About This Experience

The Call of
the Desert

The colossal dunes of Erg Chebbi rise over 150 metres above the 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 desert sky above Erg Chebbi is one of the most extraordinary 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 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.