Merzouga Desert Overnight Tour

After wandering through several stalls in the medina, I finally found the perfect pair of pants for our camel trek in the Merzouga Desert. But the asking price was absurd. I tried to haggle with the man to a more reasonable cost but he acted insulted. A few minutes of going back and forth later, I grabbed Matt by the arm and began to drag him out of the shop insisting we would find something elsewhere.

Realizing he was about to lose a sale, the man summoned us back agreeing to my offer. After our exchange he congratulated Matt on having a wife who stood her ground.

“That’s a good strong woman you have there. You should keep her.”

One of the top bucket list items for our recent visit to Morocco was an overnight tour into the desert. We wanted to experience a camel ride and sleep under the canvas of a star-covered sky. Because tight jeans and camels aren’t a good match, I needed the perfect pair of comfy pants to wear on our long journey. For just a few Moroccan dirhams accompanied by my persistence, I was able to snag a pair at the medina before our tour began.

Why The Merzouga Desert?

It is important to note that there are two different deserts in Morocco. The closest to Marrakech is the Zagora Desert. A trip to the Zagora might fulfill your requirement of getting out into the desert and climbing aboard your camel transit, especially if you are short on time. However, the much further away Merzouga is where the real magic can be found.

If you have ever seen pictures of towering sand dunes in Morocco, you were most likely looking at the Merzouga. While we haven’t been to the Zagora ourselves, we hear it is much flatter in comparison. The trip to the Merzouga is about a 10-hour drive, but the journey will be broken up with plenty of stops along the way, including an overnight stay in the Dades Gorge.

Choosing A Tour Company

There are plenty of different tour companies to choose from. Most of them seem to offer roughly the same itinerary, so we took to TripAdvisor to help make our decision. Based on their very high number of positive reviews, we chose to book our tour to the Merzouga desert with Morocco Desert Tour. While they were a little bit pricey, we did have a private driver (hey, Abdul!) with a comfortable vehicle for our 3-day tour.

Merzouga Desert Itinerary

Day 1:

Our 3-day, 2-night tour began in Marrakech. Our driver picked us up just after an early breakfast from our riad before setting off into the Atlas mountains. When we made our first pit stop, we were absolutely shocked at how cold it was in the mountains. We didn’t expect Morocco to be a cold weather destination, but it was downright chilly at the higher elevation. Make sure to pack a warm fleece with you.

Along the way we made stops at a shop where argan products are produced and Ait Benhaddou in Ouarzazate (where films such as Gladiator were filmed). Our favorite stop of the day was Atlas Studios – the Hollywood of Morocco. Here we walked through the sets of several different movies and shows, including the season 5 bus from Prison Break.

Tip: You will pay upfront to enter the studios but a guide is likely to approach you once inside. For a few extra dirhams he will walk you around explaining which movie each set was used for. We both agreed this was worth it because without that information we wouldn’t have had any idea what we were looking at.

The most disappointing portion of our first day to the desert was our stop at “The Valley of the Roses”. In the weeks leading up to this trip, I envisioned dancing through a field of roses, soaking up the smells and taking far too many pictures. Unfortunately, this portion of our trip only involved driving through the area where the roses are turned into soaps and lotions for purchase. The smell was abundant, but the fields of roses were lacking. Our guide later explained to us that the roses are picked early each morning so there was nothing for us to see. It all felt a little bit like a money grab to us.

We spent the night at a quiet riad in the Dades Gorge where our dinner was included and the host was incredibly hospitable. We quickly learned this is the Moroccan way!

Tip: If you forgot to pack your own booze, you can ask your guide to take you by the one hotel in town that sells it to go. Be prepared to pay out the ass. Very overpriced product, but to be expected given your location. Plan ahead and pack a bottle (or a few) of wine!

Day 2:

A later start this morning meant the chance to sleep in and linger over a leisurely breakfast. True to what we learned in our cooking class in Marrakech, bread wins supreme at the breakfast table. Paired with an assortment of jams, cheese, yogurt, and a hardboiled egg, we were plenty full for our long car ride.

A few photo ops later, we were making our rounds through the town of Erg Chebbi – the gateway to the Merzouga desert. Matt, who had become restless from the hours of sitting still, suddenly perked up at the sight of the dunes rising in the distance as we inched our way closer to them. Since we had passed on a lunch stop and the chance to wear traditional Berber clothing (much too gimmicky in our opinion), we arrived long before the sun was due to set.

Our guide led us over to our newest mode of transportation : minus 4 wheels, but plus 1 hump. To ride the camels, you are required to wear a scarf. No one explicitly told us why, but we assume it is a protective measure against the blowing sand. Our guide helped us to properly place them on our heads and over our mouths.

