January 1, 2006: Middelt and the Middle
Atlas
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The trip across the Middle Atlas
is less popular, but it seemed to be the best way to get to the large
Sahara dunes of Merzouga.
There was not much traffic at all, and not much population either. It is berber country, and one can see lots of sheep. There are also many dogs hanging out along the road (we called them unemployed sheep dogs). |
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| At one
point, near Ifrane, I stepped out of the car, and when looking across
the plains, I just saw this lonely house on the horizon... |
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| A herd
of sheep and an 'unemployed sheep dog' along the road. We had a little
conversation over coffee and cake (mostly cake) with him/her. |
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| The high
atlas was almost always right in sight, which rendered an impressive
backdrop. |
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| To find
accomodation for the night, we went off-road for many kilometers and
just when we thought our 'Rough Guide to Morocco' book was wrong, we finally saw the Auberge Jaffar on the horizon.. |
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| Monsieur
Jaffar (smoking), who had studied Mining Engineering in Klausthal,
Germany, a 'musician' and Akiko. We had a nice dinner there and met a guy from Portugal, who we met later again, further South. |
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| The
Auberge Jaffar in the morning and the trip back into Middelt (some
scenes shown below). |
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| We
traveled on and came through Erfoud, which is the gateway to Merzouga,
located just at the edge of the Sahara desert. |
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| At that
point we had to leave the road to get to the Dune D'Or, a small oasis
at the edge of Erg Chebbi, a part of the Sahara with dunes 100m high
and more Here we planned to hop on two camels, taking us into the desert to spend the night there, under the stars. The next page will tell if our dream came true. |
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