Sahara Rocks - Day 5

 I woke up early... it had been a reasonably comfortable night aside from the odd moment of having to crawl back up the dune having slid down a little. I had been pretty warm in my sleeping bag and very snuggled... so much so that I didn't want to get out of the bag.

I had had a beautiful view of the moon and the stars and at one point the clouds scudding over the sky lit up by the moon had been so beautiful that it took my breath away. I wanted to stay there in that moment, knowing that once I got out of my sleeping bag, the moment would be broken and the last day in the peace of the desert would begin.

The sounds of the camp waking up eventually drew me out of my sleeping bag and the usual routines kicked in. Pack up my rucksack, put it in the pile for the camels or the 4x4's, put my sleeping mat back in the pile, breakfast and then trekking kit at the ready.

Today was a short trek out of the desert to a Nomad school. There are still Nomads in Morocco, going where the grazing is best but their way of life is becoming increasingly threatened by the lack of water and therefore the lack of grazing. Many are being driven to the cities, their way of life lost forever.

We set off and it was an easy enough trek, although I had a suspicion, not checked, that one of the toenails that I had lost doing the Lap that had subsequently regrown, was lost again. It was slightly painful to walk amd I wasn't sure what I would find when my shoes eventually came off.

We reached the school in good time, given the terrain was pretty flat and were shown into a tent where 4 kids read aloud words written on a blackboard in french. We had gathered up some stuff to give to them and I placed in the pile all my spare trekking food that I had brought with me and not used.

Some had brought pens and pencils and colouring books and the amount of stuff we left was impressive. We looked at the trinkets the nomads had made for sale and several people left with minature camels or shawls.

I gave the kids some coins that I had not feeling the need to buy anything but wanting to give them something. They had so little.

And that was our last moments in the desert. We bundled our stuff and ourselves in the 4x4's which had arrived at the school and in the blink of an eye were whipped away..

Away from the dunes and the sunsets and sunrises, away from the fresh air and the heat, away from the peace that enveloped you out there. I felt quite sad... almost bereft.

The 2 hour drive back across the desert took us past nomad houses of stone and wood, herds of camels with babies, some spectacular rock formations including one that looked like Ayers Rock.

The 2 in the very back of the jeep had a tougher time  with several bumps veing greeted with Ahhh Fuck (not to be confused with the Berber word for please - Afaak (spelling probably not correct)).I did offer to switch but they insisted all was good!

We then wound our way back up the smooth tarmac road, still calling to me and my bike, and back to Ouarzazate and civilisation, via the supermarket for more alchohol supplies.

Then it was celebration time! Some of the more courageous (read idiotic) of our group jumped into the incredibly cold swimming pool, the more sensible ones sat on the side laughing at their faces when they hit the cold water.

The music that evening was another level with S'ahar pulling out all the stops and entertaining us all. We had all beema sked to think about what the things we would takeaway from this trip. Mine was prompted by the words of Jamal who had spoken passionately about the difficulties of living in such a place where water was becoming more and more scarce. It was a stark reminder of how lucky I am to live where I do and how I do where worries about the basics of life, food, water, shelter have been replaced by 1st world problems.

It is a sobering thought, the struggles that some people face in their day to day lives and it is easy for us to shelter ourselves from these realities, until you see it firsthand. Travelling can be a tool to unlock the eyes and the mind to other people's realities of life and it is precious because of that. 

I retired to bed with these thoughts rattling round my head and the hope that getring back home would not quickly erase these memories.