The opportunity to camp in the Sahara Desert was one of my top reasons for traveling to Morocco. The silver screen’s depiction of a seemingly endless expanse of sunburnt sand dunes captured my imagination, and I would not be content until I experienced it myself. And, as many like-minded travelers have come before me, there are several excursion companies to choose from; but the trip itself is about the same. Camels across the dunes and a night in a tent under the stars, free from the light pollution of city lights.
Most of the Sahara excursions will pick you up from a pre-determined location and shuttle you out to the camps. By early afternoon, a small convoy of 4×4 vehicles was dispatched to my hotel in Erfoud to collect the group for the camp out.
As we made our way towards the desert and our camp, I noticed quite a few “sand barricades” along the roadside. At first, I thought they were just random patches of dense plants. Then I realized they had purposefully been planted. These low lying barricades, comprised of small bushes and grasses, are planted in tidy rows, with the primary purpose of helping control the drifting of sand, which contributes to land erosion and sand storms. Little piles of sand were visible at the base of these plant barricades, a testament to their usefulness.
Even with the sand barricades, smaller sand dunes will shift and move with the winds, making them poor landmarks for navigation.
I was hoping to talk my driver into letting me drive through the desert for a short time, but once we hit the desert and went off road, I knew there was no chance. Driving along the tracks of deep sand felt a lot like driving in deep snow; our vehicle drifted about, as the sand rolled beneath the tires. As if the car was a glass, and the passengers the water, we sloshed about the interior. Driving from shallow sands into the deeper pockets of sand, you could feel the downgrade in traction, and the vehicle would drift a bit from side to side, and you continue to slosh accordingly.
My desert guide pointed out that the deep sand “valleys” we crossed were the product of dried up riverbeds that had filled up with drifting sand. Riverbeds are not exactly the first thing to come to mind when I think of the Sahara! At first glance, the riverbeds are nothing more distinguishable than peaks and valleys of sand. But on closer inspection, you can see where the rain water has carved a path through the sands. Where does all that water come from you say? When it rains in the mountains, the water runs down to the flat desert lands, filling up the previously dried up river. Heavy amounts of rain can create dangerous flash flood situations very quickly.
Roughly 40 minutes more of off-roading through the desert, and we arrived at the base of the Erg Chebbi sand dune, one of two large dunes in Morocco. From our drop off point, there was a short walk to the camels and camel guides. All the camels in the group were dromedary camels, the noted characteristic being the single-hump, instead of the two humps of the Bactrain camels. Saddled, with colorful blankets draped underneath, and lined up in several rows, the camels lounged in the sand.
Continued: Camping in the Sahara