05 September, 2014
The box in my brain marked
“Geography” is all too close to empty. I think we might have been
technically in the desert for quite a while, with river oases running
through it. But on leaving Zagora, we were heading to what westerners
think of as “the desert”, i.e. the rolling sand dunes of the
Sahara. Mind you, I should know better: the Australian desert is not
as barren and devoid of interest as many people think …. even as I
thought, before going there.
 |
| On the road 1 |
 |
| On the road 2 - new houses being built |
We were heading to Merzouga
but the address of our accommodation for the night, a kasbah with the
French name Auberge Les Dunes D’Or, was, as in the Australian outback, some
distance from the named dot on the map.
 |
| On the road 3 |
 |
| On the road 4 |
Along the road in the Ziz
valley between Zagora and Rissani, we passed as close as we would get
to Hami’s home, pretty close to the Algerian border. Not all that
far as the crow flies, but sadly too far by road for them to have
some time together. I really felt for this gorgeous young man who
clearly adored his wife, daughter and extended family but whose job
kept him away from them for so long.
 |
| On the road 5 - Crumbling mud bricks |
Also on this stretch of
road, it was the closest we came to a nomad camp. These people are
largely herders of sheep and goats, as I understand it. It does look
a bit messy around this camp site but I cannot blame the nomads
specifically for it. The one sad thing to see in this truly beautiful
country is all the rubbish along the roads. They need a Clean Up
Morocco campaign as we have a Clean Up Australia campaign at home.
Plus a worldwide restriction on the use of plastic bags!
 |
| Nomad camp |
Morocco continues the old,
world-wide practice of having gates to mark the entrance to
administrative areas. A large region might have small gates and a
bustling town or city have something more grand, all the way to the
truly impressive such as the Blue Gate in Fes.
 |
| District gate between Zagora and Rissani |
 |
| Gate at the entrance to Rissani |
 |
| Blue gate - Bab Bou Jeloud - Fes |
Not all that far on the
other side of bustling Rissani, we hit the piste again. Then a shadow
growing on the horizon ….
 |
| Piste .... with a very faint blur on the horizon |
 |
| The blur grows .... |
And suddenly there it was ….
the kasbah at the edge of rolling sand dunes … The Sahara!
 |
| Auberge Dunes D'Or |
I noted the pool and swam
later but right then went straight to my room. Enter through the
courtyard, at the far end open the door to my terrace and ... the
view: the Sahara, the dunes here called Erg Chebbi, and …… gum trees???!!! Is there nowhere that
Australian eucalypts have not spread like weeds!!
 |
| Gum trees in the Sahara???!!! |
After a long swim, a yummy
alfresco meal and a chat with some Australians – it had been a
while since I’d heard that accent! – I then wrote the last blog
post before giving up to continue when I got home.
 |
| My clunky but faithful EeePC |
