just feeling very frustrated because of the time and the fact that I had my OPI the next day. We finally got home at about 2:30 in the morning and zonked out.

Overall, I would say that the experience was ridiculously awesome and that I would recommend that everyone find their way to Merzouga at least once in their lifetime. I certainly hope to find my way there again!

Ma’a salaama!