A Day in the Sahara Desert, Morocco

Our travels through Morocco would not have been complete without a visit to the Sahara Desert.  The Sahara is a large desert that spans a number of north African nations, involving only a relatively small part of Morocco.  Apparently, the desert is expanding, much to the chagrin of people who live near it.

(Piles of sand are admixed with rocks during the earlier part of our trip into the Sahara Desert)

Our journey into the Sahara started with a 2-hour ride in a 4×4 SUV.  The journey was almost entirely off road, although our drivers seemed to know which shrub to drive around, and which gulley was the correct one to take.  The scenery was ever changing, with the first part of the journey containing some vegetation, while the latter half consisted mostly of rocks and ever-increasingly large piles of sand.  I would estimate that we traveled more than 50 miles to our desert camp and I’m glad to say the SUV was much more comfortable than a camel’s back would have been.

Our journey took us past several Berber men using dromedaries (one-humped camels) to transport goods from town to their nomadic camps. Notice that the front feet of the dromedary are hobbled to keep it from running away.

Our destination was the Aladdin Desert Camp in Erg Chegaga.  The photos below include one that was used in last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo.  Unfortunately (and not surprising to me), no one recognized where we were.

(One Clue Mystery photo)

(Our host at the camp, a friendly young Berber)

The camp sits at the transition of the low desert into substantially large dunes and was surprisingly pleasant and comfortable.  Our “huts” were solid structures with solar powered lights, running water, and flush toilets.  Hot water showers could be arranged (someone had to heat water and load it into a reservoir over your room).  There were places around the camp for us to sit, a comfortable dining room (with an excellent cook), and of course the highlight were the large sand dunes of the Sahara Desert.  My estimate was that these dunes were well over 100 feet tall — perhaps even 200 feet high.

(Aladdin Desert Camp)

I realized that this might be the only chance in my life to see the Sahara Desert, so I spent hours watching it.  The sand ripples seemed alive and ever changing in the breezes.  The light on the dunes was fading, with shadows growing longer until it was dark.

(Dusk in the Sahara Desert)

It’s quite cool and breezy in the desert at night, so I only studied the stars in the night sky for a short time, retiring instead to my room.  After a good night’s rest, I was up before dawn the next morning and headed back to the desert to see sunrise.  It was glorious!

(sunrise in the Sahara Desert)

I made a point of photographing the ripples in the sand that morning.  They are a prominent and interesting feature of the desert….

After breakfast we made our return journey back to civilization, our stay in the desert having been too short for my liking, but at least giving us a feel for this fascinating ecosystem.

We spotted several more Dromedaries, like the one grazing on a spot of vegetation below.

This area was part of the famous desert caravan routes that used to bring goods from the far east to Marrakech via Timbuktu, as outlined in the murals below

It was one of the highlights of my visit to Morocco!