Alles, was wir Reisenden gerne sagen würden, bevor sie die Straße verlassen und in die Dünen gehen — über Camp, Kamel, Kälte und Stille.
Erg Chebbi rises out of a flat, rocky plateau without any gradual transition. You drive for two hours through stone desert and small villages, you turn a corner near Merzouga, and suddenly: dunes, 150 metres high, deep orange, against blue sky. It's a strange first sight — too clean to be natural, too vast to be man-made. People always go quiet for the first thirty seconds.
The camel ride. The camel kneels for you, you climb on, and the camel stands up in two stages. Both stages feel a little alarming the first time. After that, the ride is slow and steady. Pace is about 4 km/h. You will be mildly sore in your lower back the next day. If you'd rather not ride, ask for a 4x4 transfer to the camp.
The camp. Standard camps have private spacious tents with real beds (not sleeping bags) and proper bedding. Shared washroom facilities — toilets that flush, sinks with running water. Dinner is served around a low table in a central tent: harira soup, tagine, fresh bread, fruit. Luxury camps add private ensuite tents with hot showers, electricity, gourmet dining.
The cold. December to February nights drop to 0-5°C. You will need a warm jacket, a hat, and a scarf. We provide blankets but the desert wind cuts through them. March to May and October to November are 8-15°C — comfortable with one warm layer. June to September stay 18-25°C, even at 4am. Don't underestimate winter.
The silence. This is the part nobody quite prepares you for. With no leaves, no insects, no traffic, no electricity, the desert at night is the quietest environment most urban people have ever been in. Your ears adjust over an hour or so and start picking up faint sounds — a distant camel, sand shifting, your own pulse. It's deeply disorienting at first and then deeply peaceful.
The sunrise. Worth the early wake-up. We knock on your tent at 5:30am. You climb the dune behind camp — it's steeper than it looks. From the top you watch the sun appear behind the next ridge of dunes. This is the photo you'll remember from Morocco.