A Nomadic Night

I've done a fair bit of travelling in the past few years - most of it on my own. I thought of myself as abit of a nomad. It wasn't until I was in Marrakesh in 2009 where I got a tiny taste of a real nomadic life.

I had booked myself on an overnight trip to camp in the Sahara desert. That's right, I'm going camping in the friggin SAHARA DESERT! The tour involved a very long minibus ride to the edge of the Sahara where we stopped at various lookout points, had lunch in a small town and visited a fortified desert city called Ait Bennhadou.

Ait Bennhadou is quite a wonder to see. Imagine desert and mountain country, sand as far as the eye can see and in the middle of it runs a river where there's a fortified city surrounded by greenery. It's like seeing a mirage.

Ait Bennadou may look familiar. That's because the city has been filmed in many movies such as The Mummy, Gladiator and Alexander.

There are not many people living in this city now due to the damage and erosion of the natural elements, however there are still locals who live in the area that come to work here and try to make a living from the tourists. Wandering through the city, you'll find men working to maintain the structures and buildings; you'll see young children playing while their parents work; you experience the locals plying their trade whether it be weaving rugs and carpets, artwork, or jewellery making. It's hot, but peaceful. Everyone is quite relaxed, and unlike Marrakesh, the locals aren't aggressive and demanding attention. They approach you in a friendly matter, or if they don't, they just watch you as you pass by.

 

After a short afternoon seeing the city, we hop back into the minibus and head out to the Sahara. Once we reach the edge of the desert, we get saddled up on camels and begin our 1.5 hour camel ride to our camp ground.

Riding camels in the desert? It sounds like such a novel idea. You see it in imagery everywhere. It's kind of a cool thing to do. For the first 20 minutes. Then your buttocks start to get sore. Soon, your upper inner thighs are sore too. That's when I begin to wonder how the guys are handling it, because if I had testiculars, I would think they'd be in major pain too.

Camels - the bane of my buttocks existence..

Pushing the pain to the back of my mind, I watch the scenery go by. It was late afternoon when we started our camel ride into the desert. We had ridden through small villages where the children would follow and ask for gifts or try to make money from us. As we rode deeper into the Sahara, the sun began to drop. It was gorgeous to see the sun and moon dance around each other as the sunlight faded while the moon rose over this vast land of sand. Soon it was pitch dark with only the moon lighting our way from high above.

After long while of riding, our guides finally stop and start calling out into the desert. From not too far away, you can hear answering calls. As I looked around in the dark, I noticed small flickering lights in the distance indicating the various campsites for the night. Woohoo! We've arrived! I can get off this damn camel and be free from the pain I've endured.

We get shown to our tent, which is big enough to fit up to 15 people inside. The tents are made from strong weaves made by the locals so that it keeps the sand out during sandstorms. The floor is also covered with weaved rugs. We settle ourselves and our belongings inside the tent then join our guides outside for a pre-dinner drink.

Our guide introduces himself and his culture to us. He is a Berbere. Berbere people are indigenous to North Africa. His people and his family live and work in the Sahara. A real life nomad! They spend most months of the year travelling through the desert. Only in summer will they settle for the few months as it is too hot to travel. As he tells us about his life, he serves us some Moroccan tea, or as he calls it, 'Berbere Whiskey.' The next hour is spent talking and getting to know the others I've travelled with. Our guide starts shouting back and forth with the guys in the 'kitchen' tent where our dinner is being prepared. He calls this method of communication 'Berbere telephone'. A few of us decide to lay down and take this opportunity to stargaze. Being so far from civilisation and pollution, the sky is clear and the stars shine brightly. Out of the silent gazing, our guide advises that we are watching 'Berbere TV'. I'm noticing a pattern here.

Soon dinner arrives and we are served with various Tajines, salads and bread. A traditional Moroccan meal in the Sahara desert. It's an amazing feeling to be here and the night has only just begun.

After dinner we get ushered to a nearby sand dune where we are joined by other groups camping for the night and get treated to a song and dance jam by our Berbere guides. Traditional songs are sung to rhythms being drummed on oil cans and Moroccan castanets (hand cymbals). Soon the dancing starts and eventually everyone joins in. We learn the local dance moves by copying our entertaining guides and dance into the night. It's an amazing feeling of freedom. In this moment, all your worries melt away as you sing and dance under the moonlight.

The evening wraps up and one by one people start to drop off to sleep. Most of us take the option of sleeping outside of the tent on rugs - literally sleeping under the stars. As I lay wrapped up in my blanket watching Berbere TV, I try to plan my next few days in Morocco. I had 10 days in the country and had only booked my first 2 nights of accomodation before arriving to Marrakesh.

In the morning, I'm one of the first to wake up. Having cocooned myself in my blanket during the night, I find the bright light of dawn unforgiving and brighter than usual as the light reflects off the sand. Taking several minutes to adjust, I eventually get up and take the opportunity to explore the area around us. Still squinting and probably looking as chinese as ever, I take in the view of the open desert. It is amazing. Banks of sand as far as the eye can see, a great openness, or some may say, emptiness. There's a feeling of peacefulness about it, with a slight hint of malice.

Our tent

Morrocan castanets

Soon everyone is up and slowly we pack our things together and get ready to ride back to town. The camel ride is excruciating. I am in so much pain the whole way back and really tempted to jump off the camel and walk. After what felt like the longest passage of painful time, we meet arrive in town. Our minivan driver meets us there and soon we are in our minivan for the bumpiest, slippery, made-for-motion-sickness 10 hour drive back to Marrakesh.