sun, sand, sand, sand, sand, and more sand, and sa...

this last week was spent in the sahara desert (hi mom, yes i'm still alive), with half of that time on a camel safari through mountains of sand.
a 600' high piece of sandi told myself after doing a painful camel safari in jaisalmer india three months ago ((refresh your nostalgic memory here)), i would never get on a camel again......unless i was in the great romanticized sand dunes of the sahara. despite apprehension from my backside, i kept my word, and spent three days on camel back in erg chebbi here in morocco. it's a vast expanse of never ending sand dunes. i was not dissapointed, and have to say that it's one of the most incredible environments i've ever been thrown into (i wasn't actually thrown in, but more like blown in, since we arrived in the middle of a sandstorm. also, i voluntarily went into the desert on my own will. but does any of this matter?).
camel caravan crossing the sahara
the sand dunes are constantly changing. we arrived in the middle of a hurricane like sandstorm. the one road into town was covered in swirling hills of sand. for those of you who have been to denver international airport, it looks like the access road from the city during a white out snowstorm, only with sand instead of snow. snow is a good correlation for the sands of erg chebbi. during a sandstorm, you have zero visibility, constantly pelted with horizontal flying sand, just like snow in a winter blizzard. the sand dunes are constantly changing. looking up from below, they look like gigantic ochre colored mountains, with cornices blowing in the wind. from the top they look like a flowing sea of waves - cresting, and breaking in the wind. but talk's cheap. let's look at the photos, shall we, as i run out to the loo to get the sand out of my ears:
an early morning 5 am hike up to the top for sunrise. you can see our camp down below to the left
here comes the sun
sand,
sand,
sand,
sand,
sand,
sand,
goose! (remember the game duck, duck, goose?....c'mon, i'm tired. got sand in my lungs, and i'm running out of blogging ideas)
sunset in the sahara, with sand dunes in the distance. photo taken from a black rock desert created from an old volcanic explosion. photo created from a nikon d70s with a fisheye lens sponsored by state farm insurance who replaced my original camera stolen 18 months ago.
multi-animal harmony
camels framing a tiny residence where we stayed, along the nomadic bedouin trail. these camels belong to nomadic bedouins who were also stopping en route. of course, they didn't pay tourist prices since they brought their own camels and didn't need a guide.
every night in the desert, whether on the trek, or in town, we slept outside under the stars, watching satellites go by, shooting stars, and the milky way moving above. it was heavenly. we preferred sleeping in the desert as opposed to in town on the hotel roof, since there are no 3:30 am mosque prayer calls in the middle of the sahara. a photo from the tiny residence window where we should of slept, and cecile demonstrating the necessary equipment for staying warm under the stars - a sleepsheet, portable cushion, blankets, and a happy cheerful attitude at 5:30 in the morning.
the sun shining on the camel where the sun don't shine.
for another shining star, check out, Dónde está Ché Pelotas?