Mezmerizing Merzouga!

October 18-19, 2024

After a fun couple of days driving down from Marrakesh, through Ouarzazate (see post), we finally drove into Merzouga, the gateway to the Sahara desert.  As we approached the town (such as it is) we had to stop as a couple of camels sauntered across the road.  We had seen "Camel Xing" signs for the last several miles, but we assumed they would be chapperoned by a camel herder or something, but these guys appeared to be wild and on their own. It was a pretty spectacular site to see. 

As we continued on to our lodging, Kasbah Du Berger on the outskirts of town, it was clear that this was an adventure junkie's paradise with signs for quad bike rentals, camel tours, sandboarding, dune bashing among other adrenaline boosting sports. For budget reasons - and because we have small children - we weren't going to cross too many of those off the list, but we were going to spend one night glamping in the desert where we would participate in a sunset camel ride and do some sandboarding. 

But that would be the following day.  For now, dusk was settling in so we checked into our rooms, had a delicious (if not predictable Moroccan dinner) and took a quick swim in the pool before retiring for the night. 

The next morning we woke up to the spendor that is the Sahara desert, or at least a "starter portion" of it that was directly outside of the Kasbah.  We had several hours to kill before our pick up for the desert glamping so we ventured out into the nearby dunes for some sandy fun. 

Finally it was off to the real desert for our glamping experience.  All of the guests met at a restaurant parking lot to be transported to the glamping site, but each group or family got their own transportation and driver into the desert.  When we arrived we got white glove service as they took our bags and showed us to our tent.  

Then we had a few hours to relax and explore before our sunset camel ride.  All the kids cooled off in the man-made tented pool and Ryan, Finley and me went in the natural desert lakes.

The sunset camel ride was spectacular!  We rode them for about 20 minutes into the desert, then dismounted for some sunset and sandboarding (although it was really more like sand sledding).

Francesca and I talked about the moral aspects of riding a camel and wondered if it should be put in the same category as elephant riding in Thailand, which most people now think is inhumae, or if they are more like horses who enjoy being ridden - at least that is what people who ride horses say. :)  

The camels didn't seem to particularly enjoy it, but our kids did - they still think it was the highlight of the trip so far - so we thanked them for a great time!

When we returned it was dinner time and we celebrated Finley's birthday with a cake that the staff brought to her singing a Berber birthday song.  Later that evening they sang Berber songs around the campfire, although by that point Team Jahns was beat so we only stayed for a few songs before hitting the hay.

The next morning Francesca and I set our alarms to wake up for the sunrise which was equally as spectacular as the sunset.  After a while he kiddos joined us as well.

After breakfast our driver arrived to take us back to Merzouga where we would be reunited with our rental car and start the long journey back north to Marrakesh.  Just before we left a baby camel named Ramadan wandered over to scope us out.  He was so super cute - the girls wanted to take him home.  So did I if I'm being honest. 

We had planned to break up the 10 hour drive to Marrakesh by staying over about 1/2 way, but we had not made any reservations as we were not sure how far we would get the first day.  We ended up making it a little more than halfway and stayed at the home - turned AirBnB - of a former Berber farmer who had turned to hosting travelers in his home as a way of supplementing his income since the 7 year drought had severally impacted the farming industry in his valley. 

Brahim was an amazing host and we learned a lot about Berber culture and the history of Berbers in Morocco from him. He also inivited us to drink tea with his extended family in their living room - a common Berber custom to show hospitality to strangers.  We were tired from our long drive, but out of respect for the Berber tradition we accepted his offer.  It ended up being very interesting and educational. 

On the way back over the mountains to Marrakesh we stopped at a random mobile coffee shop in the middle of absolute nowhere. The coffee was decent - although I am not a coffee drinker - but the two Berbers were hilarious as they tried to push some geodes on me along with my coffee.