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Sorry everyone for taking so long to update this. I know you must all be dying to read the next installation of this epic drama. I'll pick up where the last blog ended, with me on the bus to Merzouga to start my desert safari. So I got to Merzouga and this place is tiny, not the tourist hub I'd been hoping for! So no chance of just hopping on a tour with a group of others as there was no-one else around. It was also very hot, even at 5.30am and I guess maybe I underestimated how hot the desert can get. It's mid-June and I didn't think it would be quite this hot yet! To give you an idea, in the shade at midday that afternoon it reached over 45C, and it's dry heat as well so the moisture is just sucked right out of you. There were only 2 oter tourists on the bus and although I'd had another place in mind, I decided to join them instead, as the chances of me meeting other tourists to safari with seemed slim. And am I glad I did! When we got to the hotel, it was obviously the best in the area but we were the only guests. Apparently there were some extremely bad flash floods here a few years ago which killed a lot of people and destroyed the hotels and infrastructure. Anyway I booked a 2day/2night desert trek on camels. The other 2, Mela and Mathieu booked a one night trip, we'd spend the 1st night together then I'd continue on. We would leave that afternoon at 5.30pm for the sunset. But as the day went on, I realised that although I really want to do a longer trek and see more of the dunes, I'm not well enough and it's too hot, so I cancel the send night and just do the sunset-night-sunrise tour the others are doing. I'll admit it was also the prospect of continuing my travels with them, rather than on my own, which prompted the change of mind. When we went to the camels, there were only 3 and I thought with alarm, oh no do we have to share camels? But no, our Berber guide would be walking. I don't envy him the job, and he even walked in the hot sand in bare feet for the most part. These Berbers are tough! I was on the lead camel, and we quickly settled into the rhythm of the camels' stride. Many photos were taken (to be uploaded as soon as I can) and a lot of them turned out brilliantly to my surprise. The first disappointment came when we reached our camp for the night. We'd been told that we would be camping by ourselves and instead we found ourselves in a communal camp area with lots of other tours. Not really a massive problem, as we were seperate slightly, but not the solitary night under a thousand stars I imagined. Although the stars were amazing. The sky really is different in the northern hemisphere (besides the obvious replacement of the southern cross with the north star). We slept out under them that night, and I slept really well! We were also disappointed because we'd been told that there would be some entertainment (singing, music etc) but there wasn't, and our guide was extremely tacturn and wouldn't answer questions. So in the end the setting was stunning, these dunes are amazing, but the tour wasn't so hot. We went with Nassar Palace, just in case anyone wants to avoid it!
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