Not only is Morocco home to bustling, ancient cities but its borders also extend deep into the eastern dunes of the Sahara. These are no ordinary dunes either but these are the grand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Here the windswept Sahara is sculpted into hills and valleys of sand, soaring to 150m and stretching on for over 20km.
Erg Chebbi is a 2 day trip from Marrakech and covers some wondrous sights along the way. The tour would stop off in Ourazazate and nearby Aït Benhaddou which are home to movie studios and have been backdrops to films like Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Alexander and Kingdom of Heaven, to name a few.
Morning broke and I rose and after a quick breakfast the tour group was introduced to our magnificent steeds. These ships of the desert would carry up over the dunes into the desert where we would be spending the night in a Berber camp and get to watch both sunset and sunrise over the mighty dunes. While many have described the comfort levels of a camels back as less than adequate I would say it was not too bad. I sat atop the hump on a stiff cushion roll wrapped around the hump. It was a couple of hour’s march out to the camp and this was pretty much the limits of my comfort. You can touch much longer camel expeditions all the way up Morocco through the desert over 7-10 days. While that would be an epic experience I’m not sure your arse would ever forgive you.
As our camels followed the line of the dunes and ascended crests with ease, their big padded feet provided them with sure footed stability in the shifting sands. While quite an awkward animal, the desert sands are their home and where their value far outshines the elegant horse whose small hoofs would produce and awkward stumble and struggle in the soft sands. Not the camel, he plods along at a comfortable pace and the edge of the desert disappears behind the summit of a dune and I am in a sea of sand, as far as the eye can see. Otherworldly. Similar to the dunes in Masapolamas Nadi and I would trek ourselves across, but on an vastly bigger scale.
As the comfort faded and the rocking of the camel began to grate away at my backside the camp came into view. Thankful to the camel for it’s transport but happy to be off it. The camp was set up in traditional Berber style, tents made of hung carpets, tough to withstand desert conditions. The afternoon was spent eating from the camp fire hot pot and climbing to the top of the dunes for the magnificent sunset over the Sahara.
I rose nice and early to witness the incredible scene in reverse as the sun made it’s ascent back into the sky. It was something I will never forget as the colour of the sands changed and the dunes themselves shift and move and the glowing orb rises. The sun is dulled by the dust and sand and heat in the air and you can look straight at it and it presents as a perfect circle. Incredible to watch.
The trip back to Marrakech was fairly uneventful, a long ride in the 4WD, thinking about the experience I had just had and thinking how many people go through life missing out on such wondrously simple events as the a sunrise over the Sahara.
Erg Chebbi is a 2 day trip from Marrakech and covers some wondrous sights along the way. The tour would stop off in Ourazazate and nearby Aït Benhaddou which are home to movie studios and have been backdrops to films like Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Alexander and Kingdom of Heaven, to name a few.
Aït Benhaddou really is an amazing sight to behold. It is a Unesco World Heritage site and dates back to around the 17th century. There are still a few families who live within the walls of the old town but most live in a new settlement across the river. It is amazing to walk around the little alleyways between rich earthen walls and it is something to marvel at. From the peak in the middle you get a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside up and downstream where you can see how the banks of the river have been cultivated to make productive and naturally irrigated cropland.
As you approach the edge of the Sahara it is really startling how abruptly the desert begins. The peaks of the dunes rise from the horizon like a mountain range in the distance. Right on the edge of the dunes is a small settlement where the tour’s have set up their base camps. Here I stayed the night with the camels sleeping nearby in anticipation of the ride into the desert.
As the comfort faded and the rocking of the camel began to grate away at my backside the camp came into view. Thankful to the camel for it’s transport but happy to be off it. The camp was set up in traditional Berber style, tents made of hung carpets, tough to withstand desert conditions. The afternoon was spent eating from the camp fire hot pot and climbing to the top of the dunes for the magnificent sunset over the Sahara.
I rose nice and early to witness the incredible scene in reverse as the sun made it’s ascent back into the sky. It was something I will never forget as the colour of the sands changed and the dunes themselves shift and move and the glowing orb rises. The sun is dulled by the dust and sand and heat in the air and you can look straight at it and it presents as a perfect circle. Incredible to watch.
The trip back to Marrakech was fairly uneventful, a long ride in the 4WD, thinking about the experience I had just had and thinking how many people go through life missing out on such wondrously simple events as the a sunrise over the Sahara.
