02/06/2021
Sand, sand, sand and more sand. The “ergs” of the Sahara desert (careful, Morocco’s desert is technically not the Sahara which is a bit further south in Algeria but what’s a hundred km anyway) can be described as “seas of sand”. Being here, in this deafening silence produces strong and sometimes unfamiliar emotions. It’s no wonder that the three main monotheistic faiths all emerged from the desert. In Islam, sand is considered pure, so much so that in absence of water, Muslims can perform their ablutions with sand before prayers.
Our road trip through the south of Morocco draws to a close, and now it is time to tilt towards home and think of the future of travel on the horizon.
This trip has covered almost 5,000km, and passed through mountains, empty river beds, abandoned villages, casbahs, coast and desert. It was not meant to showcase the obvious highlights of the country, but to give a peek at what gems are there when you’re willing to look.
We’ve met fishermen, farmers, Berbers who guard empty synagogues which once belonged to the country’s Jewish population, farmers toiling the fields to harvest their wheat, herders tending their flocks, and even a team of archeologists who ventured here during Covid to digitally map some of the regions fortified granaries in an attempt to preserve a threatened patrimony from disappearing.
But for me, it is the desert in Morocco that always gets the final word.
As is always promised when one agrees to veer off the well worn tourist path in Morocco, this trip has illuminated and inspired, given me pause for reflection and renewed my enthusiasm for that eventual day, hopefully soon, that you’ll come to pay us a visit and see a bit of the country that gives back so much more than what you put in. Thank you friends, for following along.
