Photos of the Beautiful Sahara Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes

Photos of the Wonderland Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes Morocco at sunrise. Land Rover Defender and camels in the Erg Chebbi dunes. Photos by Paul E Williams

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Landscape photos of the beautiful northern Sahara sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, Morocco, by photographer Paul E Williams.

The Wonderland of the Incredible Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes Morocco

One of the great desert sights of Morocco is the Erg Chebbi sand dunes belt. The dune belt is approached from Erfoud via a road running through inhospitable rocky desert known as hamada.

It is possible to see the Erg Chebbi sand dunes from a long way off as they rise to a height of rise to 150 meters from the hamada. The dunes orange colouring also makes them very visible.

The Erg Chebbi dune belt is about 28km long and 5-6 km wide and stretches along the Morocco Algerian border. At the time I visited Erg Chebbi the border was closed so there was no way into Algeria.

Sunrise Over Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes

It is hard to describe the complete silence at dawn in the sand dunes. I was able to camp out amongst the dunes in my Defender to make it easier to photograph at sunrise. Initially I found myself alone with camels that had been hobbled, and left to graze on scrubby grasses that grew in hollows between the dunes.

Eventually a camel herder came for the camels to prepare them for early morning tourist rides out into the dune belt.

As you can see from the photos the dunes at Erg Chebbi are pristine and few people walk them apart from the camel herders and photographers.

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Merzouga Ancient Oasis Trading Post

To the north of Erg Chebbi are the Altar mountains. As the winter snows melt water flows into the Sahara desert and sinks under the sand of the Eg Chebbi Sand belt. The Berbers learnt to tap this water supply and a string of settlements grew along the edge of the sand dunes. Merzouga actually has the largest natural underground body of water in Morocco

Originally cross Sahara traders lived here and set off on the long journey across the desert to Timbuktu, returning with high value goods. Many nomadic traders sold their goods to Merzouga merchants whilst others carried on north to Marrakesh.  The region was known as Sijilmassa, which became prosperous from the 8th to the 14th century due to its control of the caravan routes.

Merzouga Desert Resort

Nicknamed somewhat unkindly a Sahara theme park. The beautiful sand dunes of Erg Chebbi are a great draw for tourists visiting Morocco as well as Moroccans. They stay in Merzouga in luxury hotels and enjoy camel rides out into the dune belt. As the air is so dry people come here to find relief from joint problems. From the lack of people I encountered in the Erg Chebbi dunes, I think most tourists stay around the hotel swimming pools which suited me fine.

Flash Floods

Whilst exploring the area I came across some abandoned hotels. On making enquiries I found out that in 2006 torrential rain caused flooding next to the dunes, destroying many buildings and killing three people. Hard to imagine in a place where it hardly ever rains.