Desert Driving

Day 5 and I got up and went for a quick dip in the pool this morning.
I say quick dip and I'm not exaggerating - it was much colder than I thought it would be so after about 3 laps I was ready to get out.
We had breakfast and boarded the bus, everyone seemed quite excited as we were off to the desert.
For a lot of people I think this was the main reason they booked this trip, for me it was another day of amazing stuff that I didn't know I would have in my life.
As I took my seat at the back of the bus I couldn't help but think wouldn't it be nice if I could start every day feeling this way.

First stop was a local library famed for holding ancient texts of the Koran and copies of old Berber poetry. I had no idea what any of it said but it looked more beautiful than anything else I had ever seen written down - it seems in Morocco even the literature is Art.
We then went to a pottery place and we were given a tour and a demonstration before a chance to buy some of the handiwork. I loved the stuff there and could have bought loads if we weren't enroute to a desert campsite so I settled for a couple of small bowls - perfect for olives and dips back home.
We then had a picnic in the sun before heading out for a rather bizarre camel ride.
It was fun but it was weird because it was obligatory, the hottest part of the day and we were only just in the desert. I'm not saying I'd like to have been on a camel in the middle of nowhere at night time either... so I just came to the conclusion that perhaps there isn't a perfect time/place to ride a camel!
(They are supposed to be functional not fun after all)
I'm not sure why we feel that riding native animals in foreign countries should be part of the tourist experience, but I just tried to enjoy it.

We then stocked up on our water supplies and boarded 4x4s to head to our camp.
This was hands down one of the most fun things I have done in the last few years.
I was sat at the back - feeling every single turn of the wheel and bump in the road and I loved it! I felt like a kid again, I know there's a thrill to getting on any mode of transport when you're abroad but this was on a whole other level...
The terrain was awesome - unimaginable to be driving along it - no roads, no traffic, no warning of dangers. Our driver was excellent and the 4 of us had such a laugh with him, it made me so giddy to be using such man-made technology to cross the uncrossable. There we were speeding headlong into something desolate and uninhabited and it was oddly liberating.

When we got to camp we dumped our bags and headed up the dunes to watch the sunset and compared to the drive and there was an unexpected calmness to looking out and seeing sand as far as the eye could see.
We wandered around in a little group, laughing, taking photos... I felt like we were together but all experiencing this in our own way too.
I thought the Sahara would be rough and hard and uninviting but it wasn't, it was just quiet and unassuming and almost spiritual.
The sky slowly started changing colours above us and the temperature and consistency of the sand seemed to change beneath us too.
We just sat and took it all in and no matter how long we sat there it never looked the same as the last time we looked at it.

We went back down to camp and had dinner and then all sat round the fire and then about 5 of us decided to sleep out by the fire under the stars.
It took me ages to get to sleep because even though it was pitch black and I couldn't see the stars without my glasses I didn't want to miss a single second of all this.