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Leave your base in Marrakech and be whisked off to visit the Erg Chebbi dunes on this three-day Sahara Desert Tour. You’ll ride camels at sunset, sleep under the stars in the desert and visit the World Heritage site of Ait Benhaddou.
South East Morocco has just two areas of classic Saharan Sand Dunes, or 'ergs'; Erg Chegaga and Erg Chebbi. Folklore has it that the latter was sent by God to the townspeople of Merzouga as a punishment for turning away hungry travellers. Whether you choose to believe it or not, the range, measuring around 22km long by 5km wide make for an impressive site. With the highest dunes measuring approximately 150m high, the sight of the undulating Ergs appearing out of the rocky desert is guaranteed to leave you breathless.
This three day Sahara Desert tour departs from Marrakech from where you will head out over the High Atlas Mountains on the Tizi-n-Tichka mountain pass. The road reaches up to about 2,600m, providing breathtaking views of the surrounding areas. Once over the other side of the mountains, you will stop for lunch and a chance to explore the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ait Benhaddou. This is an ancient fortified city containing countless kasbahs and has been the atmospheric subject of numerous hollywood movies (The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander, Lawrence of Arabia...) Heading deeper into the rocky plateau, you will spend the night at Dades Gorge, a spectacular deep-sided canyon.
The following day of your tour sees you heading into the rocky desert, stopping off en-route to explore another geographical phenomenon - Todra Gorge. Once you arrive at the desert gateway town of Merzouga, you will pause to pick up supplies and will then drive a further hour to meet your camels and guide. You will then mount your camels and trek across the dunes for an hour and a half to the desert camp, where you will spend the night enjoying a traditional Moroccan meal and dining under the stars. The next morning, you will get up very early and trek by camel to watch the sun rising over the dunes. After a hearty breakfast, you will get back into the car and drive back to Marrakech.
This tour is perfect for those who are short of time, but eager to have the chance to get out to Saharan dunes and experience camping under the stars. There is no heavy trekking involved so it is very much accessible to all. Accommodation is simple and local - and when you are in the desert it is down right basic, with a basic shared toilet (no shower).
You don't need any prior riding experience for the camel riding. Camels are lead by a guide, so you just need to hold on. Rides are timed for sunrise and sunset so that you are not riding at the hottest time of the day.
Prepare yourself for the fact that the dunes are about a 10 hour drive from Marrakech, Whilst the journey is definitely worth it - and there will be stops along the way - you will be in a car for long periods of time. If you travel in the summer, when the days are longer, there will be more chances for stops along the way, but in the winter, with shorter days, there will be less time for stops. The car will have air conditioning. If you have a bit more time to spare, you might want to consider a slightly longer trip.
Average reviews for 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour to Erg Chebbi
(based on 4 ratings)
Reviews of this experience
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Overall tour was fantastic, our tour guide was really really friendly and made a big effort to ensure we got to see the key attractions on the road to the Sahara, very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The guides in the Sahara were equally good, overall a great experience and one of the best activities we did in Morocco.
warren gregson
reviewing 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour to Erg Chebbi -
My thoughts on the trip was that it was over all an amazing experience. The Erg Chebbi trip was the most enjoyable part of our stay in Morocco, Im glad we booked it through yourself as everything ran smoothly and we feel we got an excellent service. We heard some bad experiences of similar trips but were a lot cheaper so I think you get what you pay for.
KateThorburn
reviewing 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour to Erg Chebbi -
Trip to Erg Chebbi
What a really wonderful trip – many thanks to everyone involved in making it happen. Riding over dunes in the desert at sunset has to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, watching the sun going down behind the orange glowing sand and crescent shaped shadows. I found, to my great relief, that camels are actually quite cooperative animals – or maybe that was down to our guide, Zaieed, who led them patiently for an hour, until we reached our tent. Then a delicious tagine, cooked on the spot, followed by sleeping under the brightest moon and stars imaginable. To top it all, we set off (again guided by Zaieed) in the morning while it was still dark so that we could park our camels on the side of a dune so we could clamber up and watch the sun rise. Pure magic.
It was a long drive down to the desert from Marrakech, but we stopped off at some fascinating places along the way, and enjoyed getting a feel for Moroccan villages after the bright lights of Marrakech. And the drive was worth every minute for such a wonderful experience.lizsweetman
reviewing 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour to Erg Chebbi -
Firstly, you guys at Tourdust- what can I say really?! perfect service, informative, timely, reasonably priced etc etc Can't fault you, thanks so much, i'm really glad we didn't leave it to our Riad to book or just risk someone selling tours on the side of the road when we got there! The few extra quid was very well spent.
Mohammed and Aztat Tours- we had 2 guides (just for Andy and I!) the whole time. Met us at our front door and dropped us off practically at the next front door. EXTREMELY sensitive to our wimpy British needs (always checking we were cool enough, had enough water, wanted to take pics, stop for lunch, loos etc) They couldn't have been more thoughtful, even moreso considering they were both without food and water all day because of Ramadan.
The tour was very comprehensive- mountains, gorges, the desert and other stops like fossil factories, film studios and various places of interest along the way. The dessert was an INCREDIBLE experience, the most bizarre silence i've ever experienced and I now know camels regurgitate their food and eat it as mine did this for the entire trip back (rather nice at 5am!)
Things that may be useful in terms of other clients doing the same tour and asking questions: we had no idea we would be travelling quite so far, so although the first and second day were fine and split up with visits and obviously a night in a hotel, the full journey back on the 3rd day was a marathon. I think we stopped twice for the loo and once for lunch in almost 12 hours because there was so far to go.
We also had no idea we'd be leaving our guides once we got on the camels, and trekking 4km to the camp. Our Berber 'host' there was amazing, the tagine the best we had the whole holiday and the 4 other guests a real nice bunch. But we then trekked back at 5am to see the sunrise. Again, a fab experience but we were in shock when we were told at camp we'd be getting up before 5am and going back on camels as 1- Camels are the most uncomfy beasts ever, and 2- We were absolutely knackered!
Also, the sleeping in the desert- we had packed a fleece and our toothbrushes along with wipes medication other items on the list etc. The torch was the most valuable item listed, we would have been lost without it! But anything other than maybe medication and wipes is pointless as there are NO facilities whatsoever, just a loo in a tent. We slept in our clothes and went back in them the next day, there's no point doing anything else really. It is a complete myth that it gets cold in the desert- it was a good 30 degrees all through the night with no wind whatsoever and the camp has thin mattresses and sheets to use if needed so no need for sleeping bag hire either, it was all just extra stuff to lug around. Our guide told us it very rarely gets cold in the desert and this is at the time of year when they move their camp out anyway so no-one would be staying there, doing tours etc
Elena
reviewing 3 Day Sahara Desert Tour to Erg Chebbi
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