Sunrise in the Merzouga Desert, Morocco
Enjoy a night in the desert, a must on any trip to Morocco. Our day and sunrise in the Merzouga Desert and the Erg Chebbi Dunes.
After almost a day of travel from Fes, passing through several interesting places as we told you a few days ago. We finally arrived at one of the highlights of our trip to Morocco, the desert of Merzouga.
The desert of Merzouga is the Sahara par excellence of Morocco. Although there are some options closer to the cities of Fes or Marrakech, the scenery and experiences that we can live in this place are incomparable.
Merzouga desert, dunes Erg Chebbi
Although popularly all tours and routes speak of the desert of Merzouga. If we are accurate, where we really enjoy what we understand as desert, dunes, and sand, is in the area known as Erg Chebbi. It is the only erg (sandy area) of the Sahara in Morocco.
Erg Chebbi Dunes
The area in which we are is one of the dunes of Morocco where both the climate and desert landscapes dominate. Mixing sandy deserts, called an erg, with other more rocky, hamada.
Erg Chebbi is the most accessible area of dunes of all. It is also one of the largest, with an area exceeding 100 square kilometers (22 kilometers long and 5 wide). Apart from its dimensions the most striking and remarkable are the height that can reach their dunes. Some of them reach more than 150 meters high.
These spectacular dunes, that if we find a good place it seems that only disappear into infinity, are composed of sand of an orange tone, typical of the sands of the Sahara.
The closest villages to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, and therefore the access point of tourism to the desert are the towns of Hassi-Labiad and above all Merzouga. So in terms of tourism, we end up talking almost always about the desert of Merzouga.
Our excursion to the desert of Merzouga
We arrived after 6 pm at the base camp of the Camel Trips Luxury Camp, with no time for anything more than check-in we left our bags in the 4×4 that was heading towards the camp where we would spend the night.
Dromedary excursion to the tent in the desert
We made the trip from the hotel base camp to the camp. It is where the tents where we would spend our only night in the desert were waiting for us, by camel.
The 4 of us climbed on our camels and dressed in Touareg style with our scarves on our heads. We were ready to travel the road that separated us from our final goal, the tent of our camp in the desert.
The walk, which lasted about an hour, was quite tiring. Dromedaries are not a very comfortable or fast means of transport. But it is true that we associate them so much with the desert that you can’t imagine being there and not doing this excursion.
As you move away from the roads, hotels, and bustle in general you realize that you start to be surrounded only by fine sand. It seems to be changing color as time passes and the sun goes down. Halfway, to enjoy the sunset in the desert, we get off our mounts and we line up on top of a nearby dune to contemplate relaxed this great spectacle of nature.
A night in the desert, tent and Berber show
After the climax of the sunset, we returned to our camels to reach, this time, our final destination, the Bedouin camp where we would spend the night.
Almost 12 hours after leaving Fez, we finally arrived at our tent with our bags waiting for us. It had been a long journey, with many experiences and quite exhausting. But the day was not over yet, we still had perhaps the best, dinner and the spectacle of Berber music. Not to forget the dance by the fire that illuminated by the almost full moon our camp in the desert of Merzouga.
After a quiet buffet dinner, very good by the way, we did not take long to leave the party afterward. The fatigue and the early start that awaited us the next day weighed heavily in our decision to be the first to retire quietly while other groups of tourists. Somewhat over alcohol, enjoyed singing and dancing without caring about tomorrow.
We must say that both the tents, with a comfortable bed, private bathroom with shower, electricity and even hot water, and the camp, in general, surprised us very pleasantly.
Sunrise in the desert
It was not even 6 o’clock in the morning when we were up and about. After a quick shower and dressed for the occasion, especially my friend in her white dress, we headed to the top of a dune near the camp to enjoy the sunrise.
Watching the sunrise in the desert is a spectacular experience and undoubtedly the best of everything we experienced in Merzouga. If you get a good place the feeling of freedom you have watching the sun wake up and begins to illuminate the desert is unique.
