When me and Suzi were planning our 'things to do and see in Morocco' I told her I had no desire to go to the desert and no longing to ride a camel. She was fine with that as she felt the same way.
Little did we know that Yogascapes, who like to throw a little adventure into their retreats, had other plans. We were going on a road trip through the Atlas mountains to the Zagora desert!
The road trip was looooong.
It was the windiest, queasiest, hairiest journey through the mountains. It was going to be six hours, then eight...but really in ended up being ten. Eighteen yogis cooped up on a bus longing to stretch...
BUT we got to see TEN HOURS worth of Morocco!
We saw incredible geography,
little mountain villages,
'service stations' (bring your own loo roll),
awesome views,
curious shops,
wild mountain cats ;),
roadside stalls,
(Bong bought a camel)
berber buildings,
date palms laden with fruit,
green oasis's in the most unexpected places
and just a lot of normal life going on.
Best of all we had ten whole hours to get to know each other. We told our stories..the long drawn out versions. There was plenty of time to elaborate!
We arrived at the desert at dusk and met our camels
and our guides.
Rupa was first up. How she yelped. It's such a long way up!
As the sun set behind us and the crescent moon rose we trudged off into the desert.
The camp was amazing. This was glamping! Comfy beds in cosy tents, running water and a restaurant tent where we were served fresh dates and steaming turkey tagines. We had a big camp fire under the STARS with singing and drumming.
The stars were i n c r e d i b l e!
I wished upon a shooting one. And the silence (between drumming and general merriment) was so soothing. All that soft warm sand seemed to pull the sounds down and soften their edges. It was a soft, warm sandy silence.
The morning became my golden, most cherished moment of the trip.
In tantric hatha yoga we are often asked to bring the sun or the moon into our awareness while we practice. The sun brings life and energy. The moon stability and deep calm.
This sunrise in the desert with the warm sand beneath my bare feet became MY SUN. It's the sun I will bring with me. It soaked right in. And Yogascapes Ben was sitting on a rock soaking it up too and singing his beautiful mantras and the sound was drifting down making my moment even more magical.
Ahhh.
And then it was daytime.
Everyone was golden.
Breakfast was waiting and so were our camels.
And we were off again.
Can you tell? I rather liked the desert. And even the camels. So there's a lesson. You don't always know what is good for you but life does and it will give it to you anyway. That's our yoga. x
