We don't really know where to start in this blog. The past few days we were in the Sahara and we are speechless. The grandeur with only sand. You can't comprehend it and we are speechless. If you click on the photos they will appear larger.
The Sahara
From the coastal area we have now arrived in the Sahara via the Anti-Atlas Mountains. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world with 9.2 million square kilometers. Or actually Antarctica is the largest desert. There too, less than 200 mm of rain falls per year and is therefore officially the largest desert we know. But the Sahara (literally desert in Arabic) is by far the largest 'hot dessert' sand desert.
Vegetation
In the village of M'Hamid the paved road ends and we have to leave Globus 2 behind and exchange it for a 4x4. From the village to the sand dunes it is another two hours drive through arid, rocky terrain. Just before we arrive at the high sand dunes, which you can see looming from afar, we drive through an extremely green strip. In the previous blog we already wrote about the enormous amount of rain that fell in Morocco last September. This has ensured that an entire strip is now overgrown. The contrast between the light green bushes and the vast, dead sand dunes could hardly be greater. A photo with the sand dunes and strip of fresh green is therefore quite unique. There will probably be nothing left of this next summer. Then to think that the desert once consisted of grassland. Once every 41,000 years the area alternates between desert and savannah grassland.
To live
By the way, that deathly is not so bad, there is more life in the desert than you might think. In addition to the well-known goats and camels (actually dromedaries) you can also find desert tortoises, beetles, ostriches, rattlesnakes, kangaroo rats and desert owls. And what about the fast gazelles with their fast feet, the elusive cheetah and the small fennec fox. The desert is teeming with life.
Quieten
We spent one night in the desert. On top of the highest dune with sand dunes as far as we could see. We saw the sun set and the sun rise. You sit there, watch and then..... nothing. Silence. No other people, no airplane trails in the sky, no sound at all. Only sand.
Oh, and of course the wind. The wind that sandblasts you and later you find sand in your underwear and your camera 😬.
"Where are the people?" asked the little prince. "It's a bit lonely in the desert. It's also lonely when you're among people," said the snake.
Tagelmust
By the way, for anyone who ever goes to this region, we can heartily recommend a tagelmust (turban), which everyone here wears. It takes some practice to wrap it exactly, but what a pleasure. It fits wonderfully and you are much less bothered by sun, wind and sand in your hair. At first we may have had a prejudice against people with such face coverings because they would be unapproachable and distant, but now we find it beautiful as well as very practical.
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Speaking silence in the Sahara
Sitting on top of such a sand dune does something to me. It is as if the silence in the Sahara has a story to tell, a message to share. How insignificant and small am I in this world? Who am I really? What is my role in this life? All the time to let thoughts pass by. Last week a dear friend/colleague of mine passed away. In the prime of his life, too young and vital. For me he will live on forever, because what the heart has seen is forever. But how difficult it is, especially for the survivors, to have to miss his physical presence here on earth.
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