Traveler experiences

Authentic desert trip in Morocco: hiking to Erg Ezahar

After exploring the Kasbah's of Agdz it was time to get really remote as we headed into the desert with a trusty ex-desert nomad. We were really looking for an authentic desert trip in Morocco. After turning down what seemed endless offers of desert tours from touts we found Aziz through Instagram and Airbnb. His knowledge expertise and warm nature made our desert excursion unforgettable.

For something a little different we've published a blog on our website profiling our desert guide (and now friend) Aziz that compliments this video. His transition from desert-nomad to forced city-dweller to desert guide is well worth a read before watching here. If you're inspired to have the best authentic desert trip in Morocco read on after our video.

An authentic desert trip in Morocco – M'Hamid gateway to the desert.

There's really two gateways that are accessible to have a desert tour in Morocco; M'hamid and Merzouga. From the research we did Merzouga is the most popular. We avoided it for this reason alone but upon further reading it turns out the experience there is inferior to M'hamid for other reasons as well. The dunes themselves are smaller you're within view of the town meaning the night sky is affected by the light pollution and the feeling of remoteness is lost and the actual desert area is quite small (described as a large sandbox by some blogs we read).

So although M'Hamid is more remote and therefore harder to get to it's worth the extra effort. The most popular desert excursion departing from M'hamid heads to Erg Chegaga where there are fixed camps. We decided we wanted to get a bit more off the beaten path and Aziz told us about Erg Ezahar. Rising 200 meters out of the desert Erg Ezahar has no fixed camps and is the second largest dune in the area. Aziz promised us that we would see very few tourists the night sky would be clear enough to see the milky way and the tranquility would be enveloping. He wasn't wrong.

The only other tourist we did happen to see was perfectly positioned to show the vastness of this beautiful remote dune.

How to have the same experience?

Aziz was the key to what was probably the best experience we had in Morocco. He can organize everything from arranging your transport from Marrakesh to providing accommodation in M'hamid. Typically he just needs at least a few days notice to organize meals camels a cook and other logistics.

The best Moroccan desert guide: ex-nomad Aziz from M'Hamid

We got to know Aziz after spending 4 nights with him having an authentic desert trip in Morocco. We feel we can safely say he is the best Moroccan desert guide and his story was so moving that we felt it needed to be told. The following is his truly inspiring heartbreaking story of growing up in the desert being forced to abandon his nomadic lifestyle and returning to his roots in the desert.

Making a living & a life in the sand

Nobody knows when Aziz was born. Mom thinks it was September. Dad thought it was October and Aziz's older sister thinks it was January. He was certainly born at Elboutia in the Sahara desert though. The family is certain of that because it is marked by a well on the map. I was curious as to why Aziz's mom wouldn't get to a hospital to give birth. "At a well under a tree anywhere! It's no problem to give birth in the desert" he responded. I wonder if the mothers of the Sahara desert recount the experience differently.

Early life

For the first ten years of Aziz's life his family lived a nomadic lifestyle in the Moroccan desert. During hot summers they would find a cool valley with plenty of tree's to escape the heat. Aziz described a typical day to us. He would wake up before sunrise and go with his dad to milk their camels while his mom and sisters attend to younger children and prepare breakfast. Throughout the day the men would take the camels in search of food and water. Raising them to sell and trade for other goods sounded like their primary source of income. The women spent the day raising children preparing meals and collecting firewood.

On a clear day the views were magnificent. However it doesn't take much wind to turn this into a daunting sandstorm.

These years are described by Aziz with mixed emotions. "Being a nomad is like freedom but the hard times are hard". They had no schedule. No fixed working hours. No fixed abode. They were free to wander across borders free of restrictions. But it was also a vulnerable existence. Camels were liable to escape in the night. Sandstorms (which we experienced firsthand) were intense and quite hazardous for navigational reasons. Snakes and scorpions also kept one on their toes. In short it was hard but rewarding.

