From Sahara to Todra Gorge

 Our camp from part way down the dune at sunrise.

 Breaking camp.

 Our host and cook.

 The beautiful desert.

 The ride back.

 Look who is following me.

The Khettara wells.

 The El Khorbat Oasis.

 Speedy.

Tuesday, September 19^th.

When I woke up it was pitch black in the tent but I could hear Wim sleeping beside me. The wind had died and I decided to go back outside. I went out and laid down on my sandy mattress and pulled up the sandy blanket and looked up at the sky and the stars. There was no moon, so the stars were amazing and I saw a couple of satellites and shooting stars. Gradually the sky in the east began to brighten and slowly the stars disappeared. Rachid came and woke us all up to go see the sunrise. We walked to the base of the same dune as last night and began to climb a little way up it for a better view. We sat on the dune and waited. I decided to climb to the top again while I was waiting for the sun. All evidence of our climb last night was erased by the winds. I was alone at the top and the view was again beautiful as I watched the sunrise. Then I descended back down the steep side to the camp. We packed up and climbed aboard our camels for the trek back. It was very quiet, serene and beautiful. Breakfast was waiting for us at the Auberge Samala. To support our local guides I bought a Berber symbol necklace from Halid and then we loaded up in the van.

We retraced our steps to the nearest town where we stopped to buy water and Rachid bought a box of dates. They were fresh, picked today and the sweetest and ripest I have ever had.

As we drove we saw a number of little man made hills. We stopped beside some of them and Rachid explained that they were the Khettara wells. These are the series of wells that I saw on National Geographic where the Berber people would dig a series of wells from the hills to the oasis. Each well would be a little deeper than the previous one and then men would climb down inside the wells and tunnel to connect each one so that the water would flow down to the oasis where they could grow crops. Rachid explained that the government is providing assistance to the nomads so that they can dig wells to grow crops instead of being totally dependent on animals, sheep and goats. They are growing dates, watermelons and other crops.

We stopped at a Berber village for lunch. The restaurant was very nice and the food was great; I had a little beef pastry pie. Afterwards we went to see a museum the community has set up about the Berber history and culture. Rachid, being Berber was very proud to explain all the displays to us. The village has very narrow tunnel type alleys for streets to protect people from the heat.

We stopped for another amazing panoramic view of another oasis where we took a group shot. Then we continued on until we arrived at the Todra Gorge. Our hotel, for the next two nights is the Taborihte Kasbah. We parked on one side of the road and had to cross the road, walk down some stairs, walk over a wooden bridge to reach it. The hotel is a beautiful three floor hotel with a restaurant in the lobby and has a pool. The tile work throughout is excellent. The manager meet us and gave us tea. Rachid introduced him to us as 'Speedy'. I dumped my stuff in my room and headed down to the pool to cool off.