Dakla, Second day

Seems like the fog is always there in the morning. Part of a wonderful sacred plan of nature to protect and nourrish the plants before the sun starts burning everything. Today the fog was less dense but it is wonderful.

To K.'s dissappointment the wind was still not enough to Kite surf so we needed to find a plan B to spend the day, we knew that we were at a peninsula so the ocean was just behind us. On the map we saw the beach called 'Pointe de l'Or', The Golden Point. The guys from the hotel told us how to go. 

Is there a route? NO

Is there a path? NO

Are there any signs? NO

Just go between these two Electric Towers and go straight until you see a big rock in the middle of the sea. Our arab friend just drew a plan with his finger on the sand. "You will go up between the towers and then you will see the sea and you go straight". It was about one hour walking to get there.

Out of your confort zone once again.

We were told not to walk alone in the desert without a guide because there are vicious stray dogs. One of the locals told us there is no danger.

Out of your confort zone indeed.

Off we go, into the unknown.

Talk about walking in the sand.... It is difficult because your feet go in, just like in the snow. So you walk slowly. At first we thought there is a path but we quickly realised that it is longer to walk in the path and it would be better to cut short in a straight line. 

As we were walking, we saw millions of shells! The desert is full of surprises.

Just go between the towers...

Looking back to the Dakhla lagoon from a distance

We just have to trust the guy who gave us directions. Go up and keep walking. Once you are on top of the hill you see it in a distance. Exactly as he described it. We saw the big rock in a distance and the only thing to do was go towards it. 

The big rock in the distance

One thing I realised, is that perpective does not work in the desert. you think you are close to something but you are not close at all. you walk and walk and walk and you are still not there. So you keep walking! And as you walk, the sand changes consistence, it can be like concrete, it can be soft and fluffy, it can have rocks or be virgin. One thing is sure, it is beautiful. The pictures just cannot show the vastness and the beauty of the place. However, I'm putting some of the pictures I took. 

Big wonderful shells I have seen at museums in Europe. Here you find them walking and take them as souvenirs. No shops here, just the treasures of nature. 

Small traces οf small desert animals... I'm trying to take everything in!

Just before reaching the beach, dogs come barking towards us! I nod to K. to stand still so they would not feel threatened. A guy came out of a hut and called them back. Ouf! We were safe. The spirit of Freeda is next to us. One of the dogs followed us during our visit to the beach, but he never tried to come near us. 

After an hour of walking, we reach the beach. The breathtaking beach. The magestic beach. The divine beach. The big waves and the seagulls and the magic white sand!

I take off my shoes, I put on my swim suit. 

I'm too scared to swim in a sea I don't know. 

I'm a little bit frustrated, but it's ok, I am walking with my feet in the water.

I am in awe. 

We see people arriving to fish. Before becoming the center for kite surf, Dakhla was military and fishing, nothing more. 

 

It was time to go back. On the road back, we realised that there is plastic everywhere, this virgin place spoilt by man. I put on my futa, the sun was burning and it was becoming unbearable. 

When we went back we were hot and hungry. A fresh nurishing salad and a fish plate! Miam miam! 

After a small siesta, we go towards the Kite Surf school to see if the wind will rise in the afternoon. Unfortunately Aeolus, the Greek god of wind, is not by our side. K. starts to be frustrated by the lack of wind. He works himself to reason and he never loses faith. 

The afternoon we returned to the Dakhla lagoon in front of the hotel. The tide is low and we walk a lot to reach the water. there is one guy kiting but the conditions are really not strong enough. 

I indulge in my favorite hobby, collecting shells. My feet are full of sand, my hands are full of sand, the weather is hot on the 3rd of December, I am in heaven!

The day finishes with an evening meal and my eyes are full of images painted white, yellow and blue. I live a second summer after the summer and I am happy, full and grateful.  

A week in Dakhla, the desert in our heart. First day.

This trip is dedicated to Freeda. We had the most wonderful life toghether and now that she is gone, she has given me the freedom to travel without having to worry about where she will stay. Be well my wonderful fantastic, free, dog companion. 

On the first of December we took a plane to Dakhla.

There is a different exhitement when you visit another continent.

This is not Europe, your comfort zone, this is africa, more over Morocco, an arab country.

You feel like an alien, a christian in a muslim country (I'm not at all religious, but I know THEY are), a white woman in the south, a head uncovered in the middle of mantilas... All these questions keep spinning in your head.

