The Sahara Desert is undoubtably the most incredible sight I have ever seen. Riding a camel in the middle of the desert, with dunes as far as the eye can see is a memory i’ll remember for a lifetime. Our tour company was absolutely incredible, Morocco Excursions Company.

The hospitality was one of a kind and they shared a kindness I have never experienced before. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to know the locals and hearing their stories.  It started with getting picked up from our Riad – and from there we were on our way to a three day desert excursion!

Over three days, we made our way cross country from Marrakech to Merzouga, we had some pit stops along the way at some view points, berber villages and Dades Gorge.

Berber Villages

In Oaurzazante We were given a tour by a local teen, who worked showing tourists around the village him and generations of family had lived. He spoke 7 languages to be able to give people from around the world tours.

Dades Gorge

Considered one of the top 5 craziest roads in the world,  Dades Gorge Road, Morocco Located way up in the High Atlas Mountains at the edge.

A village hidden in the mountains

Hopped on our camels (not so gracefully) and off we went into the depths of the Sahara Desert. Our desert guru, Aziz, lead our four camels to the Nomad camp, our home for the night.

He knew the path by memory (keep in mind with no signs and no monuments to know where to go). He safely lead us to our camp site for the night.

(quite the selfie master)

(Sahara at sunset)

We had a wonderful Moroccon meal filled with laughs, a drum circle, tajine and mint tea. It was such an incredible experience talking to the owner, Hassan, and the staff of Morroco-Excursion.

(On the menu: tajine, an African stew of spiced meat + vegetables prepared by slow cooking in a shallow  cooking dish with a tall, cone lid.)

They were all born and raised in Morrocco. Aziz was once a nomad, wandering the dessert with his family and tribe, with no exact knowledge of time, days or ages. He spent his days without a cell phone and the tribe spent their free time playing music and games. We asked him what he would do with a million dollars and he said he’d buy a camel and a house for his family in Merzouga, the town on the outskirts of the desert. Hassan, the founder of Morroco-Excurison said that the first time he even thought of his exact age was when he signed up for Facebook and it asked him for his birthday date. He was born in the desert and there was no documentation of the date of his birth. Very interesting to be immersed in such cultural differences.

Not pictured is the fantastic beaming stars. I’ve never seen the solar system so lit up.

We went to bed in our nomad tents, where we each had a twin bed/cot set up.

(to the left are the bathrooms, surprisingly there was a toilet! To the right is home sweet home).

Caught the sunset at 5am

After the sun rose, we were off for the 90 minute camel ride back to Mergouza.

Masalama Morocco, until next time!