Best Sahara desert trekking in Morocco
Best Sahara Desert Trekking in Morocco
Do you want to know what it feels like to stand at the world’s end with the brilliant blue sky above you, the still air seeming almost sacred, and endless rolls of golden dunes dotting the horizon? Sahara Desert offers all of these and more. Best Sahara desert trekking in Morocco?
Morocco’s Sahara Desert is not like any other destination you might have seen or visited before. Here, it seems like time comes to a standstill as nature’s beauty takes center stage. If you’re up for some adventure, trekking the Sahara Desert is your opportunity to see all the natural wonders and the lovely vast landscapes, and bask in the rich history and culture.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time to explore the desert or you’re a veteran trekker, Sahara desert trekking in Morocco is guaranteed to give memories that will remain etched on your mind, heart, and soul for the rest of your life.
Why Trek the Sahara?
The Sahara is the biggest hot desert in the world that stretches across several North African countries. Morocco in particular offers some of the most breathtaking and accessible areas where you can experience everything that Sahara has to offer.
For the longest time, it has been dubbed as a land of contrasts with its rocky plateaus, oases, towering dunes, and caravan routes from the ancient times where Berber nomads used to travel for many centuries. The Sahara is a wonderful place of subtle beauty, serenity, and life, which is very much different from the harsh images people often think of every time they hear the word desert.
While trekking the Sahara is unquestionably a matter of endurance, it is also all about discovery, not only of the land but also of yourself. It is also about hearing the sand as it crunches under your feet, seeing the soft dawn colors breaking over the dunes, and witnessing the infinite sky studded in twinkling stars.
If these are not enough, the trek is also about the chance to connect with the people of the desert, with their timeless rhythm of life and rich traditions that continue to remain in this land no matter how inhospitable it seems.
Ready to trek the Sahara? Here are the top places you might want to check out:
Erg Chebbi
With its location close to the town of Merzouga, Erg Chebbi is among the most renowned dune systems of Morocco with towering dunes as high as 150 meters. Treks here usually offer a cinematic and almost surreal experience while you pass through the lofty formations of sand that change and shift with the winds.
Merzouga is a common starting point for adventures in the Sahara where you can choose between short treks on a camel and several days of exploring the desert’s deepest and less traveled areas. The main highlight here is spending the night in a traditional Berber camp under a starlit sky where you can tell stories or listen to local music around the blazing fire.
Erg Chegaga
If you want something more remote, Erg Chegaga with its smaller number of visitors is a stunning place located almost southwest close to M’Hamid. Here, raw wilderness and a sense of solitude await you, a stark contrast to the crowded Erg Chebbi. If disconnecting from the rest of the world is your ultimate goal, it’s just the kind of place that will give you the most immersive experiences ever.
