Midelt to the Sahara Desert

Today would be the day when we would ride a camel and camp overnight in the Sahara Desert.

Before leaving the Kasbah, I climbed up stairs leading to the roof.

And this was the view.

Our van in the parking lot. We all enjoyed staying at this Kasbah.

The yellow section is not shown on Google maps and our camel ride took place at the end of the yellow. It's only a few miles to the border with Algeria.

Soon we headed off. 

We came into Midelt and passed the Primary School.

The outfit on the right is typically worn by older men. It looks quite warm and is known as a Djelliba. The older men look like they should be in a Harry Potter film.

Minaret. The modern versions all follow much the same design in Morocco.

Midelt is the apple capitol of Morocco and this is their 'Big Apple'.

We drove further east before attempting to cross the High Atlas. There was not as much snow and the mountains were not as high.

Looking back onto the plain as we started to climb.

I have an app that measure altitude.

Nomad life.

Occasionally you come across apartment blocks in the middle of nowhere.

We crossed a river that feeds a dam on the southern side of the range. Note the pylons of an old bridge.

Tortured rock which has tilted 90 degrees.

The High Atlas appears to have several ridges which you also have to cross as you head south.

Graffiti. Morocco is a relatively graffiti free country. The cities are very clean and the poorer areas in the south east do have rubbish scattered about at times, but nothing compared to Egypt or India.

Our guide Mustapha in full regalia.

We came across several oasis as we followed the river.

Water in the lake formed by the dam.

We stopped briefly for a toilet break. Most petrol stations and cafes have a covered area outside with tables and chairs.

Young ladies hanging out. It was Friday so no school.

Typical signs in Arabic and French.

We stopped briefly to look at the start of a very long oasis that follows the river. In the following Google map you can see how far this oasis stretches from just south of the dam lake.

The roof of this building appears to be made of fiber glass.

Inside.

This area is famous for its dates grown in the oasis. Many families own a section of palm trees and sell the dates at a market.

We stopped for a delicious lunch at a Kasbah in the midst of date palms..

The egg came from an egg tagine and it was wonderful. The other stuff was very tasty. So far, I have really enjoyed the food here in Morocco and I have not become bored with eating the same food every night. Believe it or not, I have not had any couscous yet. 

Our group relaxing by the pool.

Palm trees just beyond the wall of the property.

Back onto the bus and the land became drier.

Sand started to appear. Soon we would be riding camels.