I spent last Christmas holidays traveling Morocco. A wonderful trip started with the ocean breeze in Casablanca and continued on dusty roads searching for the desert. After a couple of days in Fez and a night spent in the countryside among the palms, we arrived to the desert and I strongly recommend the experience: sleeping under the stars of Moroccan sky is an incredible experience.

We spent a night in the desert camp Ali and Sara located in the Erg Chebbi dunes close to Merzouga. That day we arrived in Merzouga, where we met one of the guys from Ali and Sara. We left the car there, we jumped on the camels and we started the amazing 2.5 hour ride among the sandy dunes to reach the campground.

Our footprints in the sand © Sg

Once arrived there, we left our stuff in our tent  and we enjoyed a delicious vegetarian lunch prepared by the on-site chef. The tented camp is made of 8 tent bedrooms and some common areas, all of them traditionally decorated. All the guys who work there come from Berber families, they are very proud of their origins and they share their stories with a lot of sentiment. I carry with me the memory of their beautiful songs about life and stars.

Erg Chebbi dunes © Sg

In the camp you can relax, read, enjoy the marvelous feeling of being surrounded by velvety sand, have a camel trekking or 4×4 rides. We decided just to have a walk bare feet and looking for the perfect spot where to enjoy the sunset.

Sunset in the desert © Sg

Around 7pm we had dinner with countless starters/ appetizers and an amazing lamb tajine and then we gathered around the fire  – us, the other guests and the berber guys – and we spent the evening singing and waiting for the moon to appear and to enlighten the border with Algeria. The temperature during the day is lovely (I was there in December, I guess in August the hot is suffocating), but during the night it can be freezing. The only way to get warm is curling up under a pile of blankets.

Ali & Sara’s tents © Ali & Sara’s Desert Palace Facebook page

I’ve experienced the most intense feeling the following morning, when we woke up around 6am to see the sunrise: the night is still extremely dark and deep when all of a sudden the sun comes up and enlightens the sky giving light to everything else. Is there a better way to start your day?

Sunrise in the desert © Sg

Breakfast © Sg