Camel trekking and camping in the Sahara Desert sounds so exotic…and it is! It was so cool and so surreal at the same time that it has been too daunting for anyone to blog about. So I am tackling this blog post, although surely, Otto, Yve or Wescott would be much more articulate š
Trying to describe the Sahara Desert is like trying to photograph the Grand Canyon. No matter how clever, my attempts will never be close to the actual experience! Everyone will need to just block out his/her calendar and head to Morocco sometime in the near future š
Two days after arriving in Marrakech, we decided to embark on a 3-day excursion over the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara. This involves 30+ hours of driving and some cool vista views along the way. It also includes some SUPER CURVY roads that could make most people puke. We were lucky enough to see kasbahs, some beautiful Berber villages and several spectacular rock formations. Morocco is a breathtaking country!!!!
Beautiful Berber village on the way to the Sahara
Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou is where they filmed Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia
Some of the curvy roads through the Atlas Mountains!
But the pinnacle of the trip was most definitely camel trekking and camping in the Sahara! Armed with our headscarves, cameras, and little else, we saddled up on camels in the town of Merzouga and headed into the Sahara Desert to spend the night.
Us on our camels!
Yve and Tuck on their camel, Alena!
We arrived at our campsite just before nightfall and were able to climb the dunes to watch sunset in the Sahara…epic! Then, we climbed back down the dunes and found shelter in the Berber tents where we had dinner and played the drums with our hosts. It was quite windy as we fell asleep, but the tents, made of dozens of overlapping carpets, kept us very warm!
Jones sporting his cozy headscarf 
Our accommodations! When we asked where the bathroom was, the answer was “everywhere!”
At 5 am, we awoke to climb the dunes and watch the sunrise. The winds had died down from the night before, and the dunes were back to perfect, with not a single footstep in sight. Wescott and Otto took advantage of the two snowboards available and used them to create a double sled for the dunes. We headed out of the desert after the sun was up and ate a hot breakfast back in town.
Otto with the snowboard at sunrise!
Wescott making cool shadows on the tents at sunrise!
It was an amazing 3 days but it was a whirlwind. I would have loved to stay longer and spend an extra 2-3 days in the Sahara area hiking around! The dunes are so beautiful and the colors are breathtaking! For those of you who know me well, you know that I am pretty hardcore about sticking with my Leica camera and black and white film. But the Sahara is no place for black and whiteā¦it is all about color!!!
Sunrise in the Sahara!
The trip left me yearning for more time in the desert!Ā Upon our return to Marrakech, I looked into round trip flights back to the Sahara to avoid another 30+ hours in the car.Ā Alas, itās just not going to happen 
Ā I am adding āA Week In The Sahara Desertā to the itinerary for Around The World 2025 when we will go again
I didn’t want to leave!!!
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