Wow! The only word I can muster for last night.
That or “Ridiculous”!. It was a great nights sleep.
I’ve slept outside a few times in my life, but this experience far exceeded all previous nights. The level of comfort and “at hominess” of it. Unreal.
So tranquil even with 13 people in camp I felt so much space.

At around 6:30am I woke up. The camp was still and there was a very light breeze. There was no dew or wetness to the air. It was a bit chilly, but nothing uncomfortable. Sort of like waking up in a really big chilly room.

It was perhaps around 65-68 (Fahrenheit) but plenty warm under the comfy covers they provided which consisted of a sheet and a very heavy colorful blanket.
The eastern sky was lighting up (in all shades of blue) and though many stars were still very visible in the West they were already sleeping in the East.
I sat in my outdoor bed and watched it get lighter ever so slowly.

Around 7am a bird flew over camp chirping to all. David woke up and said “That’s a great natural alarm clock.” from a semi lucid state. He sounded partially annoyed, but also serene.
Some from the group stirred when they saw the sky lighting up (still many shades of blue). Maati jumped up and ran to the dunes to take photos.

By 7:30am the sky was erupting in shades of red with Venus being the holdout single point of light in the sky which soon faded to join the others in slumber for the day.

Without a doubt – the group took more photos in the last 12 hours than we had the previous 3 days (and 6 of those hours we were asleep). The desert Sunrise and Sunset were so spectacular you just couldn’t take a bad photo.

After being dispersed in the dunes around the camp taking pictures, everyone assembled for breakfast. Again we had bread with butter and jams. We had brought some dates with us and of course there was sweet Moroccan tea.

Kahlid told us how lucky we were since usually there is a light fog in evening and in the morning which means not as many stars.
Also it is usually too cold or windy to sleep outside. So we lucked out.

Hands down this night was the highlight of everyones trip and one we will not soon forget.  We are now starting to use the word “ridiculous” to describe this trip… No other words come close.

I could easily have stayed another night at the desert camp and just chilled (or likely cooked) during the day, but I think it would be worth it. Sadly, that is not the plan.
After breakfast we grabbed our stuff, piled back into the 4x4s and by around 8:20am we were on our THREE hour 4×4 ride back to civilization.

This took us through some dramatic terrain shift from super thick sand to hard river rocks, shale shelves, and even an oasis or two (real ones).

Our car was having issues with the thick sand at one point stalling out with black smoke pouring from the exhaust.
We took stock of what we had on board (plenty of water, some Kind bars) and noticed a nice group of trees for shade if needed.
None of that was necessary. Our driver got things sorted and we slowly got through it. Once out of the deep sand we were able to catch up with the rest of the group (who were indeed waiting for us).

The first stop around 9:45am was a big, dry lakebed. Moira led some Yoga, Erika rocked some cartwheels and we all took jumping picts.
There was even talk about a toilet break behind a sign (the only thing other then cars for over a kilometer), but I wouldn’t know about such things.

The second stop (around 10:45am) was an oasis. Like and actual freaking oasis.
The ground was noticeably damp and you could dig down to mud.
The last time this area got rain was LAST October (11 months ago) so this water is coming from below.

There was a structure here that we learned is contested between two Nomadic tribes. Somehow they concluded that neither tribe is allowed to use it, but looks like both are since there are some recent additions.

We passed a few Nomadic camps along the way and at one point passed a mother and her son.
The kid was about 3 or 4. Our driver stopped to check on him.

He made off with a Kind Bar and some change.

A bit further up our driver stopped to check on an older gentleman on a motorcycle.
Turns out it was a flat tire and was OK not needing any help.

It’s nice to see this level of group caring out here.
It is remote and living very close to the edge where a flat tire or a leaky water bottle could be the end of it if not for people checking on each other. We passed a section with a bunch of “free range” camels and more stunning landscape.

Eventually we hit the main road and it was a shock to the system (in a pleasant way) to be moving on a flat surface again.

We sped into town where Hamid and our trusty van was waiting. After dropping us off yesterday he took the long (paved) way around to meet us on the other side of the desert.
The drivers of the 4x4s had food waiting for them in the shop they dropped us at (clearly they do this a lot). We were more pressed for time so just kept it to tea, coffee, and fresh squeezed OJ which was a nice welcome back.

We departed town around 12:15pm and are now on what started to be out paved, but has turned into a gravel road along a washed out riverbed. The van is almost as bumpy as the 4×4. I’m sure if we had experieced this level of bouncing in the van before the camels and 4×4 yesterday there would have been a great deal of “Whoas!” and “Yikes!” but after the last modes of transportation most of the van is asleep while I peck away at this update.

From the van perspective this is the toughest ride yet, but Hamid is rock’n it as usual.

It was 1.5 hours before we stopped for lunch in a town known for it’s “Charcoal Grill” cooking of food.
It was quite an experience to walk up to a butchers “booth” to place your order, then walking around the corner to a place that grills it up for you.
I went with Kahlid to buy the meat after grabbing our wide ranging order.
We would say “750grams of beef.” and the guy grabbed a machete and whacked a hunk off the carcass inches from my face, carved it up and hand ground it. Then handed us the bag of fresh ground meat.

The meat was about 20dh (for 250 grams) per person (and we had some left over). 8dh each to cook it, 7dh for a side dish of lentils or French Fries.
So for about $4 each we were eating pretty good.

Back on the road again around 3:20pm for a 2.5 hour push to our hotel.

It is clear from the roads we have traveled in the past two days (on this side of the Atlas) that Morocco is in the process of updating its roads.
Many of the off-road sections we are doing in the van is because they are rebuilding bridges over river washes that appear to have been damaged or destroyed. So many are actively being repaired or rebuilt.

We are passing again through the Atlas mountains and this time via the central place of Saffron and Taloine.

We are also now passing through the Argan tree region that goats are known to climb trees to eat the Argan fruit. Yep. This is a real thing. They digest the outside part of the seed then poop the hard inside which is collected and cracked to get at the nut. Then the nut is squeezed to get an oil or butter.
This is very expensive oil.
We passed a bunch of goats in trees right next to the road and stopped for the photo op.

We arrived at the hotel at 5:45pm.

Stepping off the van we were greeted by humidity.
Even just 3 days out in the desert the amount of humidity felt extreme, but it was probably only about 60%.

This hotel had beautiful grounds and gardens with HUGE rooms compared to what we have had earlier. The pool was really nice as well, but even though the water was warmer (and not salty) than the previous pools, it was just a bit to cool outside to spend much time in.

There were Peacocks roaming around the grounds and of course David jetting around on the wheel.

It was nice to have hot water and comfy rooms. These rooms did have some squeaky and noisy beds though and with much less of view than the previous night  – but we made do. 🙂

Hamid and Kahlid joined us for dinner tonight which was a great addition.
7:30pm we gathered and finished eating by 9:30pm.
Tonight it was back to individual dishes that we ordered in advance on the Van and Kahlid called into them. More tarjine but also there were other options.

A group hung out by a fountain for a bit and chatted but all were back to rooms and crashed out by 10:30pm.

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Today we traveled 318km with about 60km offroad