oasis – Growing With Leala

Today is another early start as we have a very long drive to the Sahara. Lots of winding roads and vast change in scenery during our nine hour drive. We stop along the way for lunch and a couple of scenic pictures but other than that the majority of the day in in the van learning about the nomadic culture (Amazigh or Berber) and taking occasional naps. It is around one of the ski town we witness some Barbary macaque monkeys along the road. We are in the Middle Atlas Mountains.

There is a cedar tree and animal depletion in the Atlas Mountains but they are working to restore it to its more natural state. Ski towns are becoming more popular. The area is changing. Today we notice a vast change in temperature as it decreases down to the 30’s F (Yes we are still in Morocco). We also see letters and symbols on the sides of some of the mountains we drive past while we drive in the valley.

We drive through the Ziz valley where we stop to get high view of a large oasis and see lots of date trees below. We also learn about Date festival in oasis Erfoud أرفود .

We drive by a large reservoir that almost seems out of place with all the sand. The Hassan Addakhil Dam is an artificial dam created to control the Ziz river flow. We stop for a quick lunch along the way. Today is a long drive so the break is nice.

We arrive at the desert and after checking into our room in a kasbah-like hotel we go for a short dune hike to view the sunset. It is very beautiful out here. I wish we had more than one night in the desert. We watch the sunset over the dunes and then enjoy a nice dinner.

Our guide as well as my travel companion take a roll down the dunes for fun. I would partake but I am dehydrated and the roll down would surely give me a headache.

Tomorrow we have another full day exploring what the desert has to show us.

Our first stop this morning is to see how dhow (wooden boats) are made. At this dhow facility we visit they have been making dhow for many generations. None of the boat plans are written down and they are just passed down orally from generation to generation. This is so no secrets are leaked to possible competitors. As a result that one man is really busy here guiding all the simultaneous construction efforts. Each boat is commissioned and can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years depending on the size. We are able to climb into a pretty large boat still under construction.

Today is also a special holiday for kids and they have the day off from school. We see kids go door to door, or person to person, and collect money or treats or whatever a person wants to give. The child will wear traditional dress or sometimes even pajamas (they make it fun). The closet thing I can relate it to in the USA is our Halloween.

Some kids celebrating at the souq (faces blurred for privacy)

We visit another souq where our guide tells us about traditional clothing and how it differs by region.

We stop at an oasis of sorts where we can walk to a cave (I didn’t) and swim (I did). I had to wear shorts below my knees and a t-shirt over my suit for modesty even though many western tourists ignored this rule that is clearly posted in many places. One person in our tour group saw a man’s bare behind while he was changing in public instead of the provided rest rooms. What really irritates me beyond disrespecting the local culture is that in the past my conservative bathing suit would have been perfectly acceptable for swimming here but due to guests abusing the rules with their barely there bikinis they have ruined it for us all. Some people are really crappy visitors. No one is asking you to convert to any religion, just have an ounce of respect for the culture of the country you are visiting.

After a quick stop to lower tire pressure our SUVs travel out into the desert for a bumpy ride; Our tour guide forcing some thrills by driving along the hillsides. We arrive at our desert camp which is actually pretty much a hotel. Our rooms have a tent like top but that is where similarities end. We have AC and we have a shower. We don’t have WiFi or cell service in our rooms but that is about all of the inconveniences (cell service available in lobby of hotel).

We drive off to watch the sunset and have a strenuous walk up a sand dune to get a better view. We watch the sun set and all the magic orange colors appear. As soon as the sun sets a sand wind develops and re-adjusts the landscape again. Soon our footprints will disappear and there will be no proof that we were actually here.

We eat dinner under the stars while we talk about everything from politics to travel. There is again no alcohol at this hotel (alcohol is rare in Oman in most parts) but it would be nice to sip on a fruit cocktail while we sit around the fire pit later and watch one of our fellow tour goers try to learn how to dance from a local. I call it an early night because I am still sleep deprived from the turtles. Some have an early morning because they plan a camel ride, I just plan a long night’s sleep.