Kodiak Haakansons: Camels and sand dunes

Finally, after 6 months of planning and waiting, came the part of the trip that we were the most excited or scared about, depending on whether you were an adult or a kid who had just seen gigantic camels at the zoo. Around 9 we hopped in the van with Saad and a Berber guide named Armad. The Berbers are basically the indigenous people of Morocco, and are also renowned for their toughness and battle savy, as they have been responsible for repelling a huge number of invaders. There doesn't seem to be any looking down on the Berber people. Their pride in their culture is strong and their numbers are large (in the south of Morocco they number 80%). And they speak the Berber language which the current king just allowed children to use and learn by in school (in the north people speak Arabic and French usually). Armad took us through the fields, partitioned off into familial sections to cultivate olives, peaches, parsley, alfalfa, etc, to the Kasbah of Tinghers, and through that into the Berber market.

The village was amazing, all mud and hay, small windows for minimal heat exchange, houses connected by walkways so that families can exchange embers. Above the windows are Berber text identifying the households. The winding, uneven alleyways connect to little squares where communal parties and weddings occur, often in the summer when people are less hungry because of the heat (cheaper weddings!). In Berber communities that are actually quite a few Jews, and many ethic Jews who have married into Muslim Berber families, as the Jews have also been in these areas for over a thousand years.

At the end of our tour, Armad took us to a 'Berber house'. We were only slightly irritated to find out that it was actually a carpet shop (we actually did want to buy a carpet and it was nice to be deposited in one, although slightly annoying to be led into what we were told would be a house... but it's part of Morocco that we're rapidly being able to laugh at).

So the three Berber salesmen went along with the joke on us and welcomed us to their ‘house’, oddly set up as a carpet showroom. A wide open space was lined with carpet-covered benches and every single surface of the room was lined with carpets. A wonderful smell filled the room and we were welcomed with a splash of rose water on our hands. The Berber men asked us a few questions to size us up (our guide had told us what amazing bargainers Berbers are. “Where are you from? America” (Ca-ching!) “only been here 3 days?” (ca-ching). They tied traditional Berber scarves on the girls’ heads, served us tea and proceeded to show us the different type of carpets that they sell in Morocco. My first mistake was commenting on the beauty of one carpet in particular (what they called a magic carpet, supposedly woven by older women who are losing their eyesight- but really, who knows?). And then the game began. Sven liked a red natural cactus fiber silk carpet and the girls and I liked the magic carpet and we both were interested in a runner for our hallway. The initial quote we were given was insane-$3500! At that point Sven and I looked at each other and realized that we should have talked about this beforehand. Did we even need a carpet? What was our budget? Unfortunately it was too late for these sorts of conversations so when the Berber thrust a piece of paper at me (me because Sven was not able to speak for some reason…maybe the shock of the pricetag and the situation in general) we both agreed on the number $400 as a budget to shoot for. But then we needed to think about which carpets. And then I made my 2nd mistake. I wrote down the number $400 and not $300, so we could not go any lower than that.

I could write forever about the situation but lets just say that when we left with a stunning $450 carpet (the Magic carpet) we were happy but felt a little taken advantage of (or just at least not totally sure). In order to settle on that price it took another 30 minutes of uncomfortable negotiation, which neither of us enjoyed but the Berber men seemed to enjoy tremendously. After the fateful $400 comment and settling on a slightly smaller rug, the Berber man just kept hollering at us, “A little more! A little more and its yours!” Sven was not saying a word so I finally offered him $450 and he packed it up immediately, which made us wonder how much he’d paid for it (we later found a state set price for this same rug for just above this price which made us feel much better). We left feeling dazed and quite confused. But we had our Moroccan rug and the girls loved it. Sven I think was just happy to have happy girls. At least I hope.

Lunch- point at a hunk of meat- say what you want done with it and it is cooked on the bar-b-que. Yum!

Stopping at a gorge Oasis before the camel trek.

Dinner before the camel trek!

Walking to Tinghers.

That darned carpet shop!

Now wherever Bella goes she is called "Berber Fatima Couscous" which I gather is something like Jane Doe with a strange twist.

The carpet we bought!

Glued to the window.

After lunch we went to Erfoud to meet up with our 4 x 4 driver Said who took us on a 45 minute drive to an oasis hotel right at the 'base' of the desert sand dunes. There we stored stuff in a room and went out to 'meet' our camels. Along with 2 Aussies, Helen and Rob, we were taken to a caravan of 4 camels by Hammad, a Berber 'blue man' from the Sahara (this is what they are called due to their traditional blue clothing). The camels were settled gently down on their haunches chewing their cuds and looked very unassuming. Bella and I jumped on one, while Sven and Eilidh got on another. And then there was the act of getting up! Camels are 8 feet high and are mostly legs, so we reckoned that when the camels rose onto their feet that we had to go up maybe 5 feet! And it was NOT a smooth process. First the camels rose onto their front legs and we lurched backwards. Then we lurched forward as the camels raised up onto their backlegs. And the saddles were very interesting- they were basically a normal saddle with a hold cut out for the hump, so we all had to settle our butts either in front of or behind the hump. It felt fairly comfortable until the camels had to jumble down a sand dune and then you found yourself crushed against the camel's hump in a very uncomfortable manner.

Anyway, we left around 5 and after an hour of riding we stopped on the top of a sand dune to watch the sun set (and to let Hammad pray... although after prayers he was a little frisky and threw Eilidh down a sand dune... she giggled all the way). The girls loved this little stop, making sand angels and taking off shoes to enjoy the feeling of the super-fine sand between their toes. We arrived in camp about an hour later in the semi-darkness to find a little cluster of Berber tents huddled around a semi-oasis in a location that used to be a Berber camping spot, but now caters to tourists. We visited for a while and then Hammad brought us tea, then soup and tagine, followed by mandarins and apples. After our meal we headed outside to stargaze and enjoy the heat of a fire (wood was palm fronds!). Some of the Berber young men brought over drums which they warmed by the fire then proceeded to play. It was a dream of an evening- gorgeous- no lights anywhere around us except for the stars and the sliver of a moon and the campfire. The only sounds were the braying of the camels and the drumming of the Berber men until about 2 in the morning, and in the morning the sound of the roosters.

At 6 am Sven woke up and scampered up the largest sand dune behind the campsite (hard walking!) to catch the sunrise. Closer to the tent, the girls and I enjoyed watching the sun come up behind the camels, whose front leg was tied to their neck so they wouldn't run away. After a simple breakfast of yogurt, bread and coffee, we got on our camels once again to head back to the oasis hotel. We were a little more sore getting off this time, but also a little more relaxed as we understood that our camels were very gentle, docile creatures. We giggled much of the way back, thoroughly enjoying most of the trip.