Things to do in Merzouga
Everyone comes for the camel trek, and they are right to. But there is a lot more within an hour of here, and most visitors leave without knowing it existed.
In the dunes
1. Camel trek at sunset
The classic, and it earns it. Roughly forty minutes out to camp, or an hour and a half there and back for sunset only. €20 per camel — see camel trekking.
2. A night at a desert bivouac
Dinner, a fire, drums, and a sky with no light pollution in it. The reason to stay rather than day-trip. See our camp.
3. Sunrise from a dune
Free, and better than sunset. Ten minutes of climbing in soft sand and you get the whole erg turning colour with nobody else on it.
4. Sandboarding
Down is quick and excellent. Up is a genuine workout. Free for our guests, board and transport included.
5. Quad biking
Covers ground the camels do not, and gets you out to the far side of the erg. €40 for a single quad, €60 for a double, per hour.
6. Stargazing
Costs nothing and is one of the things people remember longest. No town for kilometres means the Milky Way is plainly visible with the naked eye most clear nights. Lie on your back on the sand — it holds the day's heat for hours.
Around Merzouga
7. Khamlia and the Gnawa musicians
A village about 7 km south, settled by descendants of people brought across the Sahara from Mali and further south. The Gnawa music tradition here is genuine, not a show put on for coaches — trance rhythms on the guembri and metal qraqeb. You can sit in on a session and drink tea. It is one of the most worthwhile hours you can spend in this region.
8. Dayet Srji lake and the flamingos
A seasonal salt lake just west of Merzouga. In a wet spring it fills and attracts flamingos, egrets and migrating waders — genuinely surprising a few kilometres from the Sahara. In a dry year it is a white salt pan and there are no birds at all. Ask us before you go; we will tell you honestly whether there is water in it.
9. The abandoned Mfis mines
Old lead and antimony workings out in the desert, now largely deserted, with a few families still working small seams by hand. Strange, quiet, and photogenic. Usually included on the Erg Chebbi 4×4 circuit.
10. Hassilabied oasis
The neighbouring village, with a working palmeraie irrigated by khettara channels. A good short walk to see how agriculture actually functions here.
Day trips
11. Rissani market
About 40 km away, on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. A real regional souk rather than a tourist one — dates, livestock, spices, and the donkey park where people leave their transport. Rissani is also the site of ancient Sijilmassa, once the great caravan city at the northern end of the trans-Saharan gold route, and the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif.
12. Erfoud and the fossils
Around 50 km north. This whole area was a shallow sea about 400 million years ago and the rock is dense with orthoceras and trilobites. The workshops cut and polish it into tables and basins, and will show you the raw slabs. Fascinating even if you buy nothing.
13. Todra Gorges
120 km north-west, where the canyon narrows to about 10 metres between walls 300 metres high. A long day trip from here but a spectacular one — see 4×4 tours.
14. Meet a nomad family
There are still families living in tents in this region, moving with their animals. Visits should be arranged through someone who actually knows them — which is the difference between being welcomed and being intrusive. We can organise it properly if you would like to go.
If you only have one full day: a 4×4 circuit of Erg Chebbi taking in Khamlia and the Mfis mines in the morning, the pool in the afternoon, and the camel trek out to camp at sunset. That is the region in a day and it works.