Spending time in the desert is magical. Especially when after a restful night under the stars in the Sahara desert, you wake up early, jumped on a camel and moved towards the top of a dunes to watch sunrise. What a memorable experience!
INFO & PLANNING TIPS - Sunrise in Sahara
TIPS FOR TRAVEL PLANNING ADDICTS - Sunrise in Sahara
Getting to Erg Chebbi
From Marrakech, many companies offer overnight tours or multi day tours including a Sahara camel ride to a camp in the desert's and dunes
It was part of my 8 day tour with Nomadic tours and we were using l'Auberge La Caravane
Watching sunrise in the desert
- Take something (scarves are best) to cover your face and protect you from the sand
- Have a nice sleep and make sure you are ready on time. The sunrise does not wait!
Night under the stars in the Sahara
Following our camel ride and sand-boarding, the organized tour included a beautiful night under the stars. The moon rose very late so we had plenty of time to admire the stars and the milky way. We all decided to place our mattresses outside, we took some covers and fell asleep under the mysterious sky. And when I woke up, the moon was here and the silence was really deafening:
And the sun rises over the sand dunes...
We woke up early to take a short camel ride to the top of sand dunes where we could admire the sunrise. This was truly a magical moment: the intensity of everyone, the deep silence, the sand slowly changing colors, becoming brighter and brighter and the sun reaching our skin and warming our whole body…
Camel ride early morning
However this was cut short as we were rushed to climb back on our camels and ride back to the Auberge. I wish I had had more time to appreciate the moment.
Back on the camels, we still had a 45min ride in the dunes with stunning scenery
My new friends
I now would like to introduce my 2 new friends. First the camel behind me which kept trying to scratch itself on my leg and the my own camel
And a hearty breakfast...
Back at the Auberge, we sat down for a very filling breakfast, still dreaming of our time in the Sahara!
Have you ever spend a night in a desert?
