May 7th & 8th Skoura to Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara and exploring the Erg Chebbi dunes

Thursday, May 7th we started ahead of schedule as this trip seemed as though it had many potential stops plus over 5 hours of driving, some along "the road of 1,000 kasbahs". Unfortunately the driver whizzed by the best ones without giving us an opportunity to stop and photograph them properly. 

Kasbah with Atlas Mountains in back

An hour into the trip we reached the rose growing area of Dades Valley, and saw people picking roses for use in perfume. We know from the Jebal Akthar of Oman that roses are only picked in the early mornings. We asked numerous times to stop at a rosewater distillery and finally were rewarded with that stop so we could see the process done here. Many French perfumers source their rose scent from the oils from this valley. It is all very industrial now with big tanks steaming up the rose petals aligned in large bags beside the metal tank. Leslie bought a small amount of rose water for $10 versus the $15 she had spent for rose water in Goa, India.

Famous Damasc Roses

An hour further on, we stopped in  Kelaat M'Gouna  for a dagger-making operation (Azlag Dagger Cooperative), where they make traditional Moroccan-style daggers in different styles, some with camel-bone handles, and some with worked silver, copper, brass or white metal.  They have been making daggers in this area for over seven centuries. The history and design of the daggers were first created by the Jewish communities that resided in the area. The association has about 60 members. In the courtyard building housing the artisans there are mostly artisans working on daggers we we also met a lone female working in filigree jewelry. There is the rose festival starting today and she has a stand at the festival area that we will visit on our way back. 
  We bought a hand-made lock, of brass and metal, from a cute old metalworker who said he only worked occasionally, when he was not ill. He was a real delight and very friendly. Leslie had discovered him while David was checking out all the daggers. The ladies will wear the key of the lock fastened to their scarf to hold it down in the wind, always have it on hand and for adornment.

formal way to wear a dagger

There was a parade being prepared in honor of the local Governor, so Leslie was able to take pictures of some of the performers in traditional dress-up on their way to the central square. We were also supposed to see a woman artisan working in silver filigree jewelry, and although she was present, she had moved all her stuff to the central square, so we agreed we would see her on our return journey.

Demonstrating use of his lock!

Local Dades Valley Costumes

We stopped at Todra Gorge, where water from the High Atlas Mountains has cut a deep channel in the rocks, and then had an unspectacular lunch at the only tourist-approved place in the nearby town.

View of Tinerhir near Tadra Gorge

Proceeding on, with the High Atlas becoming more distant on the left but the Anti Atlas Range closer on our right, we stopped at an interesting cultural museum in an old renovated mud building, the Musee de Oasis at Tinjad.  The small museum traces tribal migrations through artifacts of semi nomadic life: saddles, maps of tribal movements, the history of the Jews in the area, silver jewelry, rifles and muskets. What we enjoyed most is that the artifacts labels included English!

We also saw the unremarkable women’s embroidery association there.

Embroidering Head Shawl

Back in the car again and heading south we passed very large lines of hillocks in the desert that were access holes to an underground water system from the 12^th Century. The system known as Khettara here in Morocco, but basically the same system as found in many Middle Eastern countries, brings the water from the base of the Atlas Mountains, and each tribe or village had their own system across the desert. These systems have been superseded by water wells driven by engines, and so have fallen into disuse. The black berbers of the south were the  hereditary class of diggers in Morocco who built and repaired these systems.

Underground water system access holes

 We then proceeded on to Erfoud where we saw the spectacular fossil-processing co-op. Here you could buy anything from a half inch trilobite to a full-size marble dining table containing marine fossils of various types.

Cleaning and polishing small fossils

various large fossils after cleaning, polishing

The last 45 minutes to Merzouga was on an unpaved short-cut, and we reached our unspectacular accommodation Riad Madu, which is really half a kilometer from the dunes rather than just below the large Sahara dunes. It does have AC in the room, but not elsewhere, so hopefully we will not be too hot here. The temperature on arrival was 100 F with a hot wind at 20 MPH.

Caravan Looking for Tourists

Wet the fossil rocks down!

The next morning we were up and out the door after a very dried out Continental breakfast. The air here is so dry that your laundry even inside dries very quickly. We were happy that we had gotten a fairly good night of sleep given the heat and wind. We drove around in our Toyota LandCruiser on gravel, sand and other surfaces without getting stuck, which was good. We stopped to see in-situ the fossils that we had seen the previous day chiseled and fashioned into beautiful tables, sink basis, art pieces and smaller items like serving dishes.

It was interesting to see a lake in this small sand dune area and to learn that there is water very close to the surface.

Small lake beneath dunes

We stopped at a Bedouin tent to have tea, and though we had hoped to find some women weaving, that was not to be the case. They said it was too windy now. The tent material is woven of a mixture of camel hair and goat to give it some additional strength and water proofing. The inside main tent support was also curved, which we had not seen before. It was lovely to sit there looking out at the red dunes but the heat was really picking up so we moved on as we were slowly circling the Erg Chebbi dunes.

In Bedouin tent for tea

We next stopped to visit the Gnawa musicians in the village of Khamlia. The Gnawa musicians were originally slaves that were taken from Mali, Guinea, and Ghana to be transported by traders along the gold caravan route . Originally, their purpose was to serve as guards to Morocco’s sultans; however, their role gradually changed to ‘musical doctors’ or those who heal the soul. There is a school for these musicians here in the village, and it was an interesting stop to make. Our friend Victoria did her first documentary on Morocco, and we are watching that in the evenings with our guide and driver. They have been amazed that she had gotten access to film many of the things she did.

Gnawa musician

We had lunch at the Riad and did a laundry, got organized and read, enjoying the air conditioning in our rooms. What wimps we are!  At around 5:30 we went out to see what the pool was like and were delighted with the "infinity" pool with a view of the massive red dunes. We relished paddling around in the small pool, cooling off, reading our books and watching all the tourist ride off on camels for a sunset on the dunes. We were recalling many such rides over the years and were happy we did not feel we needed to add another to the list.

Enjoying the sand dunes from the poolside!

Tomorrow is another 6 hr driving day basically going back the way we came and going on to another village called Ait Ben Haddou, where we are going to meet one of the guides that Victoria used when she did her filming.

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