Mom, Dad, and I got up to see the sunrise. Dan stayed in bed.
This is the rooftop terrace at the guesthouse.
Woo artsy sunrise shot!
These two photos show you how the walls are made out of mud/straw bricks and then mudded over. This is why it used to be so easy to just expand your house or remodel it. Want a new wall? Build one. Want to move a doorway? Fill in the old one and cut out a new one.
The guesthouse had a courtyard with citrus trees.
It also had a pool with a lot of random art/sculptures around it.
Outside spaces to hang out/eat near the pool. The ceiling is made out of and decorated with bamboo.
One of two main hang out/eating areas.
Dan is the chosen one.
The hallway to our rooms had Berber carpets hanging on the walls.
This is the extra bed from our room. The window is the colors of the Berber flag.
An old well and the outside of the guesthouse.
Hassan, Dan, and Mom. Woo!
Our first adventure for today is going out to the local market.
This is the edge of the desert. It's black because of volcanic topsoil.
Old Kasbah, new minaret, and some neither old nor new palm trees.
Roadside stop for fresh dates.
Dates!
Fresh dates are not....great. They're supper tannic and take all the moisture out of your mouth.
This is an everything plus dates market in Rissani. Most markets are once a week, but Rissani's market is three times a week. This is a continuation of the caravans' schedule from days gone by. It takes 52 days by camel to get from Timbuktu to Morocco (I forget where in Morocco, which I realize is somewhat important).
Nomads will bring livestock here to sell as well as purchase any goods they need.
So many veggies!
Produce and home goods and everything.
These are all different kinds of dates. There were several areas like this, just full of dates.
Spices!
And some other things....
There's an area for metal work.
I kind of wanted one of the little sickle type things but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase.
Backyard forge and anvil.
This area was all meat products. It did not smell great.
It was no where near the level of the tannery, but it still wasn't pleasant.
I think...those are sheep or goats in the back and in the front is some internal bits.
This is the livestock market.
More produce outside. Pomegranates are big here (as in popular, not necessarily in size).
This is donkey parking. The slope in the ground, while it looks like a trash pile, is actually to help load animals into trucks. The truck backs down the slope making the tailgate level with the ground and then the animals walk on.
Horse parking.
Inside another part of the market we found this spice display.
The proprietor was very friendly. He let us sample some items, such as menthol crystals. No one had any sinus issues for the rest of the day.
It's so pretty and organized and colorful.
We left town (Rissani) and headed back to the desert.
Caution, Camel Crossing!
Desert and more desert.
WHAT?!
An actual animal crossing the road shortly after its animal crossing sign? What nonsense is this?
Our next mini adventure was to a local Gnaoua (Ga-no-wah) musical group.
The Gnaoua originated from the ancient Ghana Empire of Ouagadougou.
This area is now Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Burkino Faso and most of Mali.
This group is called Groupe Des Bambaras.
In their village of Khamlia, the population is a mix of Arabs, Berbers, and other tribes of Sub-Saharan origin. The Gnaoua in this village are decedents from slaves who were brought here to work in the fields and tend to livestock. They are believed to hold the secrets to curing scorpion stings.
The instruments are as follows:
hajhouj or guembri - 3-stringed lute, qraqeb - metal castinets, and ganga - drums.
If you want a little more info they have a website: www.khamlia.com
Now off to explore the desert!
There's the sand!
Algeria's out there somewhere....lurking.
Black stony desert turns into color shifting sand desert.
My dad and Dan are being silly or something. There was a small village here not too long ago.
But the people left, for reasons....that I don't remember. I think they had a really bad flash flood.
This guy is reclaiming his house. He's building up walls with mud, straw, and glass bottles.
The people who left the other homes still own them even though they are now abandoned. There are no squatter's rights here. No matter what shape it's in or how long it's been empty, you still own it. No one else can come live it in without your permission.
Acacia trees and scrub. Also Algeria...somewhere that way....
That plateau is definitely Algeria....I think. Maybe...
We stopped at a nomad house to see what it's like. Note - Nomads do not just continuously wander around. They set up camp/house and stay in one place for several weeks to months at a time.
