I would’ve posted all 200+ photos of my one night stay at the Sahara Desert except I don’t want this post to just be all about the photos! It was that beautiful. One night made the long drive to Merzouga worth it.
There are a lot of desert camps scattered in the Sahara desert. I believe more than 30 camps are available for your choosing. Every tour operator in Morocco knows a camp you can sign up with. I chose Ali & Sara’s desert palace. They were pricier than other camps ($145) but the camp itself (as well as the experience) felt very luxurious!
A few days before the trip, I was provided a comprehensive information about the camp, including driving instructions to the meeting point, food options, what to expect, what is included, interactions with the camels and even a pamphlet about the Berber culture in general as well as basic words you should learn.
Because I was pressed for time, I only stayed for 1 night – this includes a sunset tour, dinner, berber music by the fire, sunrise tour, and breakfast before they drive me back to the meeting place.
We drove to Kasbah Le Berger, the meeting place where Muhamed, one of the staff from the Desert Palace picked me up to head to the camp. I was very lucky that I happen to be the ONLY guest that night (yay!). I was told in NYE, the camp was actually full.
We arrived right on time for the sunset tour. My camel, Casanova, (although Mubarak told me his name is Mohammed) was all ready for me! Muhamed set up my turban (that I got to keep afterwards!) and djellaba for use on my desert trip.
Finally, me, Mohammed and Mubarak were ready for our sunset trip!!
Mubarak speaks arabic and berber , understands french, spanish and conversational english and best of all…. an AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER. A lot of the photos I took obviously, the ones he took base on my instructions were amazing though and for a solo traveler like me, that was PRICELESS!
We went to Erg Chebbi dunes, found a comfortable spot and waited for the sunset. It was breathtaking.
After a while, all three of us trekked back to the camps. I did mention it was a luxurious camp, right? This was my room!
I cleaned up and then headed for the dining area. By the way, the bathroom was outside my tent (just right beside it) complete with running heated water. This was my birthday trip so when the staff was alerted it was my special day, they surprised me with a birthday cake and song (aww).
Normally the music is played outside infront of the fire but it was too cold and frankly I was eating too slow (there’s a lot of food for dinner!) so for an hour or more, they played berber music, danced and kept me company.
The next morning, I met Mubarak at 6:20am for our sunrise camel ride. We want to be in the dunes by the time the sun rises hence we had to leave that early. That meant I had to wake up around 5am to shower, etc. but with this view, It was worth it!
You probably heard on the news that it snowed in the Sahara. I was lucky to be there when it happened. The part of the desert we were in didn’t get a lot of snow (which would’ve been awesome!) but the sand was covered with thin ice and some snow. Naturally, it was colder than usual so we had to build a fire.
We took advantage of the beautiful lighting and took a LOT of photos!
When we returned at the camp, a hot breakfast was waiting for me. I saw there was a table above the camp and I requested to have my breakfast here and the team obliged. They were very accommodating about all the food and even asked me if I wanted something else. I was too busy stuffing my face to respond (lol).
Afterwards, I packed, said goodbye to everyone and they drove me back to the hotel.
One night, and I have 200+ photos. Imagine if I stayed for another. If you have more time than I do, I actually recommend it. You can have lunch with some nomads in the desert, ‘sandboard’, maybe cross to Algeria (kidding!), etc. For me, one night was enough.
This experience was definitely one for the books and I highly recommend Ali & Sara’s desert palace. If you have the option to pick your camel handler, I also recommend Mubarak!
The Travelling Accountant 