Monday morning we were picked up early for our trip into the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara.
We would be spending the next 3 days and 2 nights driving around with our guide Ismail. Ismail was very friendly – AND turns out he was a guide to the stars. He’s worked for Leonardo DiCaprio, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ridley Scott, and several more. Made us feel very VIP.

We loaded up, settled in and got ready for a long day of driving. Had a little nap on the way out of Marrakech, and then woke up to a preview of the drastically different scenery we’d be seeing over the next couple of days. Nothing but brown mountains broken up by olive trees and other miscellaneous trees for miles. Only once your eyes focused, you could see there were actually villages! The buildings were made out of earth mixed with straw and bamboo roofs, so they literally blend into the surroundings. Except for the satellite dishes that is…. From what I could figure out they are either made of “rammed earth” to create walls, earth bricks, or some are made of modern material but are covered on the outside with earth. I thought this was amazing, but couldn’t imagine it would last very long. One big rain storm and there goes your house! When I asked Ismail he said it doesn’t rain that much (oh right. desert and all), and they only have to repair every couple of years.

We stopped for coffee and pics, and then back on the road. As we drove we begged Ismail to put on some arabic music, and tell us a little more about the culture and traditions. Obviously we were curious about relationships and marriage. He explained that yes, in Morocco you could have multiple wives, but it wasn’t that easy. You have to be able to show the government that you can support more than one wife, and also get permission from your first wife. He said it’s not all that common. I was curious about how this arrangement works, and asked Ismail if the wives live in the same household? He kind of laughed and said “No, that would be like putting two snakes together – hissssss.”

(Going out of order a little bit here – but more along the marriage/relationships line. The Moroccan government passed laws in 2004 to protect women. Not too sure on the specifics, but I think among other things it gave women the right to seek a divorce, ensured child support, and gave women the ability to marry without parental approval – all of which was new. The whole dynamics of relationships is kind of a mystery to a foreigner. You really aren’t supposed to touch the opposite sex in public, and people aren’t supposed to have sex before marriage. But the views on that are very different for men and women. In fact men can kind of do what they want, but for women they are essentially kicked out of their house and ostracized if they are believed to have had sex before they’re married. Women are expected to be virgins on their wedding night, and “proof” is shown in the form of a bloody sheet. So I guess all the libidinous dudes are having sex with foreigners and prostitutes? Not exactly. Hymen reconstruction surgery is a booming business here.)

During the day we watched the scenery go by, stopped in Ouarzazate for lunch and visited the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah (another UNESCO world heritage site). It’s a large Kasbah (Islamic city or fortress) with the buildings packed tightly and surrounded by defensive walls, and the oldest buildings date back to the 17th century. Not many people live here, as most have moved to the newer side of town. They have shot a ton of movies here including Gladiator, Prince of Persia, The Last Temptation of Christ, Jewel of the Nile and a bunch more.

Ismail showed Nancy how to wear her scarf on her head like a Berber man – and she spent most of the next day and a half this way.

More driving. Completely unimportant, but I noticed that there were completely different soil colors in different areas. But sometimes in the same area you could see a bunch in one area – green, brown, rust, tan.

We ended our day in Tenerhir – a small town in the Dades Gorges.

That night we relaxed at the hotel, had a delicious dinner, and then were treated to a jam session with singing, drums and dancing! Video couldn’t come out because it was dark, but at least you can hear it!!

The talented musicians plus Nancy

We dropped off our bags, and then took an hour and a half camel ride into the Sahara desert where we would overnight.

Our group consisted of me, Nancy, 3 Arabic speaking brothers, and a daughter. We didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, but we did understand they were able to update their Facebook status the whole time. Once we got to the tented Berber style camp we met up with a Japanese group of tourists, and sat down for dinner in the middle of the circle of tents. After dinner we gathered around to another jam session. Everyone is so talented here! Makes me feel lame that I can’t contribute – no voice or real sense of rhythm (without alcohol).

At some point in the evening it became obvious that one of the 3 Arabic speaking guys was extremely afraid of bugs. All of a sudden this giant scary looking guy would shout and RUN out of the tented area. Not only was it funny to watch, but it became a major source of entertainment for the evening. We stayed up until almost 2am listening to music, playing games, and watching the other guys torture him. They would catch “cockalackas”, wait until he got close and throw them at him. At one point he hiked his jellaba, cursed, hauled ass out of the tented area, and then refused to come back. I think he slept by the camels that night…

Unfortunately it was overcast that night so we couldn’t see the stars, but around 5 am I woke up to go to the bathroom and they were EVERYWHERE! It was intense. Then we got a little over an hour later and watched the sunrise over the dunes. You can never get a moment like that to come out on film.

To be honest – I spent most of that day sleeping in the car. I’m sure we passed by some beautiful scenery but I was exhausted! Then Ismail brought us to his home to meet his family and have some tea. Nancy and I had mentioned to Ismail that we loved how the Moroccan ladies do their eye make-up and loved the henna, so he arranged for his daughter and sister in laws to give us a Moroccan beauty session. I wish someone would have given me a scarf to cover up that hair….

We got back to Marrakech late, and then spent the night before we headed off to Essaouira in the morning.