This is the oven and most of the cooking is done here.
This area is used for drying things and tanning any hides they may acquire.
These nomads had a more house-like structure (background on the right) but traditionally and still they would use camel hair tents like this one.
Said pouring Berber Whiskey for us (Green tea with mint and sugar).
We're in a tent!
Another nomad camp and....maybe Algeria.
DUNES!
Here they are beige and almost pink.
Okay so we went to get desert pizza (traditional nomad food). I took like....30 photos of this process but instead of making you scroll through 30 process photos, I made them into a movie...sort of....
Dad and Dan lounging while waiting for pizza.
So it's really more like a calzone. There was a little sand and a little charcoal, but otherwise it was pretty good. The filling is onion and chicken and other things.
DUNES!
No sandworms thankfully.
Smaller and more scrubby dunes.
This beetle has places to go.
Said's off-roading add for Toyota.
That might be a dragon. I'm not sure it's just a sand dune.
Said took us to his house where one of his sisters gave Mom and me henna tattoos on our hands. One of the purposes of henna tattoos is for luck and protection. This is because Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, had two sons go off to battle. When she hugged them goodbye, one got her henna hand print on his back. Only the son with the hand print came back. The Hand of Fatima (or Hamsa) is a common symbol found around Morocco and the Arabic world.
In process photos (I'm above, Mom is below).
Finished palms.
Finished backs.
We had to let it dry for an hour and try not to smear or pick off the henna.
Henna is made from an alfalfa like plant. Men receive henna twice in their lives, when they are born and when they get married. Women get henna for various celebrations. Men get henna at birth and when they get married.
And now we ride into the desert. On Dromedaries! (One-hump camels)
The camel standing up is an interesting motion. First you feel like you're going to fall off the back.
Then you feel like you're going to fall off the front.
Our desert guide is Ali. He quickly nicknamed all of us.
Dad is Alibaba Mustache, I am Fatima, Dan is Alibaba, and Mom is Aicha Cous Cous.
Get ready for a lot of desert photos.
Something of note is how the sand changes color depending on how the sunlight hits it.
This is Erg Chebbi, one of two Moroccan Sahara ergs.
An erg is large sea of dunes formed by wind-blown sand.
Woo! Shadow photo!
The dunes here can reach a height of 150 meters (~500 ft).
Turns out turning around on a camel to take photos behind you is difficult.
Look! We haven't fallen off yet!
A bit about how to identify fully covered Muslim women here:
1 - Arabs wear solid black
2 - Berbers wear black with colorful designs
3 - Bedouins wear colorful patterns
But really, any one can wear anything. These are just the traditional designations.
I see you Algeria!
Lawrence of Arabia right here.
Dan said an hour of riding the camel was not comfortable. I don't necessarily disagree.
Dromedary!
Ali got the camels to stay put by tucking the lead rope under the first camel's leg.
Camels in the sand.
We temporarily left our camels so we could climb this dune to see the sun set.
I found our camp. It's the closer of the two.
Desert sunset.
Trying not to fall down the dune.
Dan and Dad in the Valley of Camel Poop.
This is home for the night.
I think the camel ride did Dad in.
Dan is also a bit done.
More Berber Whiskey!
Several other people joined us as the evening went on. I think there were probably around two dozen people total. We had a big family style tajine dinner and then the guides put together a bonfire for us.
There was lots of singing and dancing. It was very silly, but a lot of fun. They even tried to teach us to play the instruments and learn the songs, but I was not very good at either.
As the sun went down the stars came out. They were fantastic.
But once the moon went down, they were spectacular.
In the top left-ish are the Pleiades. In the bottom middle area is Orion.
Here is Orion outlined for you. Also someone walked through with a flashlight when I took this photo, hence the light wave on the bottom. Also the really bright star towards the bottom is Sirius.
The stars are so colorful! Like most of Orion is kind of purple.
But there's definitely blues and yellows and some green out there.
And they move! Well, not really. The earth moves. I mean...the stars may move, I don't really understand that much about astronomy or astrophysics or whatever.
ANYWAY, the earth is spinning.
This concludes our adventures for today.
