the date market

and we aren't talking "match.com" we are talking dates: beautiful, luscious, tasty dates! as you could see from the photos of the oases we saw on the way into and out of the Sahara, there are lots of dates available here-

so after we left the Tombouctou Hotel and took the four wheel drive vehicle back to "civilization" in Erfoud we stopped at the local (mostly dates) market...where Georgia bargained for yet another scarf, also in blue - this time Berber blue... and learned to wrap her head like a nomad against the sun and sand of the Sahara... while I went off and photograph the market cats...to each his own....

both Aziz and Mustafa bought dates to take home (they said the prices here were very reasonable and the quality much higher than in the cities- Aziz was from Marrakech and Mustafa from Casablanca)-- and we head on toward the Todra Gorge and Ouarzazate (our next overnight stay.)

the Sahara

so we left the snow and the monkeys behind and headed south- and down from the mountains... and the landscape got drier and more stark, broken by the occasional oasis- where date palms flourished and there would be a chunk of green in the right in the middle of the brown rocky landscape...

if the water source was good there would be crops as well as the date palms...

we arrived in Erfoud and transferred to a four wheel drive vehicle and said good bye to Mustafa until the next morning- as he stays with the van. We then head out into the Sahara -  where we first stop at a wellhead where we see how the water system works for the locals- our driver demos the well with the large plastic bucket that is permanently tied to the well ...

we continue on - the dunes are in the distance and "grow" as we approach them-

these are the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga - our hotel is located out in this area right on the border of the dunes.  When I was here in 2001 there were only camp sites - now there are several hotels that skirt the dunes - all of them can be accessed by a semi-improved road if needed but most guests arrive as we did via four wheel drive vehicles -

the hotel is called the Tombouctou- a reference to what in English we refer to as Timbuktu- LOL... which is 52 days by camel from a nearby town- the well known poster was shown in many places throughout Morocco including in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca...

LOL- as I post these two pictures I see there is actually more than one version of the 52 day camel journey to Tombouctou from Zagora...

our hotel is built in traditional desert style - the rooms are extremely spacious but the lighting is dim--- not that I was planning on spending the night reading - and the Internet did not work in the rooms - only in the bar.. but hey - we are in the middle of effing nowhere so getting any Internet at all was a miracle!

the window to my room lit up - the tower was my spacious bathroom...

so ever onward- the next post will be a few photos of GA and I on camels (actually a torturous ride for me but GA laughed the whole way) -  then we are off to the date market and begin heading back west and north...