The Sahara

After arriving in Todgha Gorge in the dark we awoke to see the sights.  It is a narrow canyon carved out by the Todgha River - the canyon is 1300 feet in some places.  The place we stayed was deep in the gorge and didn't have visible water but had a underground spring that feeds the river further down.  We toured the local village with a guide who grew up there - each family in the village has a plot of land they cultivate - mostly alfalfa.  The whole area is irrigated with spring water using a gravity irrigation system.  We saw the old Medina that was abandoned years ago - it was built in traditional style with mud bricks but this style of construction doesn't hold up over time.  Morocco no longer allows new construction out of it.  

Our "Cave" hotel

Todgha Gorge

Aqueduct system

Entrance to abandoned Medina- notice the local lady working on her laundry

Abandoned Medina

We also saw nomads in this area - they live in caves (see example of that below) and herd sheep and goats.  We saw this group on the hillside so we got the big boy lens out to get some closer shots.  Pretty interesting to see people living like this in modern times.

Nomad and his herd

Up close of the nomad

Nomad cave

Now we are off to the Sahara - which is the largest "hot" desert in the world.  In the afternoon we arrived on the edge of the desert in Merzouga.  From there we rode camels about 90 minutes to our desert camp for the evening.  The dunes were very red and gorgeous against the deep blue sky.  The desert camp was not as secluded as I imagined but it was fun.  We were the only guests at our camp - so after watching the sunset we had a nice dinner and then sat out and star gazed for awhile - defiantly the most amazing stars I have ever seen.  Our tent had a proper bed, flush toilet and shower with hot water.  The next morning we watched the sun rise and got back on our camels for the return trip.

First view of the Sahara

Our tent

The camels were pretty funny - we named them Rocket and Ali Baba.  They are not very comfortable to ride but pretty stable which is nice when you are so high.  Our "camel man" who was raised in the Sahara told us all about them while he walked and lead them.  Camels are pack animals and can't be ridden if they don't know where they are going so somebody has to lead them.  They can find their way back "home" from up to 120 miles away - they tied the camel's foot to its body at night to prevent that.  Camels can carry up to 800lbs, can walk all day and only need water every few days. And they have yucky teeth that look like they could do some damage.  When I asked if I could pet it I was told yes but it might bite- great!  I did pet it and it didn't bite.

After a long ride back we stayed in Ouarzazate.  The next morning we visited Ait Benhaddou, a world heritage site, where many movies have been filmed including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.  The city which sits on the caravan route between the desert and Marrakech dates from the 1600s.  A few families still live in the city but it is mostly abandoned for tourism now.

I was obsessed with the storks in the mosque towers!  

Ait Benhaddou

View from top of Ait Benhaddou

That evening we stayed back in Marrakech, had a nice dinner at Latitude 31.  The next day we had the morning to explore and shop a bit more.  After a leisurely breakfast we headed to the Majorelle Jardin again but the line was silly so we instead headed to the modern section of town and saw a mall, grocery store and went to McDonald's!  With all our shopping done and our steps in for the day we headed to the airport for the return trip via Lisbon.

Grocery Store

Modern part of the city

The future - touch screen ordering with no human interaction needed

One last mint tea