Trevor's Travels

Plants in the Sahara Desert

1 Comment »8th February, 2016; Category: Africa, Morocco, Photos, Plants

Plants in the Sahara sunrise

On our tour of Morocco we spent a night in the Sahara Desert camping in a Berber tent. The next day our guide woke us early, before dawn. This was so we could slog our way to the top of a nearby sand dune to witness the sunrise over the desert. Looking to the east from our vantage point we could see the Algerian border some 30 km away, though the actual border was disputed territory at the time.

Perhaps something many of the others in the tour group didn’t notice were the beautiful patterns made by clumps of grass growing on the dunes. Set against the deep red sand and emphasised by the early morning sun’s rays, they made quite an impression on me. I just had to take a series of photos.

Over the years during our many travels I look out for birds to photograph so I can add them to my site called Trevor’s Birding. When the birds are not showing themselves I often turn my camera lens towards things more botanical, especially flowers. We have some spectacular flowers here in Australia so that makes it easier. Sadly, we didn’t see any flowers in the Sahara Desert. On the other hand, these photos of the grasses growing there sure made up for that lack.

I am not sure what the grasses were as my speciality is birds. I had enough trouble identifying them. Even my wife, who has a lot of expertise in Australian native plants (see her website here), had some trouble identifying plants in Morocco and Spain during our holiday.

You can access more articles about our tour by going to the side bar or the archives here.

Plants in the Sahara sunrise

Dawn over the Sahara

No Comments »5th February, 2016; Category: Africa, Exotic Destinations, Morocco, Plants

Dawn over the Sahara

On our tour of Morocco we had the privilege of experiencing dawn over the Sahara Desert. On the previous evening we had taken a camel ride into the desert. I have written about that in recent posts here. We had a delicious dinner of lamb and vegetables cooked in tagines for Christmas Eve, all consumed around a roaring camp fire. It gets cold in the Moroccan desert at night in December.

Later we slept in a Berber tent but we were woken by our guide well before dawn on Christmas Day. We slogged our way to the top of a nearby sand dune to witness sunrise over the desert. It was an amazing experience. The photo above shows the rising sun over towards the Algerian border about 30 km away. Our guide said that the border there was in dispute and this was about as close as we could safely go on our tour.

The photo immediately below shows some of our tour group watching and photographing the rising sun and the desert. The photos below that show some of the desert plant life, set against the colourful sand.

There was only one downside to this day; sand in our shoes!

Plenty of it, too.

I suspect some even made it through Spain and home to Australia.

Go to my archives to read more about our trip.

Some of our touring group watching the dawn over the Sahara

Dawn over the Sahara on Christmas Day

Sahara Desert in Morocco

1 Comment »2nd February, 2016; Category: Africa, Animals, Ethiopia, Exotic Destinations, Morocco

Camel ride on Christmas Eve in the Sahara

On our tour of Morocco we spent the last hour or so of daylight on Christmas Eve riding camels into the Sahara Desert. I have already written about this adventure several times here on this site – just look back over recent posts – or check in my archives.

While I felt uncomfortable riding the camel – not my preferred mode of transport – I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being in the desert. This once-in-a-lifetime adventure was all I hoped it to be. The colours are astounding, especially just before and during sunset which was the time of day we entered the desert. Because it was mid winter the air was crisp and clean; very little pollution out there.

I have called this camel ride a once only experience. I would love to return to Morocco some day but at my age, time is probably against me. Besides, in the limited number of years I still have I would like to experience other countries and cultures. Sadly, ill health has restricted me a little over the last year, but I am still hopeful of travelling in the coming years.

In fact, one of the reasons we went on this particular tour was at the request of our daughter. (She features in earlier posts here.) She had just finished six months of volunteer teaching in Ethiopia. After visiting her there the three of us continued on into Morocco and then Spain (photos of Spain to follow in coming months). Later in 2016 she returns to teach in Ethiopia again, but this time for two years. During that time I hope we can visit again, and visit several more European and African countries. Time will tell.

Christmas Eve in the Sahara

Camel ride, Christmas Eve in the Sahara

More scenes of the Sahara

No Comments »30th January, 2016; Category: Africa, Animals, Exotic Destinations, Holidays, Morocco, Photos

Our camels waiting to take us into the Sahara

In recent posts here on this site I have written about our tour of Morocco. The visit to this amazing country was certainly a wonderful experience. One of the highlights of the visit occurred on Christmas Eve. We were taken on a camel ride into the Sahara Desert.

While the experience was unforgettable, I must say that riding a camel is not one of my favourite modes of travel. I find it very uncomfortable. In addition, I also found it hard to take photos while riding a camel and I found that most frustrating. I must say I was quite happy to dismount at our destination, a Berber camp in the desert.

One of the frustrations of trying to take photos while riding a camel relate to my interest in birds. I write about the birds I see and photograph on this site. With a constantly moving platform such as a camel in motion, it is very hard to compose the scene, focus and shoot. I saw some interesting desert birds on this ride but none I could use here, or on my birding site. I couldn’t even use the photos to identify the species. (Sigh)

Still, despite these limitations, I managed a few good photos while riding a camel. I must say that some of the shots I did manage to take – without falling off or otherwise injuring myself – do show the amazing colours of the desert at sunset. I did take more the following morning as we rode out of the desert.

Further reading:

Sahara Desert, Morocco

Into the Sahara desert in Morocco

2 Comments »22nd January, 2016; Category: Africa, Exotic Destinations, Morocco, Photos

Off into the Sahara on our camels

In recent weeks I have been sharing photos and writing about our tour of Morocco a few years ago.

In my last post here I wrote about our camel ride into the Sahara. This occurred just before sunset and so the colours of the desert sands were stunning. It certainly made up for the discomfort of riding a camel. It was not only uncomfortable – it was very hard to take good photos while constantly on the move.

Who was the not-so-bright spark who thought that riding a camel was a good idea?

Our destination after about an hour of painful riding was a group of Berber tents near a little oasis. After a delicious meal eaten around a camp fire we slept in these tents for only one night. During the night we had a visitor. It seems that most of the touring group had a cat visit them in their tent overnight.

This experience just happened to be on Christmas Eve. It was certainly different and one to remember.

Into the desert with its magnificent colours

Our accommodation in the desert – a Berber tent

Our campsite in the Sahara