Errachidia is a city located in a strategic place to ‘assault’ the Sahara: from here routes depart that, like this one, will allow you to reach the most fascinating part of this desert in Moroccan territory in a short time: Merzouga and its Erg Chebbi dunes. And despite its brevity, it will not be a ‘blink and you miss it’ experience, but the program is full of activities and places where you can discover the subtle nuances of this magical place.
The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world. And only a small part of its territory extends through Morocco. But despite this, its immensity is such that it will make you feel tiny inside: dune fields, stony hammadas, moving silence, boundless firmament… And everything that is gigantic about it is also welcoming, thanks to the magical light that bathes its landscapes and its sky, especially at dawn and dusk.
Paradoxically, there is something warmer in this desert than the torrid temperatures that can be experienced during the day (and can drop to freezing at night): we are talking about the warmth of the brave human beings who inhabit it, such as the Gnawa people of Khamlia or the semi-nomadic tribes of the area. We will meet them in due course, enjoying their cultural expressions and learning from their teachings.
In just 3 days, this route starting and ending in Errachidia will take you through the most beautiful and human aspects of the Sahara Desert. To do this, you will sleep two nights in very suggestive and welcoming environments. This is the route:
This 3-day tour from Errachidia to the desert usually starts at the city airport (ERH), but we can also pick you up at any other point we agree on. Our driver will arrive with a comfortable private vehicle to head towards the desert, through the Ziz Valley.
On the way, we will make a stop of interest: Erfoud. This small city is known by many thanks to the paleontological wealth it treasures, with fossil remains of prehistoric animals, including some dinosaurs. This is the main attraction of many of its stores, where minerals and other treasures extracted from the subsoil are also exhibited and sold.
Back on the road, we will travel the last stretch to Merzouga, the end of this first stage, for dinner and sleep in a hotel-kasbah, with all the comforts and a Berber-style atmosphere, which is very welcoming.
After breakfast at the hotel-kasbah, we will go to a small town called Khamlia, although here it is known as ‘the town of the blacks’, as a good part of its population is of sub-Saharan origin. Specifically, descendants of slaves who imported their tribal rhythms and created a musical genre that is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO: Gnawa music. And the good news is that they will delight you with one of their live shows.
On this day we will also enjoy another very special company: that of a nomadic family from the desert, which still maintains its traditions and way of life, compatible with some sedentary customs imposed by the current world. In any case, living with them will be a very rewarding and enriching experience.
And between one visit and another, we will travel through the most remote places in the desert, in this case in a 4×4, to pass in front of old khol mines and French settlements, and experience the adrenaline of the Paris-Dakar rally, which once passed right through here. In addition, we will find the perfect panoramic point to glimpse the entire extension of the dunes.
But on this day, we will not only see the dunes from afar, but we will also access their interior: we will climb on the backs of dromedaries to travel through the sand dunes that arise in the surroundings and, in this spectacular way, reach the jaima camp. There, you will have a typical dinner and sleep under a firmament of bright stars.
Seeing the sunrise in the dunes is the perfect incentive to get up early on this second day: the birth of the new day has a special charm here, especially for those who manage to see the first lights in the celestial vault and, later, the first rays of sun at dawn, which tinge the surrounding sand fields with unimaginable nuances.
It will be the perfect epilogue for this 3-day tour from Errachidia to the desert, since after this magical moment and the corresponding breakfast, we will return to Merzouga to recover our vehicle and begin the return to Errachidia.
Our services will end at the airport terminal or at any other agreed point, with the hope of a future reunion to enjoy other tours and circuits of Tenere Tours.
With the services that we detail below, the travel package is covered in its main aspects, such as accommodation, travel and the most important diets:
The following services are not included in this package, so you can book them or discard them according to your preferences:
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