But you have to get out of your confort zone. I have decided to anyway.

My companion (lets call him K. for the rest of this trip) is a kite surfer so he knew the place was the Mecca of kite surf. Our plan was to spend a week there. He would kite and I would sleep, eat, read, listen to music, swim in the pool, whatever.

The weather in France was beggining to get cold. We got our big coats, scarfs, bonnets and gloves and off we went!

Lyon - Casablanca, Casablanca - Dakhla.

We arrived in Dakhla in the middle of the night at 00.45.

Our driver was waiting to take us to the hotel. In the car radio, a kind of berber desert music like Tinariwen but a lot more traditional and with terrible reception. The guy does not speak engligh and his french is incomprehensible so we quickly stopped trying to make small talk. In silence, we took in the smells and the humidity of the air.

When we arrived to our hotel, we were greeted but the manager. They were all wearing hoodies and flip-flops at one o clock in the morning! In December! As he was talking I took one small step back and there was NOTHING and I started falling back! It was a small place where you could rinse your feet from the sand. The water tap met my thigh and I was sure I would spend the next days with a nice bruise! Fortunately no more hurting at that point. We'll go to bed and we'll see tomorrow. Our room is nicely decorated. The hotel is called Dakhla Evasion in case you wanna visit their website.

December 2nd at Dakhla. 

We get out of our room and there is fog everywhere. You don't see anything and everything is really eerie and very very wet. 

The desert wants to keep her mystery until the sun goes up...

Here is what everything looked like when we got our of the room. 

We ate breakfast in a wonderfully decorated restaurant, served by a wonterful man. Psemen, the arab pancake, french pastries, handmade bread, fresh fruit, cake... OMG the breakfast was sooo big! I never eat that much in the morning but everything was so delicious, I could simply not stop! For the next six days, we would be eating this delicious breakfast. Every effort I made to lose weight before coming here is lost. 

     

Happy belly, off we go to explore the place. Everything is still covered in fog, but we don't care! Fuck we are in DAKHLA baby!

We are always dressed as silly europeans, closed shoes and warm clothes. Soon we will do as the locals do. Walk around in flip flops and carry around a small jacket, not for the cold, but to cover from the sun. 

This first morning is the best! The fog is giving everything a touch of mystery and I feel like being in a dream, in a film, in another reality. It is not the european fog with its' cold eeriness. It is a warm desert fog filled with the precious humidity that feeds the wonderful cactus plants. 

Our hotel is in front of the sea so, despite the fog, we go towards the sea. I will soon take my shoes off, I need to feel this wet sand. It is chilly but not cold. And there are some wonderful tiny white shells everywhere! my senses are full, and the sun starts to win over the fog. 

Behind the hotel, there is a small dune, where you can climb and see the view from a height. The sand was virgin. Walking on virgin, untouched sand with your bare feet is better than sex. Your feet touch the ground and it feels like walking on a cloud. Words are poor to describe this amazing sensation. I would spend a week walking on sand! I am in heaven on earth.

Meanwhile, the fog is completely gone and the sun begins to warm our bodies. We start to see the splendour of the place, the immensity of the Dakhla lagoon. 

There is not much wind to kite surf so we take the rest of the day to walk in the sand and have a look at the swimming pool before going to eat for the second time. The pool water is cold for me so I just take the sun in. 

We Greeks, don't really like pools and you might be wondering what on earth are you doing near the pool when the sea is just in front of you? Well, the Dakhla lagoon is really shallow, you walk for kilometers and the water is still around your ankles. It is really impossible to swim, you can do it in the afternoon when the tide is at its lowest but at this time of the day it is windy and it's too cold to swim.

We are not hungry at all, but we are on full board so we will eat. There are tables outside and it's hot enough to stay outside. A refreshing salad and then.... Friday is couscous for everyone in Morocco. So we had the royal treatment with a royal couscous. Semoule at the bottom, vegetables around it and meat in the middle. A mountain of colours of which I managed to eat one third, given that I was not that hungry...

This was our first day. No kite surf, but nice food, walking in the sand and taking it easy. Dakhla was a discovery for me, I never thought I would go this far. Africa was my dream and I am in Africa. 

A dream come true. 

PS. I made a video compilation of all the small videos I took during the week in Dakhla. I hope you enjoy it!