A Night in the Sahara: What Nobody Tells You
By Youssef Amrani · Merzouga, Morocco · 2025-10-10
What nobody tells you: the Sahara is nine hours from Marrakech, and the drive is half the trip. Over the Atlas, through the Dades Gorge, past kasbahs older than the road.
The camel ride is about an hour, not a day. Wear long trousers. Camels are not built for comfort, and the dunes are more beautiful on foot from the top anyway.
Climb the big dune before sunset. It takes twenty minutes and your legs will hate you. Nobody regrets it.
Camp is warmer than you think and colder than you think, both in one night. Dinner is tagine, then drums around the fire.
Turn off the camp lights and walk two minutes into the dark. The Milky Way goes from one horizon to the other. Phones cannot photograph it properly; just look.
On the way out we stop in Khamlia for Gnawa music. My cousin plays the guembri. Tea first, always.
Walk this trip on the 3D globe in EWIG