I'VE BEEN THROUGH THE DESERT ON A....

...camel with no name...actually, mine was called Mick. Away we go, winding our way through 8km of the famous Erg Chebbi Dunes of the Sahara Desert, posteriors positioned uncomfortably on the dromedary's hump. 

Can you spot Lahcen?

It is a truly spectacular feeling, totally silent, surrounded by giant golden sand dunes and placing total faith in the Tuareg guides to get us to our camp and back. The Tuaregs are North Africa's nomadic pastoralists known as "Blue Men" because of the distinctive indigo dye of their traditional robes and tagelmusts (turban), and the pigment sometimes staining their skin blue. 

Ali Baba

Loh-ronce

 Camel Trivia: They have three eyelids and they can close their nostrils, their poo is dry and can bue used as fire kindling, they drink up to 132 litres at a time, Somalia has more camels than any other country.

At our camp, there's time to do a spot of sandboarding on the massive dunes before watching the sunset and then sitting down to a traditional Berber dinner. 

The heat inside the tents is stifling and so everybody chooses to sleep outside under the stars, and what a canopy it is - even counting the skies of Iceland, I have never witnessed a more amazing astral spectacle than the Saharan skies, 

First light in a Berber camp

and it's easy to understand how desert dwellers (and mariners) have been able to use the stars for navigation. Watching the Milky Way slowly make its way across the night sky has to be seen to be believed. Perhaps the oddest thing was around 4:00am when the moon came into view. the stars disappeared. 

At 6:00am we were back on our dromedaries and after a 10 minute ride, we stopped. There we sat in silence as we watched the sunrise over the dunes, the culmination of an unforgettable experience.

Our next destination is Todra Gorge (the Moroccan grand canyon) and we travel through the Erfoud fossil grounds (I mentioned that they were ubiquitous). The desert plains are dotted with giant mounds which we stop to explore. 

They are water wells, used to access the underground river (man made!) that draws water from the High Atlas for irrigation and general use. It's an extraordinary achievement that further illustrates the ingenuity of the indigenous North African/Mediterranean cultures. 

We freshen up with some berber whiskey whilst taking in an impromptu performance on a home made rebab (single stringed instrument played with a bow). 

The Mobil Lubes rebab!

The road takes us into the Todra oasis surrounded by kasbahs and palms, 

Berber cemetery

and then to our kasbah at the gateway to the gorge for a bite to eat.

With vertical walls over 1,000 ft high, Todra Gorge is truly impressive, the rocks constantly changing colour as the sun moved. 

Sadly there's graffiti even in Morocco

Located near the source of the Todra River, the water is cold, crystal clear and pure, so much so that families bring containers to fill with water trickling from the crevices.

Heading back to our kasbah we pass some lads playing football on a crushed rock playing field - and there were no complaints about a hard ground! 

We arrive at a traditional Berber co-operative that makes hand made carpets using goat and camel wool and cactus silk and raw dyes made from henna, indigo, pomegranates, olive trees and walnuts, and we're treated to some mint tea and a showing of the carpets by Mustafa where the designs and colours are explained to us, fascinating stuff (each tribe has a signature pattern, diamond motifs represent womanhood and fertility, red symbolises blood and love, orange signifies happiness, yellow is stands for energy, white for purity, and green is for hospitality). Buzzy and Dulcinea try their hand at weaving (not sure I'd be buying that particular carpet!) and the berber honey successfully bargains for a marvellous Turaeg carpet made from camel wool.

Dream weaver

Spinning a yarn

This one flies!

This one's ours - and it flies!!

It's only a two hour drive the next day, past the stunning oasis town of Tinerhir and endless gorges, 

to our kasbah at the magnificent Dades Gorge, and the view from the top looking down the valley is superb. 

The King and us

Ali Baba

Local supermarket

Sleepwalkers beware.

Long and winding road

Juice bar on the edge

Lahcen takes the Berber honey and Ali Baba (it seems that everyone insists on referring to Don Legsy as this) on a walk through the ancient kashbahs, now deserted in favour of more modern constructions situated closer to the highways. 

Miranda!!!!

Looking over the old to the new

Floorboards

Tonight is a rare treat as we not only get to eat tajine and couscous but partake of some Moroccan wine (interesting to find that an Islamic country that doesn't drink alcohol should actually have a wine industry - and it wasn't too bad either). 

A hearty breakfast the following morning - traditional pancakes and a massive fried egg - 

and we're heading west towards Hollywood, i.e. Ouarzazate and another UNESCO World Heritage site.....