Today begins our adventure in the Sahara Desert.
Erg Chegaga
We booked a two-day excursion to Erg Chegaga in the Sahara Desert with Hamid's company www.marruecosrutas.com. The tour includes private 4x4 travel, meals, accommodation in a desert camp and a camel ride at sunset, all for 175€/pax, which we were able to pay in euros. The initial idea was to go down to Mahmid on the N9 road and return via Lake Iriki, but the heavy rains (in two hours it rained for a whole year) of the last few days did not allow us to cross the lake, so we go and return on the N9, making different stops.
At 8.30 we are picked up by Ali our guide and Omar our driver. The 4x4 is a Toyota Land Cruiser and the driver is excellent. We have more than five hours ahead of us until we reach our camp in Erg Chegaga.
4x4
From Ouazazarte we take the N9 road to Aslim, the gateway to the Draa Valley. The Draa Valley takes its name from the river that flows through it, filling the valley with life and allowing the formation of oases and date palm groves along the way, the main source of income in the area.
Southern Morocco is very poor. Roads have improved thanks to tourism, but there are hardly any cars to be seen. Most people travel by donkey or mule. They cultivate small gardens and pick dates.
In Aslim there is a beautiful viewpoint with a panoramic view of the Draa Valley.
Draa valley
We continue our way through small villages with mud houses and abandoned Kasbahs until we reach Tamnougalt to visit the Kasbah Des Caids.
Kasbah Des Caids
The Kasbah, which is in a perfect state of conservation, hosts a volunteer programme for its restoration and conservation. Some of them stay there.
Our guide Ali gets in touch with the Kasbah guide and we start the visit. First the part corresponding to the most humble people and then the merchants' area where agreements were made and goods were exchanged. Some of the original decorated wooden ceilings have been preserved. The visit is really worthwhile.
Kasbah Des Caids
We stop at a restaurant next to Oulad Othmane Kasbah Hotel for a drink, they are very friendly and give us a taste of dates. In September they are in the middle of a date and fly campaign, it is amazing how many flies there are. Next to the restaurant there is a very interesting Kasbah.
Kasbah
We continue on to Zagora where we stop for lunch. We eat in the restaurant Chez Omar chicken and veal tajine, and they serve olives and lentils as an aperitif.
Next to Zagora there are sand dunes that come from the Sahara desert, the Tinfou dunes. If you don't have enough time, this is an option, but if you really want to experience the desert, we advise you to go to Erg Chegaga.
We head south again. In the last ten days it has rained like it hasn't rained for 20 years and there are problems getting to Mhamid, so our driver, who is an expert, takes an alternative route through what they call hamada or rocky desert, until he reaches the dune area.
Dromedary ride
For an hour and a half we drive through the desert in the 4x4, pure adventure. You can still see muddy areas and some greenery due to the water accumulated between the dunes.
We arrive at our camp in the Sahara desert in Erg Chegaga. The setting is beautiful. In the middle of the dunes they have set up a camp with several haimas for up to four people each. The bathrooms are shared. There are a total of eight of us in the camp, which makes you feel like a nomad for a day.
Camp
It has common areas in the middle with carpets and cushions to rest on where we have a mint tea.
At sunset they come to pick us up for a camel ride. The experience is brutal, for just over an hour we enjoy the immensity of the Sahara desert. The sunset leaves us speechless.
In the camp
Back at the camp we have dinner, chicken tajine with potatoes and vegetables, Moroccan salad, bread, fruit and water, delicious.
In the evening we enjoy a small Berber concert in which we are invited to participate.
Erg Chegaga
You can spend the night outdoors if you request it in advance, it was very windy that day and we didn't dare, but we stayed until midnight enjoying the starry sky.
Two-day trip to Erg Chegaga in the Sahara Desert 175€/pax with marruecosrutas.com
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