15.3.2023

This day was one of my dreams when I thought about my bucket list and maybe the last journey of this kind. For those of you who don't know the term "bucket list": it comes from the US English and means: your list of things you want to do before you die. Dying in US slang is "kicking the bucket". Therefore the bucket list.

Part of my dream was to do a motorbike trip with Omar to celebrate our two birthdays in Marrakesh. Omar picked up this dream and added some specifics, such as going towards the desert, making a desert tour, seeing the sun go down here and riding a camel.

Never in my life was I riding a camel before. I just heard that many people get motion-sick up there, as the camels have a strange way to walk. 

Well, today was camel day. A guy with 4WD Mitsubishi drove us into the desert, quite a long trip. Then he stopped, in front of 2 camels.

A transportation with "two camel powers". They can handle the sand dunes, our GS bikes not.

Hi chappy! How are you today? In the mood for a ride?

I tried to make some peace by talking to the guy and stroking his nose. He was rather unimpressed.

Well, this one was not my transporter. Omar took the lead on this fella, and I chose the back seat.

Now, watch this angle: my boy was already up on his pancake wide feet, with me on top of him. The guy in black is our guide.

Check out the next picture. THis is how a camel get up and on its feet.

So, it comes up with a jolt on his hind legs, which throws the rider to the front. Fortunately, you have an iron handle bar(you can see Omar holding on to it right now). Otherwise you would come off and knock the poor camel's head into the sand.

The next move is that the camel comes to its front legs, which throws the rider to the back. So, hold tight on the iron bar, otherwise you come off at the back!

We managed this whole thing well, and off we went. The guide held the rope for the Omar's one camel power, my camel was linked with a rope to Omar's desert ship.

The pace was really slow. Omar's comment "detox,  wind down."

And that I could. To my surprise I found my swing of it, and after a short while I really enjoyed this slo motion adventure.

I would have liked the desert to be quiet, experiencing a sort of holy silence. But far from it. Look at these tracks. The desert seemed busy as a main road in Marrakesh at rush hour. Dune buggies, carts of all sorts, cross bikes and all sorts of motor gear was humming around.

Now check out these colors. This is pure nature, no photoshop editing involved. 

This is impressive. And a load of sand ...

Omar asked the camel guide Hamid if there are any "wild animals" to be found in the desert. Hamid told us that there are plenty of snakes and scorpions, quite poisonous ones. "But you wear open shoes - what if a snake bites you?"

"No problem. I just put a date on the wound!"

There are also plants in the desert. No idea how they survive.

Look at all this sand! Every housewife's nightmare ...

Here another plant. Hamid told us that the leaves are very poisonous. You must avoid them like hell. In winter these bushes loose their leaves. Then the desert folks use the stems to make firewood from it.

I thought that this looks very outlandish. A bunch of trees in the middle of the desert ...

... and pretty big trees indeed ...

I like this picture, with the long camel shadows and out there the shadows of Omar and myself.

Hamid happy, dancing through the desert. He was really funny, these was a lot of joy and laughter.

Now, guess what that is, and what makes it?

This little fellow is a dung beatle. He lives of camel poo. And as there is a lot of camel traffic in the desert, and as there is a lot of camel poo - there are many dung beatles around here.

While I was making some effort, to get some good pics from this guy, Hamid asked "Why does he take fotos of a dung beatle? You guys are really strange!"

This is my best shot. These little guys are permanently on the move. But this one was running out of fuel. He just stop dead at one spot and never changed position in all the time we were there.

"Oy, cool folks. About time to have a break! My back hurts!"

Hamid made these beasts going down on their knees again, Jolting forward and backwards again. But meanwhile we were camel ride professionals. Piece of cake!

Fred and George hanging loose.

The beautiful desert

With ripples like made by water at sea.

Sun down in the desert. And Hamid and Omar, having fun.

This is what we were waiting for.

... and this was completely unexpected, a breathtaking surprise. This is the entrance to the tents we would spend the night in, after we have dinner here as well.

Romantic, isn't it? And full service on top, with excellent food, very friendly hosts and a tent with two beds, a toilet, a shower and hot and cold water. That's magic!

Omer had a pretty bad cold, and I had to write on my blog. So, after dinner, we went to bed.

The other guests had drum musicians at the campfire. That was good for us, we were very content to be just by ourselves.