Went on a school-organized trip to the Sahara. Awesome, right? Yeahhhh, not so much.
We left Saturday around 12:30-1am. There were two different trips, each going to different places in the desert. I was on the first; there were 96 people total on our trip. Yeesh. So we drove for an hour and a half, then stopped at 230... for food? Spent an hour whereever we were, with our bus parked right next to a grill, to the point that it got really smoky inside. Awesome. Drove more. Stopped in Errachidia for breakfast around 730? Drove more. Stopped in a gorge for lunch around 1130?
There was salad. With real vegetables. There are no words to express how awesome real, fresh vegetables are. Salad was followed by tasty meatball tagine, and oranges for desert. Left around 130 I think. Got to Ouarzazate and checked into our hotel around 7. It was a pretty fancy hotel. More spiffy vegetables.
Being a tool in the hotel lobby.
Sunday we left almost two hours behind schedule. I know nothing in Morocco operates on time, but really, two hours? We were on the buses for a good 45 minutes just waiting for two guys to come sauntering out of the hotel. I love Moroccans. Drove more. Stopped in Zagora for lunch. Stopped in some place that's famous for rose soaps and stuff? Most of the Moroccan students bought all kinds of stuff, while the 8 exchange students just wandered. Get to M'hammed something-or-other. Pile into SUVs for a 2-hour drive into the desert. The sun set as we were driving. It was pretty lame because it was cloudy/foggy/something-y out. :( I totally hung out the window of the SUV for a good portion of the trip. Like sat on the door and held on to the handles inside. It was awesome sauce.
Sunset
Once we got there it was dark. Very dark. Had mint tea. Had couscous for dinner. Apparently the couscous had crickets in it? That's what another table said. Either ours didn't or I didn't notice. Wandered in the desert with Clemens, Aino, Robyn, Anna-Claire, and Patti to check out the stars. We're pretty sure we found Mars. Realized that if I were lost somewhere and had to rely on stars to find my way, I would probably be lost forever. Yay, city girl. I couldn't even find the Big Dipper on my own. Wandered back. I am awesome and decided to roll down the side of a dune. Apparently came close to bashing my head on one or more rocks? And got sand in every pocket of everything I was wearing.
Robyn and our camp.
Monday morning we woke up at like 530 to go watch the sunrise. Again, cloudy/foggy, so no pretty colors. Breakfast. SUV ride back. We literally spent 13 hours max at the camp itself. 13 hours in the desert, including sleeping. Someone remind me why I paid $150 for this trip? There was no camel riding, no playing in the sand, no nothing. Get there, sleep, leave. On one hand I'm glad I can say I was in the Sahara, but for real, it was a waste of time and money.
My name in Arabic. (Just the sounds. Not the actual word for "cat.")
Guys in the desert with their camels.
So SUVs back to M'hammed. Bus from there. We were supposed to stop in Zagora for lunch, but they apparently decided not to stop since we were already behind schedule. Instead we kept driving to Ourzazate and had lunch at 3:20. So like, 8 hours after breakfast? Awesome. To say we were all cranky is an understatement. It didn't help that they were like "We are leaving at 4:20 be back then!!1!1!!" and the drivers didn't show up to even open the buses til 4:35. Kept driving. Stopped somewhere on the side of a mountain around 8-something? Kept driving. Got to Marrakech at 11pm. Pretty sure we were supposed to have been there at 7? Walked for like half an hour into the city, since we were out in the middle of nowhere. Wound up going to KFC because it was a 24-hour establishment and it was after midnight by the time we got there.
Wound up going to bed around 2 because we obviously got back to the hotel late and there were 5 of us in the room. This hotel was special. Tuesday morning we headed to the Place (Square) Jemaa el-Fna (Jemaa el-Fna being a mosque nearby). Got breakfast. Got orange juice, because there are like 50 carts there that sell fresh-squeezed orange juice for 3 Dhs.
Wandered for an hour. Got henna.
Got lunch. Wanted to get pigeon pastilla, but couldn't find anywhere that had it. :(
The square, from the balcony of the restaurant.
I made a new friend. This cost me 6 Dhs. The guy wanted 100 and I laughed at him. :)
Went back to the hotel only to leave well after we were supposed to. Bus went to Casablanca and Rabat to drop people at the train stations there. In Rabat, after a ridiculously long time sitting on the side of the road, they decided to consolidate the buses. Finally got back to AUI around 1am.
So all in all, it was a waste. We spent most of the four days on the bus. It was totally ridiculous. Totally and completely ridiculous. And the being in the desert part didn't redeem it because we hardly spent any time in the desert and didn't do anything while we were there. It's just super frustrating. Most of the exchange students last semester went to the desert on their own, but I didn't think about joining the group because hey, AUI was organizing one this semester and it would probably be better because they'd done it before. PFFT. Also I could have gone elsewhere this week, but no. Ah well. What's done is done and I can say I've been to (and slept in) the Sahara desert now, right?
Henna. Woot.
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