The Sahara desert: Day 5: Erg Chigaga to Ouarzazate

It's the final morning of our stay in this magical place. After a leisurely breakfast we pack our belongings and venture out of our tent to say goodbye to Bobo and the team with whom we've shared these past few wonderful days. To our utter amazement, whilst we have been packing one suitcase, the team have packed up most of the whole camp's belongings into one tent! Cushions, blankets, tables, chairs, lamps, rugs and numerous other items are piled high on top of each other, seemingly randomly...but knowing this team, there will be a method of organisation which we don't need to know. Bobo explains that there are no more visitors to the camp for a few days now after we leave, so everything must be packed away into one tent and a 'guardien' will stay at the camp and keep watch whilst everyone else goes home for a few days to see their families, mostly to the nearest town of M'Hamid just over 2 hours away by car...or 7 hours by camel (I know which method of transport I'd prefer!)

We too set off, waving goodbye to our new friends and our wonderful experience, Fath, at the wheel once again. He is taking us back via an alternative route, across the dry salt lake bed called Lake Iriqi. This route was often featured in the Paris-Dakar Rally...and today it certainly feels like we are in a race as we speed over the flat barren land which once was a lake but is now made up of seemingly endless salt flats. It stretches for miles and miles ahead of us as far as the eye can see. This really is like a wilderness...the odd tree, bush, camel, signpost for a school - uh? And then a cafe/bar - in the middle of nowhere?

A school?

A cafe/bar?

As we speed across this barren land, stopping now and again to just gaze at the vastness of this space, we see what looks like the ocean ahead of us - but that's not right, this is the desert! It is a mirage, the light is playing with our eyes! As we come nearer to the 'water' nothing seems to change - but somehow we never quite reach it

Our car in barren land

Is that the sea?

Beautiful Acacia trees

Eventually, land is in sight...we have left the beauty of the desert behind us and in front of us lies the long route back through numerous villages to reach our overnight destination, Ouarzazate, and the same lovely Kasbah we stayed in on our way here, Kasbah Ellouze.

Civilisation again

As we draw near to Foum Zguid and our stopping off cafe, funnily enough also called Erg Chigaga, we can hear a loud whistling sound. On closer inspection, a large 4 inch bolt has punctured our back tyre - thank goodness that didn't happen in the desert, miles from anywhere! As we sip freshly squeezed orange juice and then coffee, awaiting a fictitious mechanic who never turns up, a young lad passes by on his bike and stops to help. Between them, Fath, Mart and this lad take the wheel off and unlock the spare tyre from its casing - to our utter disgust it is flat! So now what? A small village, no mechanic and 2 flat tyres! The lad promptly hitches the flat wheel onto his bike and peddles off into the distance to get some air put into it for us - he doesn't even need to be asked. Whilst we wait for the return of the lad with our tyre - he will come back, won't he? - we take a look at the badges displayed on the cafe door, each one being left by a different car tour group that has also used this place as a stop-off. They come from all over the world.

Our flat tyre

Fed up of waiting now

Nearly ready to go

Freshly squeezed orange juice

Our cafe

Badges from all over the world adorn the cafe door

A few coffees later and the lad returns with a blown-up tyre which he insists on fitting back onto the car. The kindness of the Moroccan people is in evidence yet again. A small gift of a few dirhams and we're on our way again and en route to the next town where we hope to have the spare tyre mended - just in case.

Indeed, another coffee at yet another cafe in the next town whilst our spare tyre is being mended, and 40 dirhams later (£3.20) and we're off again. Eat your heart out, Kwik-Fit!

We have arranged to take Fath all the way to Ouarzazate with us so he can catch a bus back to M'hamid from there, a journey of about 4 hours - otherwise he will have to wait a good while till someone passing through can take him back. We learn on the journey that he is actually a touring musician with a band and is going on tour to County Sligo in Ireland amongst other places next year - funny to think that this traditional man of the desert is soon to be visiting Europe in all its modernity. Wonder what he will make of it....

As we are driving along, I notice that Fath seems to be changing his clothes in the back seat - I turn around and much to my surprise he is no longer wearing the traditional blue and yellow djellaba with headdress, but rather jeans and a sweatshirt - and he has dreadlocks hanging beneath a Bob Marley style hat. I'm about to say something to him when I realise we've been pulled over by the police - Oh no, this could take a while! Fath is led to the other side of the road whilst we are questioned by an arrogant policeman about our connections with him and why he is in our car. We answer honestly that he is our driver from the desert and I look over in Fath's direction as the same policeman struts over to him, no doubt to ask the same question. Poor Fath looks very uncomfortable. It's about 15 minutes before we are on our way again, the policeman having checked all Fath's papers, and finally being satisfied that he is who he says he is.

A couple of hours later, having negotiated mountain roads and villages, we arrive on familiar territory, Ouarzazate. We are still a little way off when I notice out of the corner of my eye something unusual at the side of the road - it's a petrol station that somehow looks old-fashioned. We slow down to take another look...and realise it must be a film set. Sure enough, this is the petrol station from the film 'The Hills have Eyes' (2006). It is now abandoned but all the props are still there as well as that notorious signpost 'Gas Haven - Last Stop 200 Miles'.

The Hills have Eyes

We are now at the junction of two main roads - this is where we say goodbye to our new friend, Fath. It is with a heavy heart that we wave him off as we continue our journey. We hope to see him again one day insha'Allah. Not much further and we arrive back at Kasbah Ellouze, now familiar to us from our previous stay. We are feeling sad but happy - sad to have said goodbye to the desert and our new friends but happy to have many fond memories of our time there. Now we look forward to a good night's sleep and tomorrow's exploration of this area of Morocco. Sweet dreamzzzzzzzzzz........