August 10th, 2017

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Oh my beautiful, well-trained, desert-dwelling, humped friend - YOU made my entire trip to the desert, nay, my entire trip to Morocco worth it!

 

I'll be honest, Marrakesh was slightly overwhelming.  It was difficult to relax and enjoy my the environment and culture as vendors are relentless in their harassment of tourists, especially if they look like a western white girl like me (pretty sure we're stereotyped as naive and frivolous...so that's cool...).  So I escaped to the desert!

A 3 day desert excursion where on the second day we reached the Saharan sand and CAMELS! It was surreal! But about these camels: the first ten minutes are great! You start bonding with your camel, you're digging the motion of the back-and-forth ride, you're still elated about the fact that you're on a freaking camel in the desert!! Then it starts getting a little rough...literally.   I don't have anything to compare it to, but after a few hours on the hump, you start feeling the deep need to ice the groin.  It was so brutal, one couple decided to walk back in the morning rather than ride the humpty humps.  

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However, despite the discomfort, I would do it again a thousand times over.  It's such a great experience that I hope everyone can experience in their lifetime.  I will say I'm very thankful I chose to wait until I was in the desert to ride a camel.  You can't avoid commercialism when it comes to tourism, but experiencing something in the "natural habitat" or "place of origin" makes the experience just that much more authentic. For instance - RIDING A CAMEL IN THE SAHARAN DESERT.