Despite having a leisurely start time, I woke up very early trying to decide what to put in my backpack. We were told that our suitcases would stay in Erfoud with the bus while we would go in jeeps out to the desert. The predicted weather was good but temperatures would range from high 30s to low 80s. Since it was only a 2 day trip, I didn’t need much. But the desert gets very cold at night and we were to stay in tents with no heat. My djellaba was a must. And the beds have quilts.
Our bus took us to a place where they process slabs of stone with embedded fossils. At first glance it seemed that we were just seeing large slices of stone. But the man who is a second generation owner carried a large bottle of water to wet the surface allowing us to see the world of ancient embedded fossils. The hills around Erfoud were found by paleontologists to be rich with fossils. We saw a chambered nautilus that was 460 million years old. One stone had a very delicate 520 million year old creature that is related to today’s jellyfish. We saw the work being done to turn some stones into sculptures and others were made into 3-D tables. Of course we then had a chance to buy.
Our next stop was a visit to a camel owner in town who sells camel milk. We saw a one day old baby sitting next to the mother. Camels have a 13 month gestation. They produce milk for their babies until they are 2 years old. Unlike cows that can be milked all the time, camels produce milk only when they have a baby. Several of our group got to milk a camel. I tried a taste of camel milk after I heard it tasted like whole milk. It does taste a little sweet too.
We continued on to stop in a small village to see the local cemetery. Muslims are buried within 24 hours of death. They are washed and wrapped in a white cloth and buried lying on their right side in shallow graves that are covered with stones and marked with larger stones for head and foot. Caskets are uncommon. Headstones do not have names. It is not required to face Mecca. A few graves had elaborate structures in adobe but mostly they were plain. A bowl or cup marked the head of many graves where on Fridays family would come to place fruit or water.
We then walked into the tiny town followed by a group of very curious children mostly boys. The entry to part of the town was a dark tunnel that had winding streets and doors to homes. There was one light bulb which illuminated the area. We used our phone flashlights to see our way. We emerged from the street and were greeted by more curious children now joined by girls who wanted to shake hands and try out the hand sanitizer hanging from my purse.
We walked back to our jeeps to keep going along to our desert camp for lunch. We had a little time to explore the area around the camp before we set off on our next adventure. There are a few other camps very nearby. One even had satellite dishes. We had occasional phone service but not enough to support reliable service. Our hot water was solar heated. The electricity was solar. And the tent rooms were surprisingly spacious.
We left around 4 pm to visit a date farm. The farmer was very proud that he and his father had planted everything there. The propitiated a big natural lake that had filled with rains from last season. Morocco has experienced 7 years of drought but it some areas there has been plenty of rain.
The farmer showed us his date palms and explained that he had just one male date palm for his entire grove. The male flowers contain a dusty pollen. He hand pollinates each female tree to ensure an excellent crop. He then showed us how he climbs each tree to tie a part of the male flower into each female flower pod. When we asked about his age, he made us guess. He is 68. He and his wife also have many children who help with the date farming when they are not in school or working another job. It is a very big family business. We walked back through his land where he described all the other crops he cultivates including pomegranate, quince, lemons, limes, fava beans, beets and various herbs. One of his daughters sat at the entrance as we returned. She was selling her handmade items which we all bought. The farmer whose name is Mohammed (it’s a very very common name) brought out a baby goat for us to see. These young animals are sweet. I tried not to think about when they would become someone’s dinner.
We got back on our jeeps to go out to a sand dune to enjoy the desert sunset. We climbed up a large dune with our wine. The sun slowly set punctuated by a string of camels being led across the sand in the foreground.
We returned to our camp in twilight. The temperature in the desert drops precipitously once the sun sets. We stopped by the kitchen in our camp to meet the head chef. She showed us her ingredients and technique for making the chicken tagine which was to be our dinner. After dinner Abdou had arranged for a campfire outside while we did some stargazing. It got very cold. A few of us retired to my room to drink some red wine before going to bed. The next day we have more adventures planned. Camel ride!! More fun.
The Adventures of Anne 