Morocco 42

So the desert was beautiful. Your correspondent did some sandboarding and rode a camel and had nice talks with some of the odd characters one meets when near sites of organized tourism. Two favorite comment from European tourists:

1. While sitting at a dining table and having Moroccan staff bring us tagines and cous-cous in an elaborate tent on the edge of the Sahara desert, which we had reached by chauffered SUV, one of my dining companions told me, totally stone-face seriously: "We consider ourselves travelers, not tourists. It's an important distinction." Your correspondent, putting his best diplomatic training to work, did not laugh.

2. Another European tourist, surprised to meet an American amongst so many Germans and Dutch and such, asked: "Why would you come all the way to Morocco? You have Mexico." Le sigh.

Anyway, this picture is from the SUV back to civilization. We passed these guys and the driver stopped to chat with them. He said they were nomadic camel herders, which given that we happened upon them sitting on a dune and staring at a herd of camels, seems to be within the realm of possible.