On the edge of the Sahara desert

Will we ever get there? we wondered. We had been driving for ever and the vehicle had slowly heated up. We were sweating and slightly uncomfortable despite the air conditioner turned up high. The landscape was monotonous grey - as far as the eye can see. There didn't seem to be a road but the driver assured us there was - large stones painted white, were placed equidistance apart. They marked the road. So where is this wonderful Sahara? ...the glorious red dunes that scrape the sky?

Approaching the Sahara

red sand beauty

The driver assured us the Sahara was just ahead! HmmHuh!? Ok then. We became curious and looked for it. How can it be so huge but not visible? The car struggled and the driver stopped to check the radiator. We climbed out into the pulsing heat to stretch and have a drink of water, still searching for this huge red desert. The ground around us was actually black pebbles and obsidian like stones.... The driver explained the area is full of fossils. In the town at the edge of the dune, they make marble furnishings out of fossilized stone slabs they excavate. The car consumed the water he gave it and we climbed back in. He drove up a slight hill on the invisible road....and he stopped at the top. We caught our breath as we saw the horizon of glowing orange dunes. THAT is the Saraha!

Endless dunes of Sahara

The sun was past its zenith when we finally approached the base of the big Erg Chebbi (sea of dunes nearest to Merzouga - the town at the edge of the Sahara). There are two main Ergs or dunes, in Morocco with the other one being Erg Chigaga. Our hotel was on the edge of the dune and our driver continued around the walled hotel, entering a half courtyard to deliver us to

Blowing Sahara sands

Reception. A slight breeze lifted wisps of red sand that lapped the stone edging of the patio - like gentle waves on the beach. We were welcomed by the concierge with a cool fruit juice while they took our passports to register us into the hotel. We waited in a comfy lounge area with a long low seat piled with colorful Moroccan cushions. All the windows faced the red sands of the Sahara and the restaurant tables were out on the patio, built on top of the sands of the dune.

Our room was white-washed and fresh. The windows faced onto the central courtyard and the pool, which was already shaded from the heat by the walls of the courtyard. The Hotelier took us up a narrow set of stone stairs beside our room onto the roof of the hotel. We could see the dunes towering above on one side and the rolling foothills that we came across on the other.

Evening falls over the Sahara

The air is fresh at night in the Sahara desert and it cools quickly. He suggests we may want to sleep up there tonight. If so, they will set up beds for us with a mattress and blankets. Blankets?? In the desert? You will soon realize that the nights are downright cold in the desert with no plants to absorb heat and hold the warmth. It is high summer and not very many people travel to the desert in the heat of summer! We might be the only guests tonight so it will be no trouble to make up the beds. If offered the opportunity to sleep outside, you should take it. The air is so clear - no pollution, no flying bugs....just cool, crisp air.

Tagine dinner

He informed us that dinner will be ready in one hour on the patio facing the dune. That gave us time to unpack and hand wash some of our clothes - back packing can mean your dirty clothes pile up before you can wash them. Dinner was once again Tagine but this time, it was one dish that we shared. Of course it was accompanied by many side dishes: salads, fruit, figs, olives and couscous. Drinks included cold water, sparkling water, bottled drinks, and wines - whatever you might want. As the sun set over the land, the dunes were full east of us, so they will have the sunrise. Quiet settled over the Sahara desert sand like a blanket. Tealights were lit and mint tea was served with a salad of exotic fruits. As we finished, the hotelier came to invite us on a desert walk. We looked at each other, shrugged and said a definite 'yes'! Since we were already feeling the cold we collected the silk shawls we had bought in Marrakech, and went off into the desert barefoot with your Moroccan guide.

We walked over one dune and down the side and he said to sit. We followed his example and sat with our feet in the sand and then lay back on the slope of the dune to stare at the sky. It was a deep indigo with thousands of stars sparkling across it. We could see the Milky Way sprawled across the darkness like a smear of paint. Those that have lived their whole life in a big city have NEVER seen the sky like that. Camping away from a city is an amazing opportunity to see the stars but nothing equaled the clarity of the starry sky over the desert that night.

slopes of the dune

We lay comfortably on the side of a dune of the Sahara talking about how great the trip was so far. Our guide entertained us with information about Morocco and its traditions and history as we gazed at the starry sky. I gasped as I saw a falling star.... and then another one. It was a light show just for us. Our guide explained that in August, the earth passes through a meteor belt and here are many falling stars at this time of year (just a note to the reader - August is also one of the hottest times to visit the desert - if you are prone to heat stroke or even sun stroke don't visit at that time. The other side of it is that it is low season so prices can be lower!) We counted the falling stars and made a fist full of wishes - 23 falling stars in one hour!

Any worries, like scorpions or snakes we might have had before stretching out on the dune, disappeared with the extravaganza above. The wind slid gently over the top of the dune and we actually heard the grains of sand tinkling down the slope. I took a deep breath and relaxed with the night. It was so peaceful we wanted to stay longer but our bodies registered the drop in temperature. If we stayed much longer we'd be shivering with cold.

Back at the hotel we got ready for bed in our fresh white room and then took our water bottles and pillows up on the roof to find our cozy beds ready and waiting for us. We crawled into them and continued counting falling stars instead of sheep -- until we fell asleep.