May 20, 2025
Ollie was very keen to get to sandboard after his first attempt in South Africa. We did not have much time in the morning so the two of us woke up for sunrise with the plan to do some sandboarding. It was a little chilly out and in the dark of our tent I accidentally put him in Lenny’s jacket. We made it out for the sunrise which once we saw it over the dunes it came up very quickly.
After he was fairly patient waiting for the sunrise with me, he was ready to sandboard. I had thought the guys working at the camp would be up to take us somewhere and explain the boards. They were more official with bindings to clip into then what we had used in South Africa and we didn’t have boots. I could not find the small staff so we just took a board and figured we would try to stand around the bindings. At first, we did not go anywhere because the top layer of sand was wet, either from the rain the prior day or morning dew. We then made our way to a dune that was steeper and the sun had already dried which led to some good runs.
The other problem with no one from the camp being there is after every run I would need to run down the dune to get the board and carry it back up. Also, the bottom area of the dune around the camp had accumulated a fair amount of camel poop which I had to just walk over.
After a few standing rides Ollie decided it was more fun to sit since the bindings were in the way. We did that for a while before Lenny emerged from the tent and found us. The boys took turns and eventually did the last few runs with both of them sitting on the board. It wasn’t how I thought it would go but Ollie got to sandboard in the Sahara Desert which he had been talking about for a month.
We had a quick breakfast at the camp and the headed back Merzouga in what the boys would call the “best drive of my liiiiiife.” Instead of the camel ride to the camp we took a raised pickup truck back with one of the guys from the camp driving. He was ripping this thing over the dunes, doing huge banked turns, and sliding all over the place. The more the boys squealed with joy the more daring his maneuvers got. Lucky Kayleen was in the front seat and we had all the windows down with the cool desert air blowing in so we all made it back to town without any sickness.
The reason we had to leave so early after breakfast was, we were scheduled to do an ATV ride in the dunes. I saw other people in side by sides, or buggies, yesterday and asked if we could switch. They are more fun to drive and after the ATVs at the Coot Club we realized it’s really not fun to have to share one with the boys. We followed our guide through town and back out into the desert.
The buggies were fun and we could get them to slide all over on the sand. Going off some of dunes you drop straight down which made the boys get butterflies in their stomach over and over or as they called it “its tickling my jellies so much!” Ollie was with me first and Lenny with Kayleen. Lenny told Kayleen his tummy was hurting just before we stopped for pictures on a giant dune. We both hoped he could hold it together until we got back after getting a little break doing our pictures and his peeing off the giant dune.
Driving up the big dunes was a disorientating feeling. All I could see was the same color sand everywhere and with the buggy drifting a little and the helmet limiting my vision I didn’t feel like I was driving up a big hill at all. It was very easy to lose track of what direction you are going until you see the sky or the perspective of the other dunes.
We switched partners so Lenny was with me for the drive back. He told me his tummy hurt so I tried to drive a little slower on the big drops but it didn’t help. Half way back as I was driving, I looked over and puke was flying out of his helmet. We had to keep up with the guide and Lenny nodded that he was OK. Once we stopped, I told the guide Lenny got sick and he let Lenny ride back with his helmet off to get some fresh air. He recovered quicky and gave Kayleen a thumbs up after showing her his puke covered hands, but feel asleep for the rest of the ride back.
We got cleaned up once back in Merzouga and started on our journey to Aguelmame Sidi Ali. We stopped along the way at a fossil and stone working craftsman shop. The area we were in was under the ocean millions of years ago so it was filled with various dinosaur and sea creature fossils. It was very interesting to hear how they dug them up and then see all the different things that were made out of the fossils. The toilet was Lenny’s favorite as the idea of peeing on a fossil brought him much joy. Kayleen suggested it might help improve his aim…
We also stopped to get a quick photo of an oasis valley. Abdul told us that there are many small sections in the oasis that are owned by different families that live in the area. From far it is hard to tell where the different plots are but once down in the trees it is clearer especially to the owners. There are a variety of trees ranging from date palm, olive, orange, etc.…
We arrived at our hotel which is set on a lake. Quite the change being in the Sahara Desert to the lush green area surrounding the lake. Abdul told us the lake was much higher but over the last six years of drought it has dropped dramatically. The extremely long dock to the water confirmed this and showed where the lake used to start. The hotel was a large lodge style setting with great rooms and fireplaces, almost entirely made of wood. It felt like a ski lodge or a smaller Mohonk Mountain house. The staff confirmed people stay and ski about 30 miles away in the Atlas Mountains.
By the time dinner arrived the boys were a mess. They claimed they were hungry but barely ate and where clearly very tired. They did have energy for hide and seek in the massive dinning hall. Normally this would have been trouble but we were the only ones there so we let them have at it. It felt a bit like The Shining as Kayleen put it. Once we survived dinner it was off to bed with the boys excited to sleep in their beds in the loft of our room.
