Glamping Erg Chebbi, Morocco

Erg Chebbi is a small sea of sand dunes stretching 22 kms long and 5 kms wide and peaking up to 150 metres high. Formed by wind-blown sand, Erg Chebbi is known for its golden-orange sand formations that start at the most northern tip of the Sahara. We arrived at our camp just after 6 pm and were rushed onto our camels’ back for a trip out onto the dune before sunset.

Prior to the trip, I was rather apprehensive about riding a camel for any length of time longer than half an hour. I read somewhere and friends told me that it is an overrated experience, the discomfort far outweighing any fun and novelty aspects. The most common complaints are a sore arse and seasickness.

Luckily for all of us, getting onto the camel was relatively straightforward.  The animals were well-trained, calm and knew what it was supposed to do with minimal fuss. Our guide was very experienced, knowing exactly how to get us posing on camel back in formations for some great pictures.  From left to right, on the camels were SG, IL, IT, Chris, Sue and DL.

After lumbering about for 10-15 minutes, we got off the animals and walked up to the top of a dune which offered a view of the sweeping sea of sand. And it was so eerily quiet.

The sun was below the horizon and the intense orange color was starting to fade out of the boundless sandscape. This was a memorable high point of the trip.

There was not much camel-riding in the end to test the cautionary theories properly. No one complained about any ill effects after the ride.

Having seen the animals up close, I came to appreciate the stoic hardworking camel that serve the nomads for centuries as the only means of transportation across this hostile terrain.

The word “erg” came from the arabic word “arq” meaning a dune field. Erg Chebbi is technically only in an area of semi-arid pre-Saharan steppes and not part of the Sahara desert which lies some distance to the south. And our camp is located at the edge of the sand dune so we were not as “in” the Sahara as we’d like to believe.  But the featureless desert and the rise and fall of the dunes were real and gave us a taste of the Sahara.

By the time we got back to our private tent, dinner was almost ready. While the structure of our tent was formed by a metal frame with layers of fabric, it had a hinged door, an air-conditioner, a shower and a sit-down toilet. What a luxury in the middle of a desert. We were so pampered, and could now claim to have enjoyed the quintessential desert experience, the clueless tourist version.

There were a total of 10 tents in this camp. Only two were occupied on the first night, we met the other guests at dinner – a couple from China, and a father and his grown son from Argentina. The tents form a semi-circle with a dining tent at one end. The kitchen, storage and staff quarters were in a small concrete building hidden behind the dining tent.

The dining tent had a high ceiling, silky-plush sofas, spacious table settings, and air-conditioning (not needed).  The food was a better-prepared variation of the tourist menu we had encountered so far.  It was good and we enjoyed it.

Entertainment was provided in the form of traditional songs accompanied by drums and krakebs (a large iron castanet-like instrument). The guy leading with a drum set was also the chef! It was an enthusiastic performance, lasted at least 20 minutes and they seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

I wondered if they are Tuareg Berbers as most of them wore the indigo-blue djellabas. Tuaregs as a Berber group are semi-nomadic scattered through southern Algeria and Libya, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

A bonfire was lit and we all sat around it to keep warm, and stared at the night sky. We, city-dwellers do not get to see the milky way much and it was mesmerizing and thought-provoking.

Our first night glamping in the desert was quiet and event-less. Slept better than when we were in Fes, in fact.

The following day was another cloudless sunny day. It was then when we had a proper look at the camp (or the resort shall we say). Here is a view of the camp from the dining tent in the morning.

View of the dining tent from the ring of seats around the bonfire.

The format of the served breakfast was similar to an international hotel but with a Moroccan twist – a hot egg-based dish (arrived in a tajine clay pot), several kinds of bread with local honey and jams, pastries, fresh fruits, and unlimited orange juice and coffee. It was scrumptious and plentiful.

Yes, we had had “Tea in the Sahara” – also a 1983 song by The Police, inspired by The Sheltering Sky – a book I was reading on the trip – see our post here.

We saw pigeons around the camp as there was a grove of trees nearby.  But I did not recall seeing any insect.  Apparently many of the desert animals and insects are nocturnal. The evidence of their movements could easily be seen.

We spent two nights at the camp so a full day was available to looking around the area. See later posts.

A group of Chinese tourists arrived during the day and took up all the other tents. Their itinerary was brief – they rode the camels, enjoyed dinner accompanied by the singing and drums, and promptly departed the next morning.