Sahara & Merzouga

Erg Chebbi is the dune sea outside Merzouga. The tallest dunes reach roughly 150 meters [CHECK: dune height figure], and in the last hour of daylight they turn the color people imagine when they say "desert." You are not hiking them. You are riding a camel across them, slowly, with a Berber cameleer leading the string, and the quiet at the top is the whole point.

The camps themselves have changed a lot in ten years. You can choose a standard camp with proper beds, shared bathrooms, and dinner under a communal tent, or a luxury camp with private bathrooms, rugs, and heating in winter. Both sleep under the same stars.

The journey matters. From Marrakech you cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka pass, stop at Ait Ben Haddou (the UNESCO kasbah where parts of Gladiator and Game of Thrones were filmed), thread through the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, and then Dades and Todra Gorges before the landscape flattens toward Erfoud. From Fes you come south through the cedar forests of Azrou, past the Barbary macaques, and down the Ziz Gorge into the palmeraies of the Tafilalet. Either way, crossing Morocco to reach the desert is one of the great drives in North Africa.

And the silence at night is not a metaphor. When the wind drops and the generator goes off, you can hear your own pulse.

October through April is desert season. Days are warm, nights are cold (pack a fleece for camp even in March), and the skies are usually clear. November and March are particularly beautiful. Summer, June through August, is brutal by day at 45 Celsius or higher, though some travelers still go for sunrise and sunset and rest indoors in between. Winter nights at camp can drop near freezing, so ask about heated camps if you are going in December or January.

From Marrakech, the drive to Merzouga is roughly 560 kilometers and we do it over two days minimum, with an overnight at a kasbah hotel in Dades or Tinghir. From Fes, it is a similar two-day drive south through Ifrane, Midelt, and the Ziz Gorge. The classic Tarla itinerary is a three to four day one-way crossing between Marrakech and Fes (in either direction) with the desert camp at the midpoint. Drives are in private 4x4 or minivan with a Tarla driver who knows the road.