Tag Archives: dunes

travel

Once upon a time…

…. in a land far, far away I happened to put my wheels on the hardest rocks I ever experienced. They ran like waves across my path, and it was so dark in the night. I really didn’t know where to go but the car before me led the way with no hesitation and I kept running and running. Bump after bump. Stone after stone. Right in the desert with no way back home.

And finally we stopped. Seemed the middle of nowhere but there was a light. And a warm fire. And a haima. And friendly voices, and salutations, and tea.

So we sat down, drank tea, had food and spent the night talking under the starts.
Oh gosh – how many starts can the sky hold? How many that I could never see before? And they call them different, but they shine alike. So it’s not Pleyads – it’s Thuraya (and so you get where the satellite phone comes from). And it’s not the Milky Way – it’s Road to Santiago (if you’re speaking Spanish) ot Hay Merchants Way (if you’re speaking Arabic).

While we talk, shadows move in the darkness around us but you shall not fear: slowly and gently, these ghosts take the shapes of camels coming back for the night and a bit of food. Mom and Dad are offered fresh camel milk. It’s warm… it’s foamy… it’s good! And then the bread is made. Time to remove much of the hot hashes, put some cold sand on the fireplace, lower the temperature. A flat mass of dough comes out of nowhere and is dropped on the sand, in the fireplace.

Really????
Really!

All you’ve got to do is cover with other sand, then warm ashes and let it stay. You’ll see ashes rise, the bread is being cooked. And then you take it out, pat it and it’s ready to eat (and no – there’s no sand attached!). Warm, soft, tasty.

Belly is full. Mind is cleared.
What a perfect time to fall asleep…

 

Join in to live Pat’s adventures! www.dakhla-rovers.com

travel

Desert days…Dad said it´s Desert days … :)

After hills, cedars forest and climbing up and down the mountains, finally it is time for some good Desert rides.
Mom drove me till Merzouga and while approaching the landscape changed completely, trees and green all of the sudden disappeared and left spaces to astonishing colours!
Arrived at Erg Chebby, incredible desert with high dunes surrounded by black stony hamada and the good part is that it is finally very dry and hot (38°C) but pfff I am a bit sick… started to leak from my water pump and I feel a bit the heat. Luckily Ahmed, our new local friend and guide, assured in 2 days I will be very well treated on a nice and cosy beauty-farm in Zagora.
After a lazy afternoon where Dad, Mom and Ahmed drunk a lot of Moroccan Whiskey (mint tea) we went to a cosy hotel for the night – the coming day I was ready! Some coolant liquid addition and we started. A slow ride around the Chebby, the sand finally! My wheels where spinning a bit but after a while Dad understood (thanks God) how to drive me on soft sand. We passed by a very stony black desert and then very close to the Algerian border where we stopped in a nice oasis, water, palms, goats … soo nice…time to move back to town, wind started to gain strength and visibility dropped but Ahmed knows every inch of that place so in a short while we were back home safely – Mom I must admit was a bit worried 😛 ….
But the nice part yet has to come… Merzouga to Zagora about 250 km of piste, a path where the famous Paris-Dakar vehicles were passing and running – we were just slow pacing and enjoying the ride… 🙂 … was incredible, such varied scenarios opened up under my wheels, hamada with rocks, tolle ondulé … (me don´t like it – I tell YOU), dry – since long but not for long – lakes where I had the chance to run fast … (me like that MUCH MORE) and sandy patches, small dunes where I was fast enough to float and proceed at decent speed! …Such a great day!!!!…. I will remember it for all my life… wind came up strong toward end of the day but finally we arrived in Zagora… Ahmed brought us to the beauty-farm “Chez Ali Racing” the best workshop in town, and after a bit of chat plus another couple of Moroccan Whiskeys we decided to start my treatment the coming day… so now time for a good sleep.
Thanks Mom and Dad… I really enjoyed our ride..but thanks to Ahmed too …I felt a bit lost when visibility dropped but he knew the way very well 🙂

 

Join in to live Pat’s adventures! www.dakhla-rovers.com