Dunes at Sunrise Oct 05

About 4m tourists visit Morocco each year to seek leisure and adventure. The King aims to boost this to 10m. I stayed in 4 star hotels in Casablanca and in Zagora that would have difficulty in securing a 2 Star rating in the European Union. Cockroaches in dirty hotel rooms and irregular water supply do not help tourism.

Although the quality of accommodation and service in some Moroccan-owned hotels is disappointing, balmy beaches of North Africa, life in medieval markets (souks) in walled cities, mules competing with crowds along a maze of narrow alleys, women carrying animal fodder on their backs, goats chewing leaves of argan trees, Berber women riding donkeys across dry riverbeds (oueds), palm fringed oases overladen with dates, ancient mud castles (kasbas) glowing in the light of a setting sun and the vast sand dunes of the Sahara offer a unique and exotic experience. Steep rocky mountain gorges (Dades), grand canyons, dusty plains and ancient mud villages (Ait Benhaddou & Telouet) remain as they were 1000 years ago!

Fez is the most spectacular of Morocco’s imperial cities and its historic link with Andalucian Spain (650-1492AD) is hardly appreciated by most Europeans, especially the Spanish. It has a university founded in the 9^th century that is older than any in Europe. Ancient mud vats in tanneries, used a millennium ago, are still used to clean and dye animal skins to produce fine Moroccan leather. Market stalls display everything from goat heads to finely woven Berber carpets. Men in long flowing gowns (jalabas) squat, drink mint tea and gossip.  

A very bumpy rocky mountain ride in a 4WD vehicle along an ancient caravan route to Mali took me to Telouet where the Glaoui Berbers live. Canyon walls etched with lacy bronze-coloured patterns cut through the ochre-hued riverbeds. The Glaoui Chief’s kasbah, built two hundred years ago, shows the creativity and elegance of architecture, masonry and craftsmanship influenced by the historic link with Spain.

On the way to Erfoud and Merzouga, I saw Berber nomads dressed in various styles of traditional blue robes. These are the Tuareg people who wander in search of water and trade right across the Sahara (Western Sahara; Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Algeria). These ‘blue men of the desert’ wear the indigo-dyed garments as well as 7m long blue scarves as veils to cover their heads and faces, leaving only their eyes exposed. Loosely wound several times around the head and face to cover the nose and mouth, the scarf protects against intense desert heat, sun and sand. Indigo, a natural dye, is pounded – not boiled - into the cloth as water is scarce in the desert. This imbues the cloth with a shimmery blue-black patina. With wear, the deep blue colour seeps into the pores of skin of these men, casting a bluish-violet hue.  As Indigo is expensive, the depth of blue skin is a status symbol amongst the wealthy Tuareg.

Dropping off the back of the vast High Atlas which lie right across the heart of the country, is the vast Saharan emptiness of Algeria and some of the most stunningly spectacular desert landscapes in North Africa. The red –earthen kasbahs in the Draa Valley, Berber markets in dusty villages and the classic rolling sand dunes at Merzouga are exquisite sites.

As the day matured, the dunes changed colour from amber to pink. Darkness fell fast, the temperature dropped and I felt the hostility of the desert as the sharp wind swept along the dunes. I shared a soup (harira) and couscous with my companions and crept into my Bedouin tent (haimaa) for the night fearing the desert scorpions.

I woke up well before dawn, mounted my dromedary (one humped Arabian camel) and glided along the sand towards the sand dunes. The tranquility, serenity and sheer beauty of the sun rising over an ocean of sand in the Sahara is magical and unforgettable. Piercing through the dunes, rays of sun made the fine desert sand gleam and glisten. I was filled with joy and screamed:”I will be back on my way to Timbuctoo!”