Youssef leads us to the Sahara
Youssef, our guide in the Sahara Desert, is a witty, short man with a nice Toyota Land Cruiser and a love for beautiful women. He is of Berber descent, which is the main ethnic group native to Morocco, predating Islam by thousands of years. He is a certified smooth talker, often charming police officers at patrol stops into letting us through without a bribe. His charisma is less successful when used on Spanish girls we encounter on the road.
We have a relationship of mutual amusement with Youssef. Our bumbling American accent clearly entertains him, and his snarky remarks in broken English crack us up in return. He immediately gave us all nicknames — CJ Jake and Logan became Muhammed, Abraham, and Rashid. Logan, however, was sold a dress that he thought was for men (pictured above), and once he donned that Youssef called him Rashida.
Logan paying ten of his hard earned dollars for a dress the salesman claimed had "very masculine colors".
The “camp” was more of an upscale desert retreat than the shoddy tent we were expecting. This surprise was welcome and later outdone even further with a nice dinner and a drumming concert around the fire with the other guests. Jake then ran off to sand board with some Puerto Ricans as CJ and Logan caught some shooting stars on a nearby dune.
We have a relationship of mutual amusement with Youssef. Our bumbling American accent clearly entertains him, and his snarky remarks in broken English crack us up in return. He immediately gave us all nicknames — CJ Jake and Logan became Muhammed, Abraham, and Rashid. Logan, however, was sold a dress that he thought was for men (pictured above), and once he donned that Youssef called him Rashida.
We’ve learned a lot of facts from Youssef — some of them true, and some are completely made up to keep things interesting. Here are our favorite facts of his:
We visited Youssef’s home, which is less than 1000 feet from the massive sand dunes. He lived in a nomadic tribe until he was 18, when his father sold some camels in order to settle down and built their family home out of mud and hay. Youssef still lives with his parents and 6 brothers, 3 of which we had tea with in their family bedroom. CJ pointed out the contrast between the simplistic desert home and their brand-new smartphones and watches. The family has IPhones and Toyotas but no running water.
- The states Arizona and California were named after valleys in the Sahara desert.
- The UNESCO world heritage site, Ait Ben Haddou, was built in 1954.
- Hillary Clinton’s name is Moroccan. Hilah-Ree is the traditional pronunciation in the Berber language.
- Barack Obama was born in Africa. He is Kenyan.
We visited Youssef’s home, which is less than 1000 feet from the massive sand dunes. He lived in a nomadic tribe until he was 18, when his father sold some camels in order to settle down and built their family home out of mud and hay. Youssef still lives with his parents and 6 brothers, 3 of which we had tea with in their family bedroom. CJ pointed out the contrast between the simplistic desert home and their brand-new smartphones and watches. The family has IPhones and Toyotas but no running water.
Brief stop to walk through one of Morocco's many gorges.
Abraham, Muhammed, and Rashid posing with the Berber flag.
We were then shuttled to the foot of the dunes where camels were waiting to be ridden. The camel’s kneeling and rising motion were jerky and sudden, so we needed a strong grip to mount them. It was a beautiful trip through the sand dunes to our overnight camp, other than Logan’s camel bucking him off and Jake’s saddle giving him a wedgie.
We were then shuttled to the foot of the dunes where camels were waiting to be ridden. The camel’s kneeling and rising motion were jerky and sudden, so we needed a strong grip to mount them. It was a beautiful trip through the sand dunes to our overnight camp, other than Logan’s camel bucking him off and Jake’s saddle giving him a wedgie.
The “camp” was more of an upscale desert retreat than the shoddy tent we were expecting. This surprise was welcome and later outdone even further with a nice dinner and a drumming concert around the fire with the other guests. Jake then ran off to sand board with some Puerto Ricans as CJ and Logan caught some shooting stars on a nearby dune.
What a read. Very reminiscent of the HHS Boys Soccer blog. That dress also has very masculine colors.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nathan, I also thought the dress looked masculine. We appreciate the support.
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