Inside the Rug Place Maudria with Mr. Mamadou Katia in the Rug Place
at jewelry. One of our group, Maudria, caught the eye of Mr.
Mamadou! He wanted to marry her and Maudria laughed.
Lunch was served open air under a tent. We all took turns
feeding two cats. They looked quite healthy. After lunch, we
all laid about resting. Katia went back inside to continue
rug shopping. I played soothing music off my phone and
we dozed on cushions. The weather was perfect. We listened
to “Stuff ” by George Carlin and we contemplated how we
were going to get our newly bought stuff back into our
luggage and back home. Maudria was being courted as a
potential wife and Addi was eating a double bonded twin
banana and the rest of us wondered when Katia would be
finished shopping. After an hour and a half or so, Zoe and I
got concerned and went inside to “save” Katia. Yup, she was
sitting there looking at items and bargaining and looking
a little frazzled. She finished up quickly and we all headed
back to the van. Onward to the Sahara Desert!
As more fatigue set in, about half of the eleven on this tour were
getting sick with cold symptoms. The news from home about the
virus pandemic numbers growing and videos on our cell phones
of tumultuous airports was starting to make everyone nervous.
SAHARA DESERT
Back in the van, we still had a camel ride to look forward
to! After a short van ride, we arrived at the place where the
camels were sitting, chewing their cud as if to say, “Where’ve
ya been???” It was nearing sunset and Addi and his assistants
quickly helped us into djellabas and turbans. We each
nervously jerked back and forth on the camel’s back as it
straightened up, then off we went, single file into the Sahara
Desert! All eleven of us trekked single file with Addi running
alongside snapping video and photos. Addi said he wanted
us to ride at night. That’s how nomads did it - sleeping
during the hot day and traveling in the cooler night. It was
exhilarating, awesome, spiritual, and just so unbelievable.
The sand was a rich terra cotta color and smooth, empty and
soothing. We all knew that as we watched the full moon rise
on the horizon that we would never forget this moment. A
lump appeared in my throat. I wished for everyone in the
world to have a moment like this.
Soon I could see twinkle lights on the horizon. Our overnight
camp! Little LED lights circled the tents we were going to
sleep in. These tents were beautifully decorated with carpets,
electric lights and running water and showers. The colors of
the inside of my tent were gold, red and orange. Beautiful
runner rugs took the place of sidewalks in the sand outside.
We were served tea, nuts, dates. Later that evening we
gathered around a fire and enjoyed live music and danced our
hearts out. I was shown how to play the large krakeb cymbals,
but this needed a lot of practice (and large hands). Finally, the
party died down and we went to collapse in our beds. It was
close to 1 am. We didn’t want this magical evening to end!
It was a COLD, COLD, COLD night. I went to bed fully
clothed. Perhaps I was starting to get sick? I couldn’t stop
shivering even under several blankets.
July 2020 � The Belly Dance Chronicles 17