We are awoken this morning at 5:00 AM by some strange chewing and crunching sounds coming from nearby. We peek out the tent and see the silhouette of a kneeling camel and his master a short distance away. They are there, ready to take us on our camel trek into the dunes to watch the sun rise. It is the Tuareg man (in his striking blue dress) from the previous day, along with a boy with another camel. After we take down our tent and put away our things, we (five of us are going) mount the camels (which is an experience on its own, as they jerk themselves on their feet), and head into the dunes in single file at 5:30 AM.
While the sun has not yet come up, the dawn light is starting to get stronger and stronger by the minute. The colors of the sky and the sand are just fantastic, and it is wonderful to watch them change as we slowly make our way into the dunes on the camels. After we get a ways into the dunes, we dismount from the camels to walk (scrabble) to the top of a steep dune to get a clear view of the sun rise over the dunes. After taking lots of pictures, we head back down to the camels, and mount for the ride back.
The ride back is also wonderful, with the warm colors of the sand continuing to change all the time. We are also creating fantastic shadows on the dunes as the convoy of five camels winds its way back to the truck. We get back to the campsite at 7:00 AM, just in time for breakfast. After breakfast, we break camp and head on our way to Todra Gorge. On the way, we visit Merzouga and walk around the oasis and see how they pipe water in from far away through old aqueducts built years ago. The women were working hard collecting water to take home. After leaving Merzouga, we drive through a town where a demonstration is going on - they are demonstrating for Palestine. They are blocking the street, so we let a local truck go ahead of us and make a path through all the people.
Our next stop is Tinerhir, which is a nice town where we have lunch and our cook team goes shopping as it is once again our turn to prepare the meals. We wander amongst the local shops, picking up what we need for dinner and breakfast. As we could not find any good meat, it was a vegetarian meal. We shopped for dinner and breakfast for 23 people and spent a total of Dirham 170 (or less than US$17) - quite good!!!
We arrived at Todra Gorge at around 3:30 PM and park the truck at the Yasmina Hotel, which is situated right in the gorge at a point where it gets quite narrow and the walls rise in sheer cliff faces about 500+ meters on each side. It is a spectacular setting. As it is our turn to cook, we take it easy, working on our diaries and soaking our feet in the spring-fed stream.
At 5:00 PM we set up the campsite and begin to prepare our second meal of the trip. We decide to make fried rice and a clear, vegetable soup. I thought it turned out quite well - there just was not enough of the fried rice. After washing up after dinner and taking a shower, we get ready for bed. Tonight, we are sleeping in the hotel restaurant, which is a tent, covered area.