14 يوم - Tamtetoucht إلى Erg Chigaga

Oh good, Eric is feeling better.

The windows directly behind us are from our room.

The soon-to-be-owner of an underwater hotel, in good spirits as always.

Oat yogurt is so good!  I don't think we have this in the US.

Some nomads rode by during breakfast.

The Dades river has eroded 40 km of length, creating the Todgha Gorge.  

Being down here reminds me that the US doesn't make highways in gorges but above them.

It is a pretty perspective from down here.

Dates are an important traditional crop, and can often be found along side ancient Berber villages.

Lahsen (who is Berber)- our driver and the owner of Amazing Journeys Morocco.

For over two hours we drove on a dirt road through the high Atlas mountains, without even one car passing us.

Morocco has some incredible topography. 

This is the one of the largest palmeries in Morocco.

Timbuktu- 52 days by dromedary that-a-way.

We stopped in Tamegroute for a tour of an underground Kasbah (which is surprisingly cool), some traditional pottery and a Koranic library with books over 1,000 years old (no pictures allowed!).  Tamegroute is part of an old trading route, so there are more darker skinned Moroccans than other locations; some of the captured Africans were able to escape or be released before being shipped off to the Americas.

This is our last stop before the desert!  Not much of a market, but it will have to do!

It is customary for people to check in with the police before heading into the desert.  They took our passport numbers and recorded our entry.  There is always concern that people will get lost and/or stuck, and never come back out.

Two hours later we arrived at our home for the next two nights, Atta Desert Camp in the Erg Chigaga desert.  I wanted to come to this part of the Saharan desert because it is more remote.  

We got exactly what we came for.

They moved our bed outside of our tent so we could gaze up at the stars from our pillows.  Every hour or two I woke up and watched the shiny Milky Way click across the sky like a hand on a clock.  It was extraordinary.