Meng's Travels: Crossing the Atlas Mountains into the Sahara Desert

Leaving Fez, we are now on a long road trip south through the Middle and High Atlas Mountain Range to the town of Erfoud. We are now driving through the heartland of Morocco. The Atlas Mountains separates the Sahara Desert from the Atlantic Ocean. It's mostly inhabited by the Berbers, an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. The Berbers have survived in these desolate mountain ranges for centuries. They speak their own Berber languages. In our travels throughout Morocco we find many of them living side-by-side with Arabs in the big cities.

One of the places we stopped was Ifrane, a ski town. One would have never thought that you can ski in Morocco but with the highest peak at over 4,000 meters or 13,000 feet, skiing is possible.

Ifrane, a town in the Atlas Mountains

Buildings along the highway

A fairly desolate landscape

We arrived outside of Erfoud and stayed at the Chergui Hotel. It's a beautiful hotel decorated in traditional Moroccan-style. Our rooms were spacious and the buffet dinner was wonderful.

Spacious bedroom

The Courtyard with date palms

Entrance to the Casbah (Citadel)

Long, long time ago this part of Morocco was under the sea. After the water dried up or drained into the ocean, many fossils were buried here. Around Erfoud a mini-fossil industry sprung up, specializing in finding and selling these polished fossils to tourists.

Fossils on a slab

Fossils from the sea

Fossil Shells

We stopped at a small town called Rissani.

Street Shopping

Moroccan Seven-Eleven

Walking through a market

Dates are an important crop

Olives are also common here

We finally arrived at our camp in Erg Chebbi, where we'll be spending three nights. The camp is owned by the travel company OAT and run by locals. My thoughts at first when I heard of the camp is that we'll be sleeping in tents. But I know many Americans would not go for such basic accommodations. These are very posh - with ensuite bathrooms and comfortable beds. My only complaint is that it gets very cold at night because they don't have heaters.

Our camp in the Sahara Desert

A very comfortable tent

Looking at the outside of the tent

As comfortable as the camp is, the food is even better. We had a staff to cater to our dining experience. The food is cooked in a Tajine or Tagine. The word "tagine" refers to both a North African cooking pot with a conical lid, and the aromatic stew traditionally cooked inside.