Day 3 in the Sahara Desert, Sunrise, A camel ride & return to Marrakesh

We woke up early this morning, around 6 am to watch the sunrise from atop the sand dunes in the Sahara desert.  There was no water at the Berber camp, some used the water from their water bottles to brush their teeth, I put on the clothes I wore yesterday, and climbed a sand dune close to the camp to watch the sunrise.    This is the second time I have watched the sunrise during this trip, the last time was in Masada, Israel after hiking up the mountain.  The sun began to rise shortly after I had climbed the sand dune.  I took pictures as the sun rose, we were all still half sleep, not much sleep in the camp last night.

Lynnae watching sunrise from Sand Dune in Sahara Desert 

Sun rising over Sand Dune in Sahara Desert 

Sahara Desert Sunrise 

We returned to the base camp by camel after the sunrise, a 1.5 hour trek through the Sahara desert, it was cool early in the morning, a good time to head out of the desert.  I was on a new camel for the trek back, riding a camel is not very  comfortable, but it was an experience, not sure I will need to repeat this experience though.  We had breakfast, I got in a quick shower, the one we did not have time for, and we left the sand dunes of the Sahara desert around 8 am.

Me on the Camel at Sunrise 

Breakfast at the Sahara Desert Base Camp after Camel Ride 

We set out for the long ride back to Marrakesh after breakfast, most of our group, 5 Canadians,  left early in the trip, taking a grand taxi to Fes.  The Brazilians and I were the only ones left in the van, we could spread out, which was nice for the 12 hour journey from the Sahara Desert to Marrakesh.  We stopped along the way for lunch and the usual bathroom breaks.  I watched the scenery go from desert to mountainous, was really interesting to watch the change and the scenery was beautiful.

From the Sahara to the Mountains on way back to Marrakesh

At a stop in the mountains I met some young  Moroccan men, they heard my accent, asked where I was from, I said America, they said Barack Obama.  One of the men wanted to take a picture with me, he asked me to send it to him, I asked if he had Facebook or email, he said neither, call Barack Obama, tell him to send it to me.  We laughed. 

Lynnae & Moroccan at cafe on way to Marrakesh 

I was exhausted when we got to Marrakesh, I think it was after 7 pm, the driver did not drop us off at our hostel either.  I walked through the main square back to the hostel, dragging my luggage. I checked into another room at the hostel, had some mint tea, was in the common area for another hostellers birthday party, had some cake and relaxed.  I went to an internet cafe to check in for my flight to Madrid, went to buy a snack for dinner and that was my night.  I was up late blogging and went to sleep.  

Tomorrow's destination is Madrid.  I am catching a cold or have caught one, I plan to stay in and relax my first day in Madrid, and hopefully not get a bad cold. 

Day 3 in the Sahara Desert Photo Album