My trip to Morocco could not be complete without visiting Merzouga and spending one night camping in the Sahara Desert. It was my first time visiting a desert of this magnitude and it lived for the expectations!

Merzouga is a small town in southeastern Morocco, very close to the Algerian border. It´s most famous for its proximity to the Erg Chebbi dunes, which makes it ideal to visit the most beautiful desert scenery you can find in Morocco. There are a few hotels in Merzouga but it is very common to offer camping experiences into the desert which can include a combination of camel rides and other activities depending on how much time you have, but the main activity is understandably the camel ride experience + the night in the desert.

The desert does not mean the absence of men, it means the presence of God

Carlo Caretto

Before going deeper into the desert, I spent the first part ot the day visiting the Merzouga village, as well as the nearby town of Rissani to see the local markets and life near the Sahara. One of the things I remember the most in Rissani was the official parking for the dunkies and the goat market 😉 This is a very commercial town and dunkies are very common way of transportation to carry the goods. By the time I visited, there were not so many but at the right time this is full of them. Once in the market, many vegetables, fruits, species, smells and colors typical of Morocco. This is also a more conservative region of the country

After this I had a brief visit fo the town of Khamlia, about 15 minutes drive from Merzouga. Here you get to enjoy a performance of the Malinese Gnaoua drummers, Les “Pigeons du Sable” who play native instruments to protect their musical heritage. This is a tiny community and nowadays supports themselves by tourism and performing their unique music. They are immigrants from ther parts of Africa.

On the way back to Merzouga I saw again the huge dunes from the road and it was time to do the 4×4 truck tour to drive already in the desert. This is the first time I saw the dunes from closer distance as well as some camp sites.

We visited couple of nomad families who live in the sorroundings of the desert. I understood they used to live further away but now some families are getting a little “closer” to tourists so they combine their nomad way of life with some local tourism. It means you see how they live, you are invited to their homes and you can help them.

Finally the activity I was anxiously waiting for, after the more cultural activities it was time to immerse ourselves in the desert at last to see nothing but sand and dunes. It is absolutely peaceful and beautiful. The traditional clothing is actually for men 😉 and it was my friendly guide, Hamid, who kindly offered to let me wear this for the pictures. I owe you the official name as as there are many different types and I don´t want to get it wrong, but I do know it´s rather typical from the Merzouga region and men really do wear them in town, also they are very very proud of its heritage as I could experience.

I travelled with a local agency called Sahara Exploring, a family busines from Merzouga and you can tell how important this region and the desert life is for them. They drove me all around Morocco but this was their base, where the family is. At least on this trip I feel happy that I supported a fully local and small business, something important as a female solo traveller in this country.

The last pit stop before riding the camel (dromedary) was to have food and try the Berber pizza 😉 As a bad vegetarian myself I missed my meat -yes, I´m sooooo sorry new generations, I´m still a meat lover – but I had to try. This is very typical from this region, you could say it´s a pizza but stuffed with vegetables, prepared under the sand. It was my time to relax and even enjoy the company of some cats, while having a view to the desert.

Sunset at the desert

After having lunch, it was the time to ride the camel to go to our sunset location and afterwards to go to our camping. Due to the season and covid, I shared this experience only with another couple so it was really secluded and nice, just the 3 of us and the guide. The sunset was fantastic to watch from a high dune and in general there is not that much to add to simply spend time in such unique landscapes. I also enjoyed just seeing our shadows in other dunes, the effect was lovely! You can hear the most minimum sound, it´s amazing!

“But in the desert, in the pure clean atmosphere, in the silence — there you can find yourself”

Father Dioscuros, 5th-century archdeacon in Alexandria, Egyp

Last but not least, our camp! Besides really nice food, it´s time to enjoy the music, even dance a little and on a clear night all the lights are turned off so you can see the stars!! In our case we had a clear night just in the beginning so we could do this at least once, later unfortunately the clouds came and we could not do this again during the long night… but I did star-gazed as long as I could. That is always a beautiful experiene anywhere in the world! And here there is no industry nearby and it´s secluded that you can really see the stars!

Something I would have done differently?

One more night 😉 It was my own decision to maximize my week, however in this case the scenery is very specific or at least in my case I had never been to a proper desert with huge dunes before. I saw some activitities that would have been surely fun and just by being there I can recommend: sandboarding and renting quads. Also sunsets in the desert are quite magical, so one more night and star-gazing is appreciated.

Fun facts about MY trip

• I travelled still during COVID restrictions (2021) so I had to be tested a day before the trip AND it was low season… all together I appreciated the extra space and not seeing many other tourists 😉 especially in the desert. Sometimes you see photos with very large camel caravans but I did it with 2 more people only.
• On my way back from Morocco, the border with France was closed. I again left the country right on time and the next day all flights to France were cancelled and it was more difficult to fly to some other european countries, until eventually the country was closed again (End of november 2021), it was super stressing again but i DID manage to leave as planned, only a delay that made me lose my final connection to Finland… as the crew in Marakesh was told the flight would be cancelled (with us on board!), and after negotiations we were allowed to fly.
• I´m still in touch with my guide and the familiy behind the company! (saludos Dayana!)

Morocco was magical! Don´t let other people make believe otherwise, open mind to new experiences and friendly people is all you need. Yes, culture may be different and as a woman it can be overwhelming, my overall advice in this context is to travel with a small group (or bigger group if you prefer, I´m always in favor of private or small group 😉 but I understand it´s not always possible.

Cheers. Nat