Day 51 - Deserted

We had to be up at 7am as we were being collected at 8 for a two night, three day Sahara desert trip, but it was touch and go for a while whether K was going to be able to make it as she had come down with some sort of stomach bug, and we also had to endure that noise all night. We managed to leave as scheduled and as we left we saw that the entire alleyway had been dug up during the night, no wonder it had been so noisy.

We had booked a group trip to the desert with the proviso that if no one else booked the same trip we would have to pay extra for a private tour. Our driver told us he had two more people to pick up from a hotel and we collected a Canadian couple from the Marriott. We hadn't gone that far when K called out "Stop, I have to get out"! The stomach bug was rearing its ugly head , and K made it of the car just in time. Our driver took pains to tell us he was willing to stop anytime, and K assured him she would do her best not to be sick in the van. There was one more emergency stop where K exited in the nick of time, then she settled with lying for the rest of the day along the back seat.

There were a few interesting stops along the way, first in the Moroccan ski town of Ifrane, with its European style chalets, then to visit some monkeys in the cedar forest. We drove through the Atlas mountains and lunched at Midelt, though K wasn't well enough to participate.

We then drove south to the edge of the desert to get our camel ride to our camp. K decided to give it a skip as it reminded her too much of her former career and took a 4WD to the camp. Camel riding didn't have much at all to do with M's career, so he had no excuse. 

The desert camp contained two rows of identical tents with a long red carpet in between and running off to each tent. At one end there was a camp fire and chairs and at the other a dining tent. The tents were lovely with huge king size beds, chandelier lights, usb chargers and ensuites.

After watching the sunset we met for dinner with other travellers, 10 of us in all, and then were entertained by some local music around the camp fire. A lovely night in a comfy bed and luxury tent.