Hurray for Civilization

Friday, October 08, 2010
Tinerhir, Morocco
The Sahara is much more romantic in the abstract than in reality.  Two nights in a tent would not have been bad, had it not been for a sand storm. Ab said it was only about 50% so we didn't have to go to the shelter, but after about 2 hours in my tent one of the support poles blew down, and I had to move to Marilyn's tent next door. The whole thing only lasted about 4 hours, but I'll be finding Sahara sand in my things for a long time. Hikes across the sand dunes were impressive, the sunrises and sunsets were beautiful, and the stars were intense. I know have a much better understanding of the hard life of the Berbers.

  Tonight and tomorrow night we are in Tineghir, and a hot shower and flush toilet never seemed so wonderful . I skipped the Hammam and spent the afternoon getting clean on my own and catching up on what is happening in the real world. The only internet is wifi in the lobby, but I'll try to get some more blog items posted while I'm here. 

Sometimes, the best is saved for last, and the sunrise this morning was spectacular. However, shortly after breakfast we packed up and headed west across the desert. However, non of our road trips are without stops, and in about an hour we stopped to visit a Berber Cemetery. Then we made a lunch stop at a small cafe. Although we had our boxed lunches from the camp, the aroma of grilled meat was tempting. I hoped that it would be a treat, but unfortunately, it was meat brought by other travellers' for their own consumption and we had to make do with our boxes. After lunch we visited a nearby Berber farm and learned about their farming practices. There were a number of small children who greeted us on arrival and tagged along for most of the visit. Then it was back in the 4 x 4s for some more driving. Finally, we left the sand desert and returned to the rock desert of the High Atlas Mountains and paved roads. Soon we knew we had returned to civilization when we made a stop at an ATM.   
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Comments

Mark Newman
2010-10-08

Ah, reminds me of the good old days in the Mojave Desert. A sand storm could make a tank disappear, and no matter whre you went you couldn't escape the dust.

marianne hollerbach
2010-10-09

You will be finding sand in out-of-the-way places forever, but another life experience to log-in. All sounds exciting, I think I'll take my sand that comes with the ocean. Hope you are enjoying all, I may miss an entry or two--not bringing my computer to New Orleans. I'll be back in touch next weekend.

2025-02-13

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