The shitty rip off hotel left a bad
taste in our mouth. After taking extra long hot showers in some sort
of misguided attempt to get some of our value back we headed to the
neighboring town of Rissani. We had decided a soccer ball would
improve our desert experience by a number of factors and with no
visible shops around Merzouga we headed to the next substantial city.
Right as we entered Rissani we saw a
small toy stall with what looked like plastic soccer balls. Wanting
something a little more authentic we decided we would save this option as a
last resort. Not 10 minutes later all of the shops in town closed their doors and locked them shut with padlocks. Having no idea of what just transpired we
traveled to the next city which was another 10 miles or so down the road. As we arrived in Arfoud it was instantly clear that all of their shops were also closed. Being that it was a Friday afternoon we were fairly confused. Having about two hours before we were to meet our desert guide we decided to grab lunch in the hope that the shops would open by the time we had finished.
With our leisurely lunch complete and the shops still closed it was looking like operation soccer ball was a huge failure. We accepted our fate and drove to
the meeting place our guide had specified just outside of Merzouga proper. A man approached us right away and said my name.
Hassan would be our guide for the next 3 days.
He lead us to his place in the middle of
Merzouga. Tim inquired if he knew where to get a soccer ball before we left. He
proceeded to take us through the small town to see if anyone was
selling a ball.
The first shop we stopped at said they
might have a ball at his father's shop. While he ran out to check his father's inventory we were
invited into the shop to look around. Tim was instantly aware of the order blocking properties a turban possesses when he was fitted with this bad boy.
The shop owner returned without any
balls so our search continued. Shop after shop was without our desired item and things were looking grim. Finally one owner told us that the soccer federation had given all of the children in the village free soccer balls. Shops had stopped
carrying them because they couldn't move any product due to the saturated market. Hassen suggested we try to buy a ball from one of the children. Not long
after we ran into a group of kids, soccer ball in hand.
Hassan talked to them and they started
juggling with us, almost to gauge if we were worthy. After we
blew their minds with our sweet skills one of the boys set the asking price at 50 dh. I quickly accepted and we headed back. Constructed with the worlds finest foam and possessing just enough air pressure to keep a mostly circular form this ball is top of the line.
At this point we really didn't care how nice it was, we were just happy we had found what we were looking for. We kicked the ball around as we waited for the camels. After another hour or so they finally arrived.
Excitement ran though Tim's veins as we headed into the desert.
Our journey began at dusk so the landscape was not very photogenic for our digital cameras.
It was nice seeing the sunset over the dunes however. Halfway into our journey we realized that we would not make it to camp before dark.
Hassan lead us for another 45 minutes in pitch black with only the stars leading him. He found our camp with no issues and we were both fairly impressed. Without the aid of the sun the temperature dropped to near freezing quite quickly. Hassan and his assistant built us a fire.
As we warmed up they prepared dinner
for us. It was a basic tagine of potatoes, carrots, eggplant, and
chicken. The warmth of the food paired with a hot kettle of mint tea warded off our emerging hypothermia.
After the fire died down it was time
for bed. Our quarters were a large blanket fort. The blanket roof served no real purpose and it would have been nice to see all of the stars that were able to emerge without any light pollution.
Our beds consisted of 3 heavy blankets
over a sleeping pad. These hearty wool blankets were not quite enough
to keep us warm. We froze our asses off. Ankle socks were a poor choice. I had 4 layers on underneath the mountain of blankets and still had heat issues. Tomorrow we will ride our camels out
another couple of miles to a berber village just outside of the
Algerian border. Hopefully we will fare better with the cold.
