Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi Dunes (June 23-June 25, 2011)

After a long bus ride from Meknes and an overnight stay in Er Rachidia, we reached the small town of Merzouga (about 300 miles southeast of Meknes near the Algerian border). The area around Merzouga is considered the "Pre-Saharan" desert (although it felt very real Saharan to us), and the town is the gateway to the Erg Chebbi sand dunes, which is the main attraction of the area.

Because of the extreme heat (it hovered around 105-110 degrees during midday) our time in Merzouga was short and centered around an overnight camel trek into the dunes. With four other guests and two Berber guides (the indigenous people of Northern Africa) we headed toward the dunes at dusk, rode for about an hour and a half to camp, and spent the evening under the stars eating tajines, drinking mint tea (which Moroccans call "Berber Whiskey"), and talking with our Portuguese, French, and Moroccan companions. It was a very musical group and we got to listen to our guides play Gnaoua music, one of the Portuguese guests sing, and the Moroccan guest play classical guitar. In the morning, we rose early, watched the sun rise, rode back to Merzouga, and then were on our way to the next locale.

Click the photo below for our Erg Chebbi album.