I had never expected that I would be traveling to the Sahara desert. Prior to my study abroad departure, my roommate and I only expected to visit the typical European cities. We wanted to go to Barcelona, Madrid, and Ski in the Alps but not once was Africa ever discussed. On the first day of orientation at The International College of Sevilla, an alumni came to present to the incoming students about her travel agency. The agency specifically caters to Study Abroad students from the states and Erasmus students in Europe. Because she was once a student at our college, she offered special prices for a few trips throughout the semester. The one I definitely wanted to do was a 3-day weekend on the coast of Portugal, hitting Lagos and Albufeira. Afterwards she began to propose a 5-day long trip to Morocco to see the Sahara Desert. At first, I thought, “I do not want to spend my week off in the desert…” but all the friends I had made so far really expressed that they wanted to go so I started to think differently. Afterall, when would I have the chance to see The Sahara again?
I’d been anticipating the trip for weeks, so I packed my bags and headed out at 5am to catch the first of many buses to Morocco. We traveled to the coast of Spain and boarded a ferry to a small territory of Spain in Africa named Cuerta, crossed the Spanish border and entered Morocco. After spending a day in Fes, we boarded another bus that took us another 8 hours into the city of Merzouga. We spent the night and began our journey into the Sahara. The bus took us as close as it could into the border of the desert to which we got onto a camel and rode 2 hours deep into the desert. Merzouga is located in the southeast border of Morocco also bordering Algeria. It is most known for its towering sand dunes that stretch beyond the entire horizon in every direction you turn. The dunes can be as tall as 500 feet with thousands of smaller dunes perfect for camp sites and camel rides. Although the beauty of the desert was existential, one of my favorite parts of the trip were my interactions with the Berber tribe men. In the night following dinner, a group of girls had befriended a friendly Berber near the campsite’s bonfire. He had explained that the stars are hard to see near the camp because of all the light and offered to take us into the desert to see the stars in a clearer light. I was a little nervous to follow this man into the desert but went anyway in hopes to have an interesting story to tell following the trip. Walking up the dunes I began to ask the Berber man some questions. I begin with, “Your English is really good, how did you learn?” to which he responded with, “We never been go school ever, I no read or write, but I speak Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese because of visitors” he pauses and continues saying, “I learn from you and maybe you can learn from me. It’s one thing, only one thing to know. To be happy. Feliz, contenta con todo.” It was comforting to hear knowing that he was happy to live with no possessions and love for interaction and learning. Walking about 30 minutes away from the campsite, the group laid on the cold sand to view the night sky. The Berber man put his finger to his lip and whispered “Shh” to stop us from talking. “Sometimes if you just stop and no talk, you will see a whistling star,” I think he meant wishing stars I thought and in the corner of my eye a star shot past the moonlit sky.
Nomads are a large part of the Sahara desert culture as they still exist even today. On the way to the campsite, we were able to see a nomad family with their few animals and a tent ready, always on the move. Berbers are the most common in the Sahara.
In the morning as we got onto the camels ready to make our trek back to the city, I overheard a girl from behind me say, “It’s crazy to think that this was a jungle at one point”, and I giggled thinking that’s definitely not right. Apparently, she was right. According to Geographical UK, the Sahara was once a lush jungle, In around 2500 BCE, the monsoon retreated south and caused the Sahara to become a desert. For the past 13,000 years, the Sahara desert has remained at the same dryness. Approximately every 20,000 years, the Sahara transforms into a savannah covered with lush grasses due to the angle of the Earth’s axis changing. This axis change causes the position of the North African monsoon to shift, a monsoon that could revive the Saharan region.
The trip to the Sahara was the most incredible experience I have had while abroad. Although I was worn out by the numerous hours on the bus to get to the Desert and hurt from the camel back ride- I thought it was a worthwhile experience. I will never forget the opportunity to talk to the Berber man and his knowledge, and the view of the vast landscape.
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