01 · Desert and Sahara
The Call of The Desert
The Call of
The Desert
This Morocco desert experience is the three day version of the Sahara, run privately from Marrakech. The colossal dunes of Erg Chebbi rise over 150 metres above the Morocco Desert floor near Merzouga in the deep southeast of Morocco. No photograph ever captures what it feels like to stand at the base of those dunes and look up. The scale is something the eye needs time to understand. The colours at sunset shift from pale gold to deep amber to rose to violet in the space of twenty minutes, and then the darkness arrives and the second wonder of the Sahara begins.
After nightfall the Morocco Desert sky above Erg Chebbi is one of the most striking sights in the world. Far from any city light, the Milky Way is visible with the naked eye and the silence is so complete that you can hear the sand move in the wind. We arrange private stargazing sessions with a local guide who has read the desert sky all his life and can name the constellations in Tamazight, Arabic and French.
We design every Sahara experience entirely around your travel dates and interests. Most travellers spend two full nights in the Morocco Desert. We arrange private camel treks at golden hour into the heart of the Erg, away from the tourist camps at the edge of town. We work with a luxury camp set deep inside the dunes where the only sounds are the wind and the fire. We also arrange 4x4 excursions across the hammada, visits to nomadic Berber families in their traditional tents and optional sandboarding sessions on the dunes.
What You Will Do on This Morocco Desert Experience
- Private camel trek at golden hour into the heart of the Erg Chebbi dunes, away from the tourist camps
- Two nights in a private luxury tented camp set deep inside the dunes, with en suite bathroom and electricity
- Sunset on the dunes: one of the most photographed moments in all of Morocco
- Private stargazing session with a local desert guide who names the constellations in Tamazight and Arabic
- 4x4 excursion across the open hammada desert and the ancient black volcanic rock formations
- Visit to a nomadic Berber family in their traditional tent: mint tea, freshly baked bread and conversation around the fire
- Sunrise on the dunes at first light before any other visitor arrives at the Erg
- Sandboarding down the face of the dunes at sunset, with equipment provided
- Full board at the Morocco Desert camp: traditional Moroccan dinner, breakfast and packed lunch prepared by the camp cook
Getting There: the Drive Nobody Warns You About
Merzouga is about nine hours from Marrakech and Mhamid is about ten. There is no way around that and anyone who sells you a Morocco Desert Experience as a day trip is selling you fourteen hours in a car. We break the drive at Ait Ben Haddou or Ouarzazate on the way out and at Dades or Skoura on the way back, which turns the transfer into two of the better days of the trip rather than two lost ones.
There is a flight from Casablanca to Errachidia and a long distance bus to Merzouga, and we can use either if time is short. But the Tizi n Tichka pass, the Draa valley and the road through the Todra gorge are part of what you came for, and most people who fly regret it.
What a Night in the Camp Is Actually Like
You arrive at the dune edge in the late afternoon and go in by camel or by four wheel drive, twenty minutes either way. The camp is a circle of tents around a sand courtyard with a fire in the middle. A luxury tent means a real bed, cotton sheets, a rug over the sand, a private bathroom with a hot shower and electric light until you sleep.
Dinner is at eight under the open sky, soup then tagine then fruit. Afterwards the staff bring out drums and play, and it is not a performance put on for guests, it is what they do. The fire goes out around eleven and then it is properly dark and properly silent, which is the part of a Morocco Desert Experience that people describe months later.
Sunrise is at the top of the nearest dune, which is a twenty minute climb in soft sand and worth every step. Breakfast is back at camp and you are on the road by nine.
One Night or Two, and Which Erg
One night gives you a sunset, a dinner and a sunrise, and then the drive back starts. Two nights gives you a full day in the desert, and that day is where a Morocco Desert Experience turns into something else: a jeep run to the fossil beds and the old mines, tea with a nomad family who are actually living there, the village of Khamlia and its gnawa musicians, and an afternoon doing nothing in the shade.
Erg Chebbi at Merzouga has the taller dunes and the shorter transfer. Erg Chegaga past Mhamid is bigger, emptier and an hour of rough piste from the nearest tarmac, which keeps the numbers down. If it is your first time, Chebbi. If you have been before or you want no other camp lights on the horizon, Chegaga.
Heat, Cold and What to Bring
March to May and October to November are the right months. Nights then sit in the low teens and days in the high twenties. December and January are beautiful and can fall close to freezing an hour before dawn, and the camps supply heavy blankets but a fleece and long trousers for the evening make the difference. July and August reach 45 degrees by day and stay above 30 all night, and we are honest with people about that.
Bring a scarf or a chech, which the camp will show you how to tie and which is the single most useful thing in the Sahara. Bring closed shoes for the jeep day and something you can empty sand out of. Bring a torch. Leave the hard suitcase in the car and take an overnight bag onto the camel, because a wheeled case and a dune do not get along.
They Travelled With Us
Mohammed had the talent to make us approach beautiful sites, far from places a little too touristy. He tells us with passion, humor and knowledge about his beautiful country. A true storyteller.
A 3rd unforgettable experience in the Moroccan desert! Mohamed is a very professional guide who knows how to adapt to the group and remains attentive to the needs of each with kindness.
The five day ascent of Mount Toubkal was a real dive into the heart of the Atlas and its communities. Accompanied by Mohamed, his muleteers and his cook, we lived a total immersion in this region with respect for all.
Ready to Plan Your Morocco Desert Experience?
Tell us your dates and we will design every detail around you. No obligation and no pressure at any stage.
Private, tailor made Morocco tours with over 25 years of deep local knowledge. Your journey. Your way. Always.
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- info@afsoutravels.com
- +212 619 635 496
- Marrakech, Morocco
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