Remote Dunes
4 Days Camel Trek and Walk
Package Prices Start From:
€320 per person
Difficulty Rating: 3
Key: on a scale of 1-5
1 = Short distance
5 = Long distance
The Experience
Trek a circular route from/to M’hamid to reach the remote Erg Zahar dune field, little-visited and offering astonishing views from its highest point across the erg. Erg Zahar truly represents a ‘sea of sand’, please click on the Gallery images below to see the unique form of Erg Zahar. Cross the vast Draa River bed in the heart of the Sahara desert and enjoy the sense of freedom that desert trekking offers. 4×4 transport in the desert is not necessary.
Travel to the Start Point, the Desert Frontier
There are a number of options for reaching the village of Mhamid (the start of the treks), it is more accessible than ever with the introduction of flights to Zagora.
The cheapest way to travel is by public bus. This is a 10 hours journey from Marrakech, although you can join the same bus earlier at Casablanca. The bus operator that travels directly to Mhamid is CTM with one daily departure. Their website is ctm.ma and your destination is ‘Lamhamid Ghozlane’. CTM also offers a route to Zagora if the Mhamid timetable isn’t suitable.
There is an internal direct flight from Casablanca to Zagora, operated by Royal Air Maroc. Royal Air Maroc flights depart 3 times per week. Zagora airport to Mhamid is approx. 1 hour 20 minutes by taxi.
Royal Air Maroc operates internal flights to Ouarzazate, from both Casablanca and Marrakech. Ouarzazate airport to Mhamid is approx. 4.5 hours by taxi.
The alternative would be to self-drive a small rental car and break up the journey to Mhamid with an overnight stop en-route (e.g. at/near Ouarzazate, 4 hours from Marrakech).
A private 4×4 vehicle transfer with driver from Marrakech to Mhamid is Eur €320 one-way. The direct car transfer takes approx. 8 hours, excluding any time for stops and visits en-route (i.e. make the short detour to visit the Ait Ben Haddou UNESCO Site near Ouarzazate).
You may consider taking the bus or flight one-way and arrange a private vehicle transfer out of the desert back to Marrakech – this works with either of the linear trekking routes to the Erg Chigaga Great Dunes. The driver will collect you at the Erg Chigaga dunes and take you out of the desert via Lake Iriqui and Foum Zguid (3 hours off-road travel) and then 6 hours via the tar road. The price of this return desert transfer is on demand.
The Route
The Itinerary
Day 1
Draa River and Sidi Naji marabout
After breakfast, meet your desert guides & camel caravan when the camels are loaded with your luggage / equipment. Your guides will also help you to wrap your turban, ideal protection in the desert. The morning’s trek follows the southern banks of the Draa River, through the vast palm groves and original settlement of M’hamid (purported to be approx. 300 yrs old); take time to visit some of the ancient pise-mud buildings, now abandoned, and enjoy the partial shade offered by the trees. Once at the end of the palm grove, take lunch at a point known as Ras Nkhal. Here, the palm trees open out and give way to desert scrub and stone (hamada), earth banks & tamarisk trees for the rest of the day’s trek. After lunch, continue on a south-westerly course for approx. 2.5 hours towards the marabout (the shrine of a holy man) of Sidi Naji, close to where overnight camp will be established, in the seclusion of small dunes. Today’s trek time: 5-6 hours, depending on the pace of the group.
Day 2
Dunes of Zahar
After breakfast, camp is struck, and the day’s goal, the large, remote sand dune region, of Zahar, will be reached before lunch. Today’s trekking terrain is largely flat, plateau-like earth (a dried lake) which gradually transforms into rolling sand dunes, with far less vegetation visible today. Camp is established at the foot of the tall dunes, between smaller dunes, and lunch is served. This is a little-visited dune region and your afternoon is given to exploring Zahar, reaching the highest point to enjoy the wide-reaching views across the ‘erg’ (sand sea) and then the sunset. Zahar is also known as the ‘screaming dunes’, for a legend that tells of a village buried beneath the sands there. Today’s trek time: 4 hours, depending on the pace of the group.
Day 3
Erg Smar
After breakfast, camp is struck. This morning, for the first time since leaving M’hamid, you will cross the bed of the Draa River, to its northern banks, to start the return trek in the direction of your starting point. The size of the river bed is astonishing, given it now runs dry, but once flowed in abundance through the desert (so much so, that up to 35 families lived on its banks, at the settlement of Erg Smar, further west from your route). Water does still run deep underground here and today’s trek will see more vegetation, some lining the course of former river tributaries. Lunch is taken under the shade of the tamarisk trees. After lunch, trek across flat land which was once fertile (when water was present) and you will come across remnants of agricultural land which is now used as pasture for grazing camels. Overnight camp will be established, in the seclusion of small sand dunes. Today’s trek time: 5-6 hours, depending on the pace of the group.
Day 4
Back to M’hamid
After breakfast, camp is struck. Today’s goal is the village of M’hamid, to complete your four day circuit. The terrain once more becomes marked by desert scrub and earth banks, and palm groves become more apparent the closer you reach M’hamid. You will break for lunch, in shade, before reaching the village. Today’s trek time: 4 hours, depending on the pace of the group.
© Images courtesy of M. Nestor, M. Charytonowicz & Wild Morocco.
When to trek?
October through April
October still has rather warm day-time temperatures, very pleasant evenings. Night-time lows of around freezing in December / January. But winter light conditions are beautiful, due to the low winter sun. Possibility of a light rain shower in March. The desert is in bloom and camel calves are grazing. Early April sees the arrival of higher temperatures.
Why trek the Sahara?
Get well off the beaten path and experience the raw beauty of the desert.
The Iriqui National Park is untouched. It is home to an array of flora & fauna, the scenery unparalleled. Be prepared to walk on average 5-6 hrs per day. Option to trek by camel. Bring a sense of adventure.
Erg
What is an Erg
An erg (also sand sea or dune sea, or sand sheet if it lacks dunes) is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover. The term takes its name from the Arabic word ‘arq’ – meaning ‘dune field’. Approximately 85% of all the Earth’s mobile sand is found in ergs that are greater than 32,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi).Ergs are also found on other celestial bodies, such as Venus, Mars, and Saturn’s moon Titan.