Merzouga | Traveling Humans

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/ DESTINATION #7 /

MERZOUGA

/ JULY 1–3, 2017 /

Merzouga is on the edge of the Sahara desert; it's where you go to take a camel tour. There's not much else there, but the scenery is stunning.

The overnight bus ride to Merzouga

I was always a bit queasy in Morocco — probably a combination of heat and unfamiliar food — so I developed a picky toddler diet of Pringles and packaged biscuits (when we weren't eating tagine, of course). This was the variety I found at our midnight bus stop.

The bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, which turned out to be the town. We wandered around with our packs until we found a sign for our hotel.

Hotel Nassar Palace in its six a.m. glory.

Breakfast at the hotel

Lounging at the pool

Getting ready for our overnight camel adventure in the room. We were told to be ready by five, but around four we were informed that everyone else was already on their camels and we were late.

Trying to catch up with the rest of the group and tie my turban at the same time

Brandon's camel kept making awful noises. My camel's saddle was off-kilter and the lack of stirrups made for a pretty uncomfortable ride...but of course it was worth it for the scenery.

I forgot to introduce the camels! I'm riding Enrique; Brandon's on Rojo.

I like this picture because it looks like I'm steering the camel when in fact I'm just trying to adjust my butt to get some sort of relief.

Brandon waving/i.e. potentially falling off

Sahara sand: so fine

We got off the camels and climbed to the top of a dune for better sunset viewing.

Thus began a photo shoot

In order for you to get off a camel, it has to first kneel forward and then backward into this position. It feels like you're getting catapulted off every time.

Our tour company keeps a permanent camp in the desert with tents, toilets, and apparently a full kitchen.

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