Camping in the Dunes

Ah man, Dan and I are in the best place right now, I love it!
After spending some time in rather large cities, we needed an escape, so we headed out to Merzouga, a tiny town with views of the desert sand dunes, just north of the border with Algeria.  Now that we are here, I am having a hard time coping with the idea that we must leave.  I like it here, it’s quiet here :)  Aside from being tiny, quiet and beautiful, it is a perfect jumping off point for some camel treks into the desert.  I could hardly wait to set out.  I literally have been looking forward to a desert camel trek since we started our trip and finally I was able to have it.
Dan and I set out for a two night camel safari, with our Berber guide Mubarak.  We were a little apprehensive considering we have no warm clothes to speak of, other than a hoodie each.  Would it snow, or dip below zero?  Hmmmm, is a freezing cold sand storm worse than a blizzard? Without warm clothes, I think so…  Luckily, the weather was lovely, our camps were cozy and my camel was adorable.

Dan striking quite the pose :)  Nice Dan.  Here we are enjoying our lunch after spending a hour or so riding our camels over and into the sand dune desert.
(Dan: Yeah, that’s right, I’m sexy.)

Us on our camels :)  He He, so cute.  Mine had quite the personality.  I loved her.

Dan’s camel.  She had quite the bad ass nose ring.

A couple sweet dune snaps.  Unfortunately, they aren’t that photogenic but in real life they are so beautiful.  The colours, the shapes and the shadows are breathtaking and it is all magnified by perfect silence.

 

Our camp dinner.  Seriously, I like camping but I need to take a lesson from the Berber people- they know how to pitch a seriously cozy tent and make some rather epic camp stove dinners.

On day two, we made a stopover at a Berber Nomad camp in the Black Desert.  It still blows my mind just how people can decide to make a life in the middle of such a desolate place.

Me with a cute baby goat that found us in the desert after we stopped for lunch.   Aww! :)

A few more sand shots.  After a couple of days riding Dan’s bottom was a little tender.  Poor Danny… And you made fun of my Aladdin pants.
(Dan: My camel was getting grumpy carrying my around. She needed a break!)

On day two, we decided to hike to the top of one of the largest sand dunes in the desert for a panoramic sunset view.  Man alive, climbing a sand dune is the hardest exercise I have ever done.  Two steps forward, one step back.  In the end, it paid off.  We felt as if we were on top of the world.

A snap from the black desert with the sand dunes on the horizon.

He He, Danny looking not all that impressed as he had to wake up bright and early to catch the sunrise.
(Dan: It was freezing… Would you be impressed before you’d had your coffee?)