Despite the time, neither sleep nor fatigue exists. The experience of watching the sunrise has only one bad thing, it is very short and you have to look to make the most of it. Also, to know how to combine the time to enjoy the moment and the time we spend looking for the best photo for our networks (and in the case of having a blog for this one).
Return to the base camp in 4×4
Although we had contracted for the return trip by camel to the base camp. We preferred to do it by car because as we commented the experience of riding a camel/dromedary, is quite uncomfortable.
So after breakfast and packing again in just over 10 minutes we arrived back at the hotel to head to our next destination. Tinghir and the Todra Gorges, on the way to Marrakech.
Excursion to the desert of Merzouga, our opinion
If we are honest we ended our excursion in the desert of Mergouza with a bittersweet feeling. The place is incredible but we missed going deeper into the desert and its dunes to enjoy the solitude of the desert in a more intense way.
After so many hours of travel, being just over 12 hours living in first person. The desert is too little and almost does not even give you time to realize that you are in a unique place and you are already packing your bags to leave it.
It also plays against this excursion and sunrise in the Merzouga desert. The incredibly high expectations that it generates, and sometimes if they do not end up being fulfilled. They generate this somewhat unfair sensation if we compare it with those that can generate other places that are several steps below this one.
What we really missed was an extra day in the desert, we rested and without the hangover of the whole day in the car. We would have surely enjoyed the dunes and the immensity of the desert. So if you are planning a route through Morocco and you can for days is an option that would have much weight in the balance if we return to organize a trip to Morocco.
Excursions to the desert of Merzouga
Visiting the desert of Merzouga and watching the sunrise can be part of a route of several days in the desert. Or it is also very common to make this trip in an excursion of one, two, or three days from Fes or Marrakech.
Excursion to the desert of Merzouga from Marrakech
Marrakech is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular cities in Morocco. So a combination of this city + the Merzouga desert with the sunrise is a spectacular option.
The most common proposal is the three-day excursion visiting Ait Beh Haddou. Not to mention, Ouarzazate, Dades gorge and night in a tent in the desert cost 90€ per person.
Excursion to the desert of Merzouga from Fes
If our city of departure is Fez, we can also make a trip to the desert, which is usually 2 days and one night in a tent.
The excursion leaving early in the morning from Fes takes us through Ifrane, Azrou, and Erfoud. And after the night in the tent, we return through Rissani and the Ziz valley. The proposals that we can find on the Internet are Morocco Desert Tours, Hotel, our hotel in Rissani, and the Ziz valley.
Our hotel in the desert
The hotel that Khadija (Marrakech Camel Trips ) found for us, in this case, was the hotel We must say that we liked it very much because although we stayed in the standard tents (not the luxury ones) these had all kinds of amenities unimaginable in the desert.
Apart from the comfort of the tents, we loved the dinner we had. We just have to say that we repeated several times many of the dishes that were in the buffet. The Berber show after dinner is quite touristy but also quite entertaining.
It is a highly recommended accommodation and we would definitely return to it.
More than one day in Merzouga, what to see and do.
Activities in Merzouga
If you are lucky enough to spend more than one day in the desert of Merzouga there are many activities to not get bored. Among these we have:
- Enjoy the desert and its dunes in 4×4 or buggy to feel for a while like a participant in the Dakar.
- Touring the desert dunes on your own, either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
- Take a sand bath, i.e. bury your whole body in the sand leaving only your head out for 10 minutes.
- Discover more of the area near Merzouga visiting for example Khamlia (the village of the blacks, located about 10 minutes drive from Erg Chebbi), the mines of Kohl, dedicated to the extraction of copper and zinc, the villages of Hassilabied and / or Merzouga, Lake Dayet Srij semi-salty water ….
- As you can see, we are sure that if we spend more than one day in the desert of Merzouga you will not get bored. If we were to do the route again, as we have said is perhaps one of the things that we would look to include, but it is also true that to include an extra day in this area has to sacrifice some other place and this is very complicated …
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