Merzouga, Morocco

When I think back to my trip to Morocco, I'm confronted with a series of juxtaposing images and emotions. The country was nothing like I'd expected. I'd traveled to the Near East before, as well as to a few developing countries in Asia, and I suspected Morocco would be a mix of the two, with a little African flavour thrown in. And although in retrospect it seems I might have been on to something, the reality was in many ways different. The country holds some absolute gems - like the mountain-set, blue tinted Chefchaouen - but unfortunately (and I believe some of my fellow travelers would agree) it is important to seek out a Morocco that suits your traveling needs and wants.

Marrakesh itself is a chaotic jumble of cars, trucks, buses and donkey-pulled carts all making their way through the ever-confusing non-linear streets. People are everywhere, transporting goods, selling things you don't need and generally (at least it seemed that way) providing misdirection and misinformation. We visited in late August 2010, during Ramadan and (what turned out to be) the greatest heat any of us had ever known. One day after lunch we saw the mercury hit 53° C. No joke. The heat, combined with the reality that it was difficult to find food during daylight hours and the fact that a group of us had been traveling together for five weeks, make for interesting memories of Morocco.

So why did I post this photo? Was it to bring back all the mixed memories of a truly unforgettable country? I'm not sure really. This photo comes from a camel-ridding trek that took us into the Sahara and towards the Algerian border. To get here we left Marrakesh early on a Monday morning and drove for two days stopping at various little towns and 'attractions' along the way. Just outside the town of Merzouga we boarded camels and rode into the dessert for two hours, stopping just before sundown to stay over night with a Berber tribe.

I suppose I like this photo because it reminds me of all the natural beauty Morocco has to offer. I look at this photo and I don't remember that I was recovering from food poisoning at the time; or that the night before Alison and I found a scorpion in our hotel bedroom. I look at it and remember riding into the dessert on a camel, smile firmly planted on my face with Ben's child-like cries of adventure ringing in my ears. I suppose that it is a testament to the power of nostalgia. Nonetheless, I always remember what I tell people who ask me how Morocco was: it's the country I'm most happy I'd been to, but also the one that I'm in least rush to get back.

Again, any questions on Morocco related tourism, just let me know...