MOROCCO: THE SAHARA

The primary reason that our tour included a journey to the town of Erfoud in eastern Morocco was that it is a primary gateway to Morocco's only access to the Sahara, and we were promised a camel ride into the desert.  So, late in the afternoon, we 22 travelers, along with our tour director, piled into a half dozen 4x4 vehicles and rode across a trackless wasteland to the edge of the Sahara sand dunes, while the driver for my vehicle, at least, played contemporary Moroccan rock/jazz on the vehicle's sound system.  

At the dunes we were greeted by a troupe of white-garbed percussionist/dancers playing drums and castanets to get us in the mood for our ride.  After cups of tea, we were helped to mount our beasts and rode off (in relative slow motion, thankfully) for about a half hour to a nice setting among the dunes from which we could watch the sunset. We then rode back to the tented area to enjoy a dinner under the night sky before returning to our hotel in the 4x4s.

Drummers.

Castanetists.

In Action

Some of our beasts.

My own trusty mount.

Setting sun.  My only regret was that there was enough haze in the sky to obscure the sunset . .

. . . and to soften the contrast in the shadows of the dunes.

Local sand artist.

Camel handlers.

Back in camp for dinner.

JOHN