Tip: If you didn’t pack a scarf, be sure to pick one up in the medina (along with some comfy pants) before your tour. You will get a much better price than if you wait until you’re in the desert.

By the time our camels dropped us off at our campsite, we were more than ready to be back on our own feet. Camels make for interesting pictures, but they are not the most comfortable ride. We had the option to ride them back out of the desert the next morning but we opted for our 4X4 return instead.

Where we Stayed

When setting up our itinerary with the tour company, we were given the option between a traditional Berber tent or an upgrade to the luxury version. Still not used to what being a backpacker really means, we quickly decided on the luxury tent. We stayed at the Saharian Luxury Camp where our tents came with their own bathrooms, comfy beds, and a much smaller horde of people. Actually, we lucked out that on our stay, there was only one other couple sharing the camp with us. We made fast friends with them and chatted the night away over dinner and plenty of wine. Make sure you pack extra bottles because ordering wine on site will set you back about 50 euros per bottle.

When we first arrived to the campsite, the hosts greeted us with a fresh pot of mint tea and a tower of nuts and traditional Moroccan sweets. We were then escorted to our tents where our bags were waiting. Another plus side to choosing the luxury tent is that your driver will bring your bags to the camp for you rather than lugging what you need on the camel. If you choose the traditional Berber campsite, you will need to pack just an overnight bag and leave the rest of your things behind – presumably in the bus or with your driver. We didn’t choose that option so I am not sure of the logistics.

After a shower to freshen up, we headed out to the communal area of the campsite to open a bottle of wine and wait for the sun to finally set. It wasn’t the most beautiful sunset of all time, but we were lucky enough that the lingering clouds cleared up for us to catch a little glimpse of day turning into night before it was time for dinner.

Food at Camp

Our reservation at the camp included dinner and breakfast the next morning. When we arrived for dinner, it was no surprise that our first course was soup. Nearly every coursed meal in Morocco begins with soup. It is said that this whets your appetite and gets you ready to eat. In fact, it is usually what Moroccans first indulge in when they are breaking fast. Soup was followed by a big plate of assorted vegetables. They were quite tasty and we only wished they had stuck around a bit longer so we could enjoy them with the main course. We were served roasted chicken along with a pasta that none of us were expecting. Plain spaghetti noodles with cinnamon and sugar on the side. At this point in our trip there was no denying the omnipresence of sugar in the Moroccan diet. Our meal was rounded out with a serving of chocolate covered ice-cream. Nothing fancy, but cheerfully welcomed none-the-less.

Entertainment in the Desert

Not long after our last bite we were quickly ushered outdoors where a nice fire was raging. Our guide, now almost unrecognizable in his traditional Berber wear, was beckoning our now somewhat tipsy group over with the rhythm of his drums.

Sitting there, under that same blanket of stars we were only dreaming about days before felt surreal. The cold air mixed with the heat from the flames and the singing late into the night was worth every mile it took to get there. Deep in the distance we could hear similar drums and laughter echoing through the desert.

In addition to our late-night activity, we also had the chance to try out our sandboarding skills. The camp had a board that we could borrow, but we did have to trek quite a distance to get to a ride-worthy dune. The immediate area surrounding the camp offered dunes so small it was hardly worth the effort. We were both terrible, but we did enjoy a few laughs and fill our shoes with sand.

Day 3

Early the next morning we were up to see the sun rise before heading back to the dining area for breakfast. More bread, more of the same. Morocco is fairly predictable with their breakfast displays. As soon as we finished eating we packed up and headed out. There was not much time to linger around with the long drive that day 3 entailed.

The most exciting part of our drive on this day was our stop to the place where traditional Berber rugs are produced. We learned so much about the process as we watched one of the women sitting on the floor cleaning the wool. We would have loved to ship one home but our backpacker budget put a hold on that for now.

A few overlooks, gorges, and scenic photos later, we were winding back down the same Atlas mountain roads we climbed two days prior. We arrived back to Marrakech just in time to gorge ourselves on one last street food feast. We said our goodbyes to our guide and that concluded our 3-day, 2-night tour to the Merzouga Desert.

Would we do it again? Absolutely. But next time – we’d bring way more wine.

Tip: After our lunch stop on the first day we realized the restaurants we would be going to are overly priced and lacking in taste. They are designed for the tourists that arrive by the busloads. The following days we chose to pack a piece of leftover fruit from our breakfast and pair it with some granola bars from our pack. It saved us a few dollars and a lot of disappointment.

Have you ever spent the night in a desert? Or been on a camel? We want to hear your story. Let us know in the comments!

Cheers friends,

Megan + Matt