17 يوم - Ouarzazate إلى Cascades d'Ouzoud

Ugh.  

Morning traffic!

In the background, on the right, is where Babel (with Brad Pitt) was filmed.

It isn't a very good movie but, before finding out it was filmed here, I was thinking about this film as we were driving, hoping that some shepard's son didn't get their hands on a gun.

Ouarzazate is nicknamed 'the door to the desert', but prides itself on its connection with famous films.

In fact, our waiter last night in the hotel worked on films with both Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom.  

Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, Gladiator, and some episodes of Game of Thrones were shot here in Ouarzazate, just to name a few (there is a five star hotel nearby to cater to the stars when they are in town).

Kasbah Ait Benhaddou is where Gladiator was filmed, found on the way to Marrakesh, just outside the city.

This kasbah isn't famous, but it could be!  

Why not this one?

Never mind, not such a great welcoming party, we will just keep on moving...

Moroccans don't want to keep up with repairs on this old castle, they were not a fan of the ruler.

An all-women cooperative showed us how argan oil is made, and all of the uses for it.

Hmmmm, wrong turn.

This is better...

Our itinerary included (per my request) a trip to Cascades d'Ouzoud.  

Lonely Planet, like all guidebooks, talks it up, "the Oued Ouzoud drops 110m into the canyon of Oued el-Abid in three-tiered waterfalls, and the view only gets better as you descend into the cool of the canyon, past the late-afternoon rainbow mists to the pools at its base."

Wow, sounds great, right?

Yeah, not so much.

Filled with make-shift camps and an abundance of people, it is hot and littered and just plain terrible.

Moroccans sure love their tajins, we, on the other hand, have had enough, quite possibly for a lifetime.  Which is why we basically stopped eating a day or two ago.

So, if you are looking for what is in the image, do not go here.

This is not an understatement. 

The only good thing about Cascades d'Ouzoud is Le Sévan Pizzeria.  Owned by a French couple, who have lived here for eleven years and have been traveling here for 18, they opened their restaurant just 3 months ago, and are leaving in 2 months, after summer.  They are over the prices for foreigners (which includes themselves so they have to shop in a different town), how difficult it has been for them to open a hotel (they haven't been able to obtain a permit because they want to do the work themselves and not hire Moroccans), how burdensome it is for them to even get a sign directing people to the restaurant, and how dirty the city has become (apparently it was once a mecca for nature travel).  

They are thinking they will move to Latin America, or perhaps the wife's home country of Armenia.  We gained so much insight about the country from talking to this couple.

When most Moroccans we have encountered have scoffed at a $5 tip, this couple was so happy and so grateful.

Their homemade ice cream was incredible- one scoop of vanilla ice cream, the other citron sorbet.

16 يوم - Erg Chigaga إلى Ouarzazate

So often when traveling the most seemingly normal sights are abnormal.

وداعا Saharan desert- we will never be as close to Algeria as we are right now...

We left the desert camp a different way than we entered, speeding through a portion of what used to be the Paris-Dakar route.

The Paris-Dakar went right over dried up Lake Iriqui (before the dam was built in the 70s this lake would have been full of migratory birds).

Moroccan photoshop.

Before it was a lake, it was an ocean.

Fossil hunting.

Today was another long, beautiful drive. 

We stopped in Tazenakht to see how how traditional carpets are weaved.  All tribes have their own specific method for weaving. 

Nomads wove my favorite rugs.  

Too bad this was priced (tourist priced) at over $800!  

It is beautiful!

We finally made it to Ouarzazate, where movies are made and non well water showers are had. 

15 يوم - Erg Chigaga

When we awoke it was still cool (for the desert).  We had triple digits to look forward to again today, with no escape.  We are to spend the entire day in the Saharan desert.

But this is a big reason that we are here!

Nomad school this way, eventually... 

There are wells throughout the desert, paid for by nomads, not the government.  They are typically occupied, which is good because you don't want a dromedary accidentally falling in and contaminating the well indefinitely (this is precisely what happened to a well we drove past).

We stopped at a nomad house, the family of someone who works at the desert camp.

Technically nomads are not supposed to have houses since they don't own property nor pay taxes, but some nomads have built houses against the wishes of the government.

This is a much easier life.

We were offered tea (although it cost us 2 euro), it would be rude to refuse.

Even though the tea is made with well water...

The concept is nothing less than unappetizing but we survived, parasite free (we think).

Tea with a view- worth every euro.

A nomad school is better than no school.

It is finding the teacher that is difficult (no, I am not volunteering).

They try to rope in someone from the city, and hope they stay for the year.

There is no school over summer vacation, but with no locks on the door we could walk right in.

Who needs a classroom?  The best learning happens outside!

Another Saharan well- watch your step, dromedary! 

We went to another nomad house, someone else that Lahsen knew, for more tea.  But (phew!) the parents weren't home.  The mother had left with the donkey for water and the father went to the city.  The three children (the youngest about four) would just have to wait for their return.

This wall is part of an ancient Berber trading route, located in the middle of the desert.

The last stop on our tour, not more then twenty minutes from the wall, was an oasis.  Before coming to the Sahara I had no idea what an oasis was.  I mean, I have seen enough cartoons to know it is a place in the desert with trees and water, but what I didn't realize is that it is used to escape the heat.  We spent hours here, were lunch was served, napping, reading, watching the time go by, until it was finally a decent temperature to return to camp.  

More salad that I shouldn't eat... it was really good though!

The oasis was kind to us, but not so kind to the young French couple, who like us, came for lunch, but unlike us, asked their driver to leave them there, saying they would get a ride out when they could a few days later.  They didn't even make it two days before the man collapsed right in front of us due to heat exhaustion (or maybe because they just went for it and, due to lack of bottled water, started drinking water directly from the well!).  He looked miserable, it was painful to watch.  Hopefully they made it out okay.  Our driver said he would never leave anyone like that, regardless of what the client said- you bring people into the desert, you bring them out.  A guide knows the land better than a client.

After returning to camp, before sunset, we rode a dromedary.

They stand up and sit down oddly, and go down hills like butter melting in a tilted pan, but other than that, I actually like riding them more than horses.

Okay, so it is super touristy, but it is much better than walking through the dunes to see the sunset.