After the half-day with the quads, we drove west towards the ocean. The rest of the day was spent getting to Taghazoute -- the surfing paradise according to our guide book. We were on Banana Beach. In the morning, we realized how horribly the guide book had erred: there wasn't a single surfer in the water through midday or even the remotest sign of an equipment rental place. After inquiring, the Moroccans in the area were keen to get us equipment and ran off. As we learned through the trip, asking questions can be a mistake. Through a chain of quick commands, phone calls, and confused faces, your request will almost always be materialized, whilst you wait for some odd period of time. We just asked if there was a surf rental shop nearby and they were off! While we waited for a sign of reappearance, we sat along the beach. A kind man rented us a horse for 50 Dirhams each to ride along the beach for 15 minutes. We both did it: it was cool, and the horse went into a bit of gallop and moved fast. Dan had a bit more control but as a result a shorter ride since he was able to turn the horse around when he was supposed to be finished. Nachi, on the other hand, just went farther and farther until the horse felt like turning.
Moments after finishing, two shady Moroccans had materialized with surfboards and wetsuits. We quickly overpaid for poor equipment, as we were constantly reminded by other people for the rest of the day. We struggled to stand up for the waves. Nachi had three separate bruises along his neck -- possibly from jellyfish. Sore and bruised, we hopped back into the car to continue on to Essaouira.
Monday, 9 April 2007
Zagora and quading through the dunes
We drove back to Zagora at night and got a room without much trouble. After going through the dunes during the day, Nachi had been quite keen on finding an all terrain vehicle (ATV) rental shop to take back into the desert for the following morning. After some interesting dialogue with the concierge, we found ourselves a man who would rent us ATVs (or quads as they called them). Cha-ching!
We signed up for a half day starting at 9am. Our guide took us into the desert and within the hour, we were launching ourselves through the dunes. The sand dunes in this part were much smaller and from the distance the quads looked like little toy racing cars, as they drove through the dunes slanted and sliding around, and slipping occasionally. Once the momentum was flying high, the quad would clear its wheels over a dune and land a couple meters down a little lopsided with a thump and take off immediately. Nachi got yelled at (in French) for accelerating over the mountains to clear air. We later learned that accidents happen in these dunes and about one person dies a year, while many others suffer injuries. In fact our guide had suffered a couple himself. This was cool and was thus far Nachi's favorite part of the trip. Nachi also tried to fishtail the quad out 180 degrees like our rental, but was unsuccessful. We decided we already had another fun ride.
We signed up for a half day starting at 9am. Our guide took us into the desert and within the hour, we were launching ourselves through the dunes. The sand dunes in this part were much smaller and from the distance the quads looked like little toy racing cars, as they drove through the dunes slanted and sliding around, and slipping occasionally. Once the momentum was flying high, the quad would clear its wheels over a dune and land a couple meters down a little lopsided with a thump and take off immediately. Nachi got yelled at (in French) for accelerating over the mountains to clear air. We later learned that accidents happen in these dunes and about one person dies a year, while many others suffer injuries. In fact our guide had suffered a couple himself. This was cool and was thus far Nachi's favorite part of the trip. Nachi also tried to fishtail the quad out 180 degrees like our rental, but was unsuccessful. We decided we already had another fun ride.
Camel back and mountainous sand dunes
As soon as we drove into M'hamid, our small car, which we named Gorgeous George, had been surrounded on all sides with some people offering us tours and others telling us we weren't allowed to drive on the street any further. We turned around and went back to the first expedition group we saw, led by Brahim. He proceeded to clean us out, but we did sign up for an amazing overnight adventure in the desert. Since we emptied our pockets for him, he promised us dinner that night. The wait for food took 2.5 hours, and all the time, Brahim told us lengthy stories in detail, and for all the build up the punchline or moral was always a let down (a bit like this blog). Every five minutes, Dan would translate a sentence from French into English for Nachi, and it always seemed like all the characters were different already.
At night, Brahim and his companion took us out to the campsite. We sat and listened to more stories over some tea, and then looked up at the most amazing sky -- full of stars and constellations. Laying in the cool sand with winds blowing from odd and changing directions and looking up was certainly one of the highlights of the trip. Nachi wanted to grab some torches and walk into the desert, so we explored our site and realized we couldn't find the way out. We felt stupid and went to sleep.
The next morning we took off camel back on Dromaderies -- Brahim wanted to show us the old M'hamid (the real one). Nachi's camel (which he named camel) didn't really want to go anywhere and would try to grab food while walking: he was also a bit of a rougher ride. Dan's camel, named Barry (same as Dan's bag), seemed a bit younger and liked to poop a lot. People in the old M'hamid were very kind: they showed us into their homes freely. It was obvious the people here were poorer than in the newer M'hamid.
For the afternoon, we took a 4x4 out into the desert. On the way out, we saw fields of Dromaderies -- with maybe a couple hundred. We stopped at sand dunes which were shaped like mountains. The shape comes solely from the direction of the winds, and our tour guide drew the possible wind patterns and entailing shapes in the sand for us. We rolled down the sand dunes, and Dan's camera almost broke as a result.
At night, Brahim and his companion took us out to the campsite. We sat and listened to more stories over some tea, and then looked up at the most amazing sky -- full of stars and constellations. Laying in the cool sand with winds blowing from odd and changing directions and looking up was certainly one of the highlights of the trip. Nachi wanted to grab some torches and walk into the desert, so we explored our site and realized we couldn't find the way out. We felt stupid and went to sleep.
The next morning we took off camel back on Dromaderies -- Brahim wanted to show us the old M'hamid (the real one). Nachi's camel (which he named camel) didn't really want to go anywhere and would try to grab food while walking: he was also a bit of a rougher ride. Dan's camel, named Barry (same as Dan's bag), seemed a bit younger and liked to poop a lot. People in the old M'hamid were very kind: they showed us into their homes freely. It was obvious the people here were poorer than in the newer M'hamid.
For the afternoon, we took a 4x4 out into the desert. On the way out, we saw fields of Dromaderies -- with maybe a couple hundred. We stopped at sand dunes which were shaped like mountains. The shape comes solely from the direction of the winds, and our tour guide drew the possible wind patterns and entailing shapes in the sand for us. We rolled down the sand dunes, and Dan's camera almost broke as a result.
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