When arriving to Erfoud, we invite you to disconect and embark on your 4x4 towards 'Erg Chebbi': Merzouga Dunes.
After an hour, you will embrace the sand dunes on your right, riding like smooth humpbacked whales in a flat sea Suddenly, the driver will veer off the track and into their midst.
You willl stop few miles away from your camp, and meet your local host: the blue man of the desert who will take you on an extraordinary camel ride to appreciate sunset in its pure colors along a fresh champagne degustation!
Your ride will end at your private desert camp in the middle of nowhere and you will be welcomed by Porters that materialised like desert genies to unload your bags. Then a waiter will led you up the sandy flanks of a long ridge where fresh and sweet mint tea await.
Your tent lay in one of the hollows with the size of a small suite. We call it Saharan chic: Berber rugs, wrought-iron lanterns, a double bed covered with piles of cushions, a palette of neutral colours. There is a bathroom attached with a clever water system to allow for desert showers, and a rather nifty chemical loo. In the world of Saharan travel, you will be obviously in first class.
You will spend the last hours of the day clambering among the dunes, as smooth and inviting as freshly fallen snow. When night arrived with equatorial quickness, a man will appear carrying few dozen lanterns, laying them carefully across the sand slopes, marking out avenues between your tent and the outposts of your evening. After your shower, follow the lanterns to a carpet where you will recline on bolsters with an aperitif while the stars thickened above you. Another trail of light will led you to a dune valley where a candlelit table await. Waiters will melt out of the darkness with a series of spectacular dishes - a spicy lentil soup, a Berber tagine, and a basket with fresh fruits and Moroccan pastries - all served with a crisp Côtes du Rhône.
Later, lay on the dunes above your tent, gazing at the stars. The lanterns had been taken away, the night is black, and the sky is clearer and closer than anywhere on earth. Though the air is chilly, the dunes are still warm from the day's sun. It is like lying on an electric blanket.
Burrow your bare feet into the warm sand, and gaze up at infinity. Here is the real reason you should come to the Sahara. We all like to brush up against something much bigger than ourselves, much greater than the confines of our own understanding. It lends our existence meaning, it lends our lives weight.
