Three days trekking.
Day one :
The Draa Valley is the longest valley in Morocco and it crosses through the middle of M’hamid Sahara dividing it into two parts: an eastern remote dry part where both ” Erg Zahar” and “Erg Smar” (two of the best remote dunes in Morocco) are located and a western living and lush part where Erg Chegaga is located. The whole three day trek will take place in this remote area starting from the camp at the end of the oasis where the Sahara’s golden dunes meet together with palm groves, until you finish your trek at the remote dune of Erg Smar.
You will depart this morning from our camp together with the camels like one unified nomadic caravan, leaving all the palm trees of the oasis behind and heading toward the first part, the hamada.
Right after some hiking in the small salty valley (which was believed to have been the old Draa Valley in the past) you and your caravan will face a new landscape of large, barren, rocky plateau.
We will pass by some monuments from the fallen houses of Oulad Zbiir, where you can see different pieces of pottery all around, these are traces of the ancient civilisations that inhabited the desert.
After three hours hiking in the desert wilderness of the Sidi Naji region we will stop for a long, quiet lunch under the tamrisk trees.
After this we will have an extra one and a half hours hike, until we finally camp between the golden dunes, next to an open terrain with beautiful panoramic views all around.
Day 2:
Today the destination will be the spectacular orange remote dune of the Zahar Dune .
After your camels are loaded, our caravan focus will be to cross all those long endless empty flat-lands that defy the nothingness of the Sahara horizon. Walking in such a place provides you with the perspective of being the only people in the world.
All along the way, the scenery is empty of the familiar tamarisk trees and the view is more dramatic. It is just you and those faithful camels.
After a long walk, you will reach a place named “The Eye of the Chased Gazelle” where you will find a dilapidated nomadic market. This was once the meeting place of nomads trade. You will discover the fallen ksar of a family that dominated Draa Valley tribes. Here you can trace their old water channels, which they used for farming. Until recently this area was completely covered by a big dune, but a few years ago the wind took half of the dune and exposed the site where there is now a chance to collect treasures and pieces of equipment used by nomads in their daily life and ancient wars.
Our Walking with Nomads caravan will move again and getting to the remote Zahar Dune dream will start to come true. The illusionary style of the desert shows us it’s near, but all is trickery, because all the dunes in the desert look close by, when they are actually far. To reach Erg Zahar will require a nomads’ patience until, finally you will be camping by its side.
After having a peaceful break in the shade of the Sidi Omar shrine and enjoying some tea and snacks, we will be exposed to cross the undulating dunes of Zahar and to walk together with the camels up and down on the back of the teenager dunes from the middle to reach the highest point.
Unique dunes with dramatically different shapes will be in front of you to hike in order to reach the other side, but what is not expected is how you will feel after you see the surrounding dunes from the top of the furthest dune Zahar.
Here we will set camp cocooned by the dunes all around us and after some time to relax and soak up the sunset, dinner will be served around the cosy camp-fire.
Today camping is fabulous as we are the very tiny creatures under the shade of the Zahar dunes, our camping will be made somewhere in one of the sunken spots between the huge dunes. The dunes will circle us from all sides, like one unified big sandy nest and we are the eggs inside of it.
Carpet and candles to lighten the world of the screaming sand will be there on top of the next dune for you to offer you the most romantic of scenes and as well to enjoy the remote beauty of Erg Zahar red dunes.
After a delicious dinner under the bright stars, all the team will sit together like one big family next to the fire and exchange stories of the Sahara Desert.
Day 3
Today the destination is remote Erg Smar, a very distinctive dune with a combination of orange and golden colours.
The place is not far from Erg Zahar but the trek to get there is full of wonders.
We start our hiking today by saying goodbye to the father dune, Zahar, and walk together with the camels upon a plateau toward Draa Valley, the longest valley in Morocco and an ideal provider of water to M’Hamid Sahara.
The route is totally mysterious as you never know what to expect to see starting from the Draa Valley that holds much life on its banks including a forest of tamarisk and plants. Then we pass by the old farmer houses and a wall on its western side by Erg Smar where we will water our camels and some natural shower for refreshment. Then we head to the place where the white dune meets with the orange ones.
After a relaxing break for lunch and a rest on the “Two Colours Dunes” of Erg Smar to discover how magical the desert is when you find yourself on top of the red dune watching the white dune, our caravan will depart again to the upper part of Erg Smar and we will camp among its orange dunes which reflect a golden colour from the twilight. The shadow of the shapes of Erg Smar are breathtaking.
