Hump Day

We were awakened before dawn, but I had been awake for several hours already. Every four- or two-legged beast that had walked past our tent had awakened me. I'm not even sure what all of the four-legged creatures were.

Clouds dimmed the sunrise over the Sahara, but could not dim the enthusiasm of our students, who met the new day with unusual energy. At least eight of them scaled the largest sand dune in sight, just behind our camp. Mary and I gave it a try, but we're old, and decided about a third of the way up that we were high enough. Several of those who had been sick the previous day thought better of it, as well.

How does one get out of the desert? The same way one gets in: by camel. Our moonlight ride had to be shortened a bit because of the late hour, so the camel drivers made it up to us by giving us a longer ride in the morning.

It was a gorgeous morning, but I don't find camels a comfortable ride. My legs were cramping pretty badly by the time we got back to civilization. A quick shower and a change of clothes brightened my spirits, however.

Again, it was a seemingly endless day in the van. It was supposed to have been six hours. Inexplicably, it was more like eight. Always "three more hours."

Along the way, we stopped a Todgha Gorge, a valley with high, steep rock cliffs on either side, apparently very popular with rock climbers. On one side, the cliffs go almost straight up, 300 meters (over 1000 feet).

But our guide was much more excited about showing us the agriculture made possible by the river running though the gorge. We walked through the oasis along the banks, and we were told about all of the various plants and trees there.

Back in the van for another long stretch, we continued to Quarzazate, a prosperous-looking city that is billed as, "The Hollywood of Morocco." There are at least four large movie studios here, which both produce their own films, as well as work cooperatively with U.S. motion picture studios to provide services in remote shooting locations. We were supposed to have a tour of a movie lot, but rain shut everything down.

We drove a bit farther on to Ait ben Haddou, a small settlement near a World Heritage Site. Our host for the night was Simo, half Berber, half Arab, raised in France. Our hostess was his wife, Rose, a wonderful French cook who was in charge of all our meals. We bought out the entire place for the night, and they made us feel right at home.