Weapons of Gut Destruction

~ Sahara Desert to Todgra Gorge ~
We were up bright and early this morning as we left the Sahara and the Berber camp. We were going to ride the camels to a particular point in the Sahara to watch the sunrise, it was beautiful! Max and another one of our tour mates took the quad bike back to Merzouga from this point as they were too unwell to ride the camels! The remaining four of us enjoyed the hour trek back, laughing and bouncing around. I was still trying to avoid the snotty camel behind me.

Back at the base, there was a lovely breakfast spread (as well as Max and Paige) waiting for us! Unfortunately for me, this is when my stomach decided to take a turn for the worst. Nothing like sharing the sickness love. As a result most of this day is quite hazy for me. Stan the Van took us the … to Todra Gorge and we had a few view-point stops along the way. We arrived and checked into our hotel, which by all accounts was stunning with a beautiful pool and poolside patio. I tried mostly to sleep.

In the late afternoon we went for a walk through the Gorge. This 1,000ft gorge is hemmed in on all sides by vertical orange limestone cliffs and is nicknamed Morocco’s Grand Canyon. Some points are just wide enough for a crystal-clear river and single-file trekkers to squeeze through. As we walked through the Gorge there were hundreds of people enjoying the evenings warm weather. There were families sitting on a rug on some rocks that were peaking out from the water, a group of boys sitting atop plastic chairs in the river playing guitars, children running and climbing everywhere, people washing their clothes, souvenir vendors and just generally relaxing and socialising! It was quite a lovely place.

While we were walking a dog decided to join us. We tried to send him away/back where he had come from but he wasn’t having a bar of it. The poor thing was covered in fleas and we felt bad for him but there was not much we could do. He would bark and run after/in front of every car that came past so we tried to warn them as they approached. Some drivers berated us for not putting him on a leash as we tried to explain that he was not our dog! He even followed Max when she climbed up a bunch of rocks. We were nervous he was going to jump in Stan the Van with us when we couldn’t even shake him when we all climbed into the cliff for a photo! Thankfully he got distracted by some others playing in the water and we made our escape!