Monday 20 February 2017

Goulmima to Merzouga - 104 miles

Moving on today so after the usual routine we left the campsite to find a lot of roadbuilding had been started whilst we were parked up and we had to pick our way round big road machines! Then a little bit of backtracking; there is a cross-country road but we didn't want to chance it and stuck to the good road we used yesterday until it turned off toward Erfoud.

A roadside Berber "relaxation place"

It was now getting quite desolate with totally flat hamada stretching into the distance; it had been (and still was) quite windy which had kicked up a lot of dust so distance visibility was not very good. However closing on Erfoud we found ourselves following the obvious course of a river with palms and some small cultivated areas, which continued as we turned south.

Impressive entrance gate to Rissani

Sometimes the mural is better than the real thing!

Sand dunes in the distance

A flotilla of ships of the desert

Erg Chebbi

At El Rissani the road deviated off towards Merzouga once more crossing flat hamada but which was now turning sandy with vague outlines of elevated dunes in the hazy distance. Out of this landscape we started to see shapes of off-road vehicles batting along obvious desert roads, lots of them, then as they got closer we saw they were all Renault 4s and were a motor rallye which we had come across last year in northern Morocco, on their way home. There were dozens of them, and then they suddenly turned off and disappeared into the desert again. But they were obviously heading to Merzouga because that's where we caught up with them again a little later.

R4 Rallye at Merzouga

Merzouga is one of several small towns that line the Erg Chebbi, a line of high sand dunes which mark the border of the desert proper. It has developed into a tourist trap with lots of auberges and hotels, all offering camel rides, 4x4 trips into the desert and the like. Rather than campsites, motorhomes – and indeed tents – are accomodated by several of the auberges/hotels with dedicated parking areas attached to their grounds providing facilities which often include those of the hotel. One of these, Les Portes du Desert, featured in our campsite book and was also “recommended” by a guy on a moto who flagged us down (well actually pulled in front of us and stopped – we were only crawling along) so we gave it a try.

Hotel Les Portes du Desert

A spacious walled area adjacent to the hotel with some marked bays, we chose to park close to the wall for protection against the wind and flying sand but still with good sunshine – and an electricity point! There were quite a few vans parked, the inevitable “caravan” of French and a gaggle of proper off-road campers, big trucks and four wheel drive conversions. It also had a fine view of the sand dunes, which is really what we had come to see, and will probably explore tomorrow.

View from our pitch

A late lunch then relax, but it was far too windy to put the awning out – we tried and nearly lost it! - and too hot and dusty to sit out so we retired “indoors. For some reason we're now both a little weary so we'll have a couple of nights here then head north; probably had too much “desert”!