Our Sahara Retreat
We visited the Sahara Desert for two nights on December 20, 2014. In the town of M’hamid, we made arrangements with a tour company and departed the same day. The package included transportation via a 4×4 vehicle to Erg Chigaga sand dunes, accommodation, food, dromedaries ride, and sand boarding. We drove the 60 km (37 miles) between M’hamid and Erg Chigaga contemplating the resiliency of the desert. After a few days of heavy rain, a river that had been gone for almost 6 years was back to life and green plants were happily growing over the apparently inert soil.Ā
From the car, our guide talked to us about a poisonous plant that animals and nomads in the Sahara do not eat because it causes blindness. He also asked the driver to stop so we can taste the new rocket sparkling from the grounds after the blessing rains, great for salad! “Animals and Nomadic people of the Sahara are happy,” he said, “those few days of rain brought life back to the desert for the next 5 years,” he ensured. During the 2-hour drive, we entered the largest subtropical hot desert in the world, and witnessed many different landscapes, small tents and shelters of the nomadic people, an oasis with a precious source of water, men walking their dromedaries, and women keeping an eye on their goats.
Once in Erg Chigaga the view of what seemed endless sand dunes filled us with excitement. The beautiful and comfortable camp functioning with solar energy became our home for the next two nights. Delicious Moroccan tea, tagines, and couscous were our delights. By chance, we had picked the perfect time to visit the Sahara, it was a new moon and its absence made it perfect for the rest of constellations to appear in the night show. The temperatures during the day and night were never as extreme as we had imagined them for a desert winter. In the day it was sunny but fresh at the same time, quite pleasant. At night it was cooler but never freezing or unbearable like we feared. The busy tourist season begins with the Christmas holidays and ends in April of the following year. The days we were there, we only had to share the camp with another couple from the USA and the staff. The lack of tourists ensured the peacefulness and intimacy of our experience.
The first afternoon, we went on a dromedary ride from our camp to the sand dunes. We agreed to ride these animals after seeing them healthy and believing that they receive appropriate treatment by their owners. The ride was pleasant: we fused ourselves with the slow pace of the dromedaries and the deep silence of the desert. At the end of the trip, the huge sand dunes were expecting us. We walked to the top of the dunes feeling both excited and submerged into their quicksand. The bright orange in contrast with the last rays of sun was simply beautiful! From the highest point we reached, Sal, a snow boarder at heart, fulfilled his dream of trying sand boarding for the first time. It was not as easy as we thought, but it was fun sitting on the board and going downhill on our butts. š On the second day, we walked twice from the camp to the sand dunes, enjoying the texture of crushing the dry clay that form after the sand dries. From the top of the dunes, we witnessed the sunset for a second time.
Berber Music
The first night we welcomed the winter solstice under the most beautiful starry night we have seen in our lives so far. While around the fire, we listened to the drums and songs of the traditional Berber music of the nomadic people, wishing our loved ones could also be present. We watched and tasted the delicious sand bread made in the fire. The spectacular stars and Milky Way made us think about the immensity of the universe from which we are just a minuscule part. We thought about the time in which humans made sense of life based on their surroundings, the importance of nature, the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain, the seasons, etc. When the idea of “one God” was unheard of because no single power could explain the perfection of Earth and how privileged we are to live on it.
Our trip to the Sahara Desert was without question one of the top experiences in our journey. We strongly recommended anyone to visit it and wish to return to this magical place at some point in our lives.