Extreme shift

When Aziz was about eight his dad passed away. He had gone to Casablanca for treatment of a heart condition but sadly didn't survive. His mother lived on in the desert for about another three years as a nomad with her five children. She received some support from Aziz's uncles but it's hard to overstate how difficult it must have been to raise five children in the desert. I didn't want to press Aziz on what these times were like. He did go on to state that what he really wants now for his mom is to "relax max with no tax!".

Two more factors were pressuring Aziz's family to settle in a town and quit the nomadic lifestyle. The border between Morocco and Algeria had been closed since 1994 which restricted the land they could inhabit and therefore restricted how far they could go in search of food. Along with this lost terrain a major dam was built upstream in Ouarzazate which meant the wells and seasonal waterways simply couldn't provide for the number of people living a nomadic lifestyle. An influx of nomads into towns and villages on the outskirts of the Sahara ensued. Many of the people we met and interacted with in M'Hamid were desert nomads turned town dwellers.

From oranges to apples.

Go on. Off you go and live in the desert

Imagine someone from your local government comes to your house and knocks on your door. They inform you they've turned off your water closed all the roads to supermarkets and have a camel waiting for you in your front yard to start living a new nomadic life with. This is essentially what confronted Aziz and his family as they moved into the town of M'hamid. "I now know what a bird in a cage feels like" was Aziz's most articulate expression of his emotions surrounding this forced switch of lifestyle.

Life in the town

Around this time many nomadic families were moving into M'hamid due to the impact of the new dam. The children from these families regardless of age were put into the same class. From there the school determined their proficiency and allocated them a grade to start in. Aziz went to school for six years. His mom raised goats in their home which were sold to provide income. The family was well and truly below the poverty line. The situation must have been dire for a single mother with five children moving into a completely unknown village. To top it all off Aziz also told us that all their camels ran away when they initially moved into M'hamid. Aziz says he "works hard now to forget the hard times". It's difficult to imagine them being harder.

With the all the constellations and Milky Way crystal clear We could see how this night sky would conjure up memories.

On one of the nights we sat by the campfire I asked Aziz what he missed most about the nomadic life. He paused and swallowed hard. "I miss getting up early with my dad and milking the camels under the stars… this was nice". And for a fleeting moment I wasn't chatting to a hardened desert nomad but a boy who missed his dad. It was my turn to swallow hard.

Becoming the best Moroccan desert guide

When Aziz left school his cousin took him out into the desert and showed him the ropes of desert guiding. Aziz is a quick learner. He learned French and English to add to the two languages he already spoke. Now he's learning to speak German as well. He worked for a tour company as a desert guide but wanted to strike out on his own. "I think it's my origin. Nomads have freedom. I don't like a boss calling me everyday always fixed schedule". Aziz seems to like the independence that entrepreneurship offers.

Aziz was endlessly accommodating. Exhausted we appreciated it.

We were struck by his wisdom and open mind. We chatted about marriage religion love and borders (which he unsurprisingly isn't a fan of). He was always interested in our opinion and demonstrated he was open to new perspectives.

Our experience

Aziz is totally at home in the desert. When we first arrived in M'hamid and stayed two days with him in town we saw a shy stressed young man. We wondered if we were making the right decision by choosing him as our guide. All our concerns were dismissed as soon as we started walking out of town and into the dunes.

Aziz proudly shows off his lizard catching skills

Within twenty minutes he dove up to his elbows into a dune and retrieved an impressive yellow lizard which he showed to us with a proud smile. The days were full of conversation and insight into the environment around us. After hiking through spectacular scenery each day Aziz and his two companions (Omar and Hassan) would set up camp cook an amazing meal and tend to all our needs. Normally Beth and I would be right in there helping out and wanting to learn about all the things they were doing to set up camp. But we were simply just too exhausted. We flopped onto the waiting mattresses and rugs laid out and arranged comfortably for us to lounge on.

These three guys had done just as much hiking as we had and seemed to work effortlessly with each other to set up camp for the night and prepare meals. They catered wonderfully to our dietary requirements. I was stunned they were able to provide comfortable sleeping quarters for five people and some of the best Moroccan food we've had so far with just four baskets strapped to two camels. We realized quickly we wouldn't make the grade for the non-digital nomadic life.