round TRIP
agafay desert
Imagine you're a nomad with nothing but everything. Surrounded by creamy white tent oases in yellowish hills, countless barren desert rocks at your feet and the endless Milky Way in a pitch-black night sky above you. No artificial light to cloud your view. No television to cloud your senses. Only the unrestricted tranquillity that flows through you with every fresh breeze and leaves you with complete contentment.
Approximately 50 minutes by car from Marrakech city, Scarabeo Camp nestles in the dry and rugged landscape of the Agafay Desert with barely more than a dozen tents. Camel-coloured sisal and Berber carpets, decorated leather seat cushions, Moroccan lanterns, misted-up silver trays and many other selected pieces carry you off into a dream of 1001 nights. A sumptuous evening meal does the rest: from light couscous to sweet vegetable all sorts and oriental-spicy tajine chicken. And afterwards a drink at the campfire to follow the stars in cosy warmth. No wish remains unfulfilled and no explorer goes to bed hungry.
In the early morning hours, the coolness of the night appears even more frosty. It takes a while until the sun's rays send the fog away and the desert begins to shimmer. Then the view of the vastness of the surroundings appears less clear so that the call for exploration is best answered after a delicious breakfast. High up on the back of a camel and several steps away from the camp, the Agafay Desert now shines in the light of the sun in a much more colourful way: a carpet of orange, yellow and red tones stretches as far as the eye can see. Then, at the horizon, the Atlas Mountains tower up to the sky. And if there weren't little white peaks flashing on the roof of the mountain range, the blue tones of rock and sky would almost melt together.
The day ends with a view into the sky and the discovery of so many distant stars, planets and galaxies, which a learned astronomer so patiently explained to us. And at night we dream we are nomads, with nothing but everything.
Morocco, September 2017. | All words and photos by The Sturgheons.
