El Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world with more than nine thousand square kilometers of surface. It is found in North Africa from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean with areas that also pass through the Mediterranean Sea. It also covers large areas of several countries such as Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan or Tunisia. A visit to the Sahara Desert is unforgettable, hence it is a dream trip for many people.
Let's see what we can enjoy in the incredible Sahara Desert, a warm expanse that offers differentiated ecoregions and diverse places to explore. We will visit amazing landscapes with dunes, ergs, dry valleys or salt flats. Let's see some ideas about what can be seen in the Sahara.
Merzouga and the dunes of Erg Chebbi
The word Erg defines a type of desert created by masses of sand and Chebbi is its name, although it is usually known as Merzouga because this is the nearby town from which you start to get to the dunes. This is one of the most common excursions to the Sahara Desert from Morocco. This area has a length of about thirty kilometers and some of its dunes can reach 150 meters in height. To get to this area you can go on guided excursions or by public transport from Fez or Marrakech in a journey that lasts about eight or ten hours. Once in Merzouga we will be able to do various things although the usual thing is that we take time to see how small we are in such an impressive landscape and to enjoy that experience. In addition, various activities are offered in this place such as using quads or 4 × 4s to circumvent the dunes, sandboarding on boards, which is very fun or doing dromedary rides like a real Berber would do. In this area you can also see some animals such as insects or a fox. The best times are dawn and dusk, as the light and the landscape change completely.
erg chegaga
This sea of sand is larger in extension but less high in terms of its dunes, so it is less popular but it has undoubtedly become another alternative when visiting the Sahara Desert. To get to this area it is necessary to take a two or three hour trip through different landscapes. In the surroundings of this desert area we will find some points of interest such as the Lake Iriki which is actually a petrified mud plain which has been dry for about twenty years. The town of M'Hamid is the closest, a place that used to be a caravan crossing.
Sleep in the desert
One of the most significant experiences that can be done in the Sahara Desert is precisely spending the night in it, sleeping under the stars. Usually the tourists usually sleep in tents in different desert areas because it is something that has become popular and it is easy to hire this service together with excursions to the desert. A jaima is a simple structure that can be made of masonry or wood and that is usually covered with fabrics. Normally these camps are large and in them we will have different structures in which to sleep, they provide us with various services and a central area where we can gather and enjoy the stars in the desert.
Route of the Thousand Kasbahs
Una kashah is a term that designates a central part of the city or fortress. There are various types of kasbahs, such as those in the north, linked to Arab culture, which were fortified buildings that served as residence for governors, and those in the south linked to Berber culture, which are rather a meeting point for trade routes. There are several routes that visit several of these kasbahs that are part of the culture of this area of the Sahara. You can start from places like Ouarzazate where we can see the Kasbah Taourirt, one of the best preserved in the whole country. We can see others on the routes we hire, such as the Kasbah Teoulet in the Ounila Valley or the Amridil kasbah in the Skoura Palm Grove.
Nearby places
Near the Sahara Desert we can find various places to visit like Ourzazate, a beautiful city in Morocco. In this city we can see the Kasbah of Taourirt, a place that regulated commercial appointments. In this city we can also see the Al Mouahidine Square where there are cafes and shops. At the gates of the Erg Chegaga desert is Tamegroute, a religious center dating from the XNUMXth century where we can visit a traditional pottery center with a cooking center. Also of interest is the Zaoui Nasiriyya, a Muslim center with various religious stays.