“In North Africa, the earth becomes the less important part of the landscape because you find yourself constantly raising your eyes to look at the sky. In the arid landscape, the sky is the final arbiter. When you have understood that, not intellectually but emotionally, you have also understood why it is that the great trinity of monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—which removed the source of power from the earth itself to the spaces outside the earth—were evolved in desert regions. And of the three, Islam, perhaps because it is the most recently evolved, operates the most directly and with the greatest strength upon the daily actions of those who embrace it. For a person born into a culture where religion has long ago become a thing quite separate from daily life, it is a startling experience to find himself suddenly in the midst of a culture where there is a minimum of discrepancy between dogma and natural behavior, and this is one of the great fascinations of being in North Africa.” –Paul Bowles, Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue
Well, I finally journeyed to the Sahara. Almost every volunteer I know says that a camel ride among the Saharan dunes--the base town is named Merzouga--is a must-do thing. It only took me 18 months (wow, have I really been here that long) but over the recent long holiday weekend, I finally set foot in the Sahara sand. And it felt so good.
One of the best parts of my training outside Ouarzazate was being able to sit in my host family’s courtyard and stare at all the stars in the night sky. There, on the cusp of the Sahara, they were a sight to see. My mountains’ stars just do not hold that same beauty. So it was a pleasure to be back under the desert sky.
I had such a wonderful time. After arriving in the heat of the day (temps in the 90s!), sitting back to enjoy a cup of tea and soak up the warmth, the camels were loaded and the 2 hour camel trek began. Eventually (the camel trek was just a few minutes too long) we came to our evening accommodations—a large tent surrounded by dunes.
Enjoying not sitting on the camel’s hump—in case you are wondering, they just have one—we tried to go for a little hike. I was practically raised on sand but living in the mountains has made me weak. Walking in the soft Saharan sand was difficult. We struggled. I have so much admiration for the camel guys (ours was awesome), walking out and back all day long. Whew.
Settling into our tent, reading, and writing, dark came quickly. The stars came out but unfortunately, the almost-full moon took away some of their brightness. But still, sitting outside staring up at the sky, 2 hours away from electricity and running water, it was nice to be away from it all.
