The Blue Spring is no longer bubbling.

03.03.23 Merzouga - Meski Goodbye to the desert. We left Merzouga this morning. Apart from the sand in every crack and corner of my mobile home - what remains of the Sahara? Well, many impressions will stay with me. I have already seen a desert landscape in Dubai. The Sahara in Merzouga is different. The dunes are beautiful, their play of shadows in the evening sun fascinating. The scenery overwhelmed me at first. I was spellbound.

With the passing days in this world of sand, that changed. The sun gained strength and suddenly there was a first impression of the heat that the sand absorbs and reflects back many times. When I took a handful of sand and let it trickle through my fingers, there were creatures left behind, small beetles and types of ants. My first thought: Could those be small scorpions? There was a shock, even a spark of fear. And that's when I realized where I was: in the desert, in a strange world for me.

One evening the wind came up and immediately the motorhomes that were positioned in the first row facing the desert started moving. Ricci also parked again. "The sand...", he said, "when the wind gets stronger, it's like sandpaper. In a storm, the paint on your car is gone before you can even look." Yes, when the spirits of the desert are called upon, we are all just apprentice sorcerers...

These days, I have also once again realized the importance of water. Here, it is part of people's daily tasks to replenish their water supply. With hand carts full of canisters, they laboriously move through the streets, because for them a simple equation applies: Water = Life.

We were able to see what is possible with water in the desert in Merzouga, where a large oasis stretches alongside the city. Here, the citizens have established small fields, on which beans, tomatoes, and eggplants grow under palm and almond trees. Irrigation ditches provide enough moisture. We cannot imagine what that means for the people here.

Or what it means when the water suddenly disappears. Tonight we will stay 100 kilometers further north in Meski. We are back in more mountainous terrain and have stopped at the campsite "La bleue Source" - The Blue Spring. Until recently, it was considered one of the most beautiful campsites in Morocco. French Foreign Legionnaires developed a spring in the 1950s and built a large swimming pool in a palm oasis. When a member of the Tuareg people, who traditionally wear blue clothing, came into contact with the water, it turned blue - the Blue Spring was born.

Two years ago, the spring suddenly dried up. The water was gone, and with it the tourists. The campsite and its surroundings took a steep decline. The palm trees are still standing, but the infrastructure, such as the sanitary facilities, is dirty and barely usable. The merchants of the small shops on the square are struggling desperately for every customer. Not an hour goes by without one of the poor devils passing by and asking if I would like to buy a carpet, a cloth, or maybe just dates. That puts me in trouble. I have already bought two carpets today, tomorrow I have an appointment with a merchant who wants a towel from me and wants to show me what he can offer in exchange. Fortunately, no one has asked me for T-shirts yet...

I have managed to secure a beautiful pitch under palm trees for the next two nights.