Our visit to Morocco culminated in the windswept dunes of the Sahara where footprints are imaginary and even the lowest of whispers float to distant lands. Here hidden treasures lurk and there exist stairways to the heavens. A force to be reckoned with, it is also unforgiving and will swallow whole anything and anyone that's not careful.
Three steadfast dromedaries carried us into the majestic Erg Chebbi where we stayed at a Berber camp whose walls and floors were covered in carpets upon carpets, magical in their ability to summon a desire to live a semi-nomadic life. If we stayed out there all night every night, there's still no telling how many lifetimes it would take to kiss all the stars in the sky.
In the single evening we were there, it took just a split second to lose a key. Hoping for a miracle, but expecting defeat, we scoured the earth as the wind, carrying millions of secrets, whipped our skin. As if not enough, the beating of drums and laughing of hearts from the neighboring camp tantalized us. A couple of hours in and we surrendered.
Before leaving the next morning we paid respect to the desert and in the face of its beauty, we learned to forgive ourselves. We quickly made alternative arrangements back at the riad and as everything was coming together, a last-ditch effort to find the key revealed a hidden treasure that was lurking nearby all along. The desert heard our cries.
