We left Meknes 6 AM Friday morning in a small bus that just fit all of us. With the various meal stops, bathroom breaks, and scenic photo opportunities, the trip was about 12 hours total! We arrived at our desert hotel in the dark and it was all I could do to eat dinner before going promptly to bed - I hadn't gotten much sleep the night prior due to my Arabic Literature paper.
On Saturday after waking up I went on the roof (our room had an entrance) to watch the sun rise over the dunes. I think this was my first time seeing any sort of desert in person, and it really was breathtaking - the dunes were smooth like a blanket of snow, and unmarked by footprints of any kind. The world was quiet, no hustle and bustle in the background like Meknes. It was nice to have some time to myself to be in awe and be thankful.
Our day in the desert started with a 4x4 tour in the morning during which we saw ...
+ the border of Algeria
+ donkeys standing near a well in the middle of nowhere
+ a traditional Berber tent
+ what seemed to be an abandoned mine
+ a mostly abandoned city (there were some homes still in use)
+ a Gnaoua music group
+ lots of rocks and possibly some fossils?
+ an oasis
... and drank lots and lots of tea (or as we heard many times, "Berber whiskey"). Unfortunately our tour guide was more concerned with only asking how we were doing and listening/dancing to music rather than tell us any historical information about the desert or the places we were seeing!
The main event though was the camel ride through the dunes in the evening. We met the camels behind the hotel around 4 PM, and got into our caravans. Although the ride itself is very bumpy due to the gait of the camels (going downhill was considerably worse) I still really enjoyed taking a path less travelled through the dunes I had seen earlier that morning. We stopped around 5 PM to climb one and watch the sun set; some of the group as we were waiting ran down the side of the dune or went to explore higher peaks.
After sunset we finished the journey to our campsite for the night, which was essentially part of a larger campground. We spent the rest of the night telling stories by candlelight, looking at the stars (my favorite part - you could see everything), eating a tagine dinner, and listening to music around a campfire.
Sunday morning some of us got up early to climb a nearby dune and watch the sun rise. We hopped back on the camels not long after and travelled back to the hotel under a clear blue sky. Most of us were quiet on the way back - because we were tired or lost in thought, I'm not sure. I was mostly just thinking about the moment itself.
The journey back to Meknes was filled with less stops but still took 12 hours; nonetheless, the trip was more than worth it. I'm happy to have gotten to see another new place in this beautiful country!