Dunes

There are so many things that we've heard about the desert...
When we were in Fes, an Australian girl that knows Morocco quite well, talked wonders about the experience of sleeping in the desert, about how small we feel when we realize how vast it really is, about the impact of being side by side with mountains of sand and nothing else for miles and miles. It made us crave tremendously for that experience! Even before, the pictures on the Internet, the images from the movies, the stories of those close to me that have already been there... have made our expectations to be high; quite high!!

For that we decided to launch ourselves to a (very) long day of driving! After over 10 hours of Moroccan road behind us we started realizing the terrain was changing a bit and there were (apparently) small dunes in the landscape. The anxiety overcame the tiredness and all I wanted was to hop on a dromedary. This sounds awful, but it was how I felt, I wanted to hop on a dromedary and I'm not ashamed of it! :)

When, after more telephone calls and Kms than needed, we arrived to the base camp of the company that would lead us to the desert I couldn't help smiling. And I don't think I was the only one feeling that way.
A chit-chat with one of the responsible guys, "We'll leave you a bottle of wine, brought directly from Portugal", a big smile on his part and the gift back "I'll give you 3 bottles of water, fresh!", a smile on our part. Under that heat it was more than a fair trade to our ears!

The dromedaries and dunes awaiting for us

A few minutes later that would be us!

Many have said that this almost looks like a picture of Mars

And finally, I'm the first that is called to ride the dromedary. It complains (or it seems like it), it shakes a bit, but it gets up and there it is. The beginning of the desert adventure begins :)

The walk was slow and swaying, that is the way dromedaries walk, driven by Umbarack, our non poliglot berber guide. We witnessed an amazing sunset over the dunes and behind the clouds. All was missing, I have to say, was the feeling of solitude. Being a touristic area because of the desert, there were other groups that were doing similar things, going to other Bivouacs, talking just behind us. But at some point, they turn left on the dune and we turn right. And there it was. It looked like we had the desert all to ourselves :). The dunes, the sunset, all that sand... all of that to ourselves.

 

On the Bivouac (the desert camp) we lay the (very few) belongings that we brought with us and go out exploring the dunes. We rolled down the dunes, we climbed up and down the dunes, we sat on the dunes, we saw the night fall on the dunes, we laughed like no one could hear us! Basically, we were enjoying life on the desert!

During the night very odd things happened, a cat appeared and stayed around the camp all night, it rained after a large lightning storm (an amazing view on the desert!, btw), and... we all behaved at some point like we were high. As there was no marijuana I can only guess it was the sand, the seclusion, the silence (broken by the drums of the bivouac next to ours), the lack of running water, electricity or network, and, above all, the feeling of experiencing something like that. :)

Our group with Umbarack, the berber guide!

The dinner (leftovers) and the cooks

Our bivouac

The Kitchen

The next morning we had an early rise to witness the sunrise over Algeria! The first beams of light were upon us and the dunes on our backs! It was worth it... the long hours of driving behind us, the haggling in Fes, the short hours of sleep, the long hours of driving ahead of us! It was all worth it! :)

This video was shot during the time when we were desert high! What also explains the bad drumming rhythm!

The blue city

There are the ones that call it the Blue Ville due to its medina painted with this color, there are the others that refer to its position on top of a hill, and there are those that just call it... the city of pot! Yes, apparently our first destination is more well known among young travellers because of the high levels of consumption of marijuana, either in shishas or... whatever form it might take. The surrounding hills also have multiple plantations of the cannabis plant, for what we've heard... we looked for them (for scientific purposes alone, of course :P) on our way to Fes but couldn't find them.

But the blue, yes, the blue! We included Chefchaouen for the blue and the "artistic pictures" that I wanted to take. The photos are not that artistic, but there's a lot of blue.

They call themselves the "Blueville" :)

An ordinary street

An ordinary corner

An ordinary door

 An ordinary view. Stairs that end up in (blue) doors.

The street/stairs are more than passways, they're also an extension to the existing shops.

Blue, blue and blue.

Even at a distance it is possible to see the shades of blue here and there.

When we were leaving the city we passed by this entrance... all that is left from... someplace that no longer exists

Guess what is the main color?

Even the orange cooling recipient is blue :p

But Chefchaouen is more than the color blue (and marijuana trading). It was the place where we found the most relaxed people and a waterfall where locals and visitors alike went to refresh themselves and even dive. It was here that an Algerian woman living in Tetuan wanted to "fix" me with her still single son. It was here that someone showed us a place (after many misturnings -  they were Moroccans but not locals) where we could eat tasty creps for 4 Dinahrs (around 35cents). It was here that the shopkeepers talked with us for the pleasure of talking with us - they tried to sell their goods, of course, but they were okay when we would say no.
All and all, it was a great starting point to discover the rest of Morocco! :)

The guy with the white t-shirt was the "single" brother that they tried to hook me up with

There were many cats all around the city... and the country

André in disguise. Trying to pass as a local

The 4 Dirahms creps stall

The 4 Dirahms creps

 

At the entrance of the medina

 

Meeting the local fauna

The washing tanks, still in use

This was the area where most locals refreshed themselves

And this one where they dove and had fun

More cats... lots of cats

The colors beyond the blue

Vendors with traditional hats

The young and the old

We've arrived!

I'm writing this from home after the trip have finished as there was no time and as I didn't take a computer with me this time, the logistics were a bit more complicated. I tried to write a post on our first night in Morocco and realized the effort of doing so would be too big. However, I'll use the first paragraph (written that night) and complete it as it was actually the first night! ;)

This morning we woke up in Portugal. Several Kms later, 4 hours of driving, 2 hours of waiting for a delayed ferry, 1 hour waiting for a place in the port and... Morocco, we've arrived :) You gave it a fight, but we were more stubborn!
As we walk out of the port and start driving (our very own - for 7 days - Peugeot 206) the first signs of chaos were everywhere. People crossing the street (and when I say street I mean a semi highway!) wherever they feel like it, people walking on the side of the street, animals walking on the side of the street or even people getting a lift in unusual ways...

When the truck stopped or slowed down he would follow it on foot and then hop on it again!

But I have to confess that, after so many comments that we heard prior to coming here, I thought the Moroccan driving itself would be much worse.
On the drive to Chefchaouen, our first stop, we drove pass a few towns and could see the "street markets". Street markets as in... a carpet layed down on the floor with tons of shoes&sandals/clothes/whatever would be on top of them. Our big question of the day was "How much time does someone take to find the right pair to one shoe?" My guess would be... a lot!! But after all, this is Morocco and actually, I liked the first glimpse of it! :)

Morocco, Here We Go!!

The dates are set, the maps have been studied and all is left is to pack the bags!

Morocco is just around the corner (or just around the strait) and the stories of everyone that have been there are so great that I couldn't delay this trip anymore! So me and 3 others - ALF, and the trans-team (still sounds bad :P), NC and IS - will head South on a road trip that will take us, hopefully, to the heart and soul of this country!

The plan has not been closed, yet, but the trip will look something like this:

May the adventure begin!! :)