Stayed in Mazourga, in an auberge called the Touareg. Room quite smelly, wifi on and off, but what a location! On the edge of the Sahara Desert.
Thought a camel trek and a night in the desert sounded like something I had to do.
It's good I got the camel-back transport out of my system. (A year or so ago, I was considering doing a camel safari for a week or so in outback Australia.) An hour and a half on the camel yesterday and again today tells me that perhaps I'm not cut out for it. It's not a smooth ride, and the way the beast kept making a loud farting noise with its throat and lips while it turned its big head to see what was sitting on its back, was a little frightening. I wondered if it could reach back far enough to take a camel bite-sized chunk out of my calf.
The Clingon pronounced the camel trek boring.
However, we did make it to the camp in the desert without mishap. When we arrived the camel driver, Said, told us to go up to the top of "that big dune", so that we could watch the sunset. I was surprised. He expected us to go off and play in the desert without someone to show us how to get there and get back.
So, that's what we did. I had visions of getting lost and wandering about seeing mirages and dying of thirst. I've told you about my sense of direction before, but having the Clingon with me, and keeping the camp in sight from the top of whatever dune we were on, allowed me to get up there, take some sunset photos, and get back before it got dark.
We had some mint tea with Said and then he got on with cooking our dinner. It was a great meal, rice with a Berber kind of dressing (a chunky sauce of tomato, onions and herbs) and a very tasty chicken tajine. Fruit followed. Then Said returned. He moved back the carpets from the middle of the courtyard between the tents, and built a fire in the sand. Another young man joined us. He was also Said. (Said 2 said that he slept in the camp every night, looking after it.) They warmed the skins of some drums in front of the fire, and then began to play for us.
The two Saids played the drums. And then they sang and accompanied themselves on the drums. They passed drums to the Clingon and I. The Clingon had already been put on the spot earlier that day when some Mali musicians insisted he play with them. (He turned bright red, but to his credit, he did actually make a white boy kind of effort with the rhythm thing.)
After a lot of faffing about, the Clingon sang a Spanish song. I could not think of a single song. I was convinced I had never sung a song in my life, or if I had, I had completely forgotten every single one. Those of you who know me well, know that I saved the Saids from a very unpleasant experience by not singing anything.
After the Clingon had exhausted his repertory, Said suggested we tell jokes. I wondered if they would be very funny in the present company, where they would have to be in English so that I could join in. (Said 1 speaks Spanish better than English, and Said 2 speaks no Spanish but quite good English.) Then Said2 said that what Said1 meant, was not a joke, but a kind of question.
Oh, a riddle? Then I could not remember a single riddle I'd ever heard or told. I was madly trying to remember Bilbo's favourites, but I could not remember a single one.
Hereunder I will make a record of the riddles riddled by the Saids. Please make an effort to work out the answers before my next blog. I will provide the answers in the next entry. (And no fair going to Mr Google. That service would have saved me from looking so dense last night, but there was no wifi in the dunes.)
1. How do you get a camel into the fridge in three movements?
2. Why don't Japanese people eat with this finger? (Said held up his index finger.)
3. Three people are crossing the river. The first one sees the water and touches the water. The second one sees the water, but doesn't touch the water. The third one doesn't see the water or touch the water. Who are the people?
4. The lion is holding a party. He invites all the animals and they all turn up, except for one animal. Which one doesn't attend the party and why?
Ok. That's it for today. We are in
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Location:R703,Ouarzazate,Morocco
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