Visiting the Sahara Desert was the best thing I’ve ever done – no question.
It is somewhere I’d been dying to go for years and finally getting there, and experiencing its beauty first-hand, was truly amazing.
So, so, so amazing!
Before I write about my desert experience, I first wanted to share with you some of my favourite photos from the three day trip. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, which will have all of my adventures detailed in full!
Day One
The first day of the tour was all about experiencing traditional Berber life. We spent the entire day driving from Berber village to Berber village, traipsing endlessly down near-identical alleyways, taking photos of near-identical houses. The first village we visited was fascinating, and absolutely gorgeous too – but when you’re taken to 40 of them (and they’re all basically the same) it starts to get a little dull… I just wanted to get to the desert!
Day Two
And finally, we reached our destination.
The Sahara Desert.
The next 12 hours were spent riding camels silently through the sand dunes, racing each other to the top of a dune to watch the sunset, having a fantastic dinner around a campfire before listening to some traditional Berber music, dragging our mattresses out of our tents to sleep under the stars, falling asleep while being able to see the Milky Way and dozens of shooting stars in the sky above, and waking up super early to watch the sun rise over the desert.
So. Amazing.
Have I said amazing too much?
I wish I could have spent longer in the Sahara Desert – it was one of those places where I just wanted to stay for years and years. It was truly mind-blowing and I can’t wait to tell you about it in more detail!
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Very nice pictures Lauren, I hope to see these sand dunes one day also. Great work on the pics.
Thanks, Normand! I hope you get to see them some day soon :)
Wow what amazing photos
Thanks, Ykani!
AMAZING!!! WOW!
Thanks, Gina! :)
One can never use the word amazing too many times ;) love the photos!
I agree! It really was amazing!
Amazing! ten more times! Pics are great!
Hahaha! Thank you so much! :-)
Wow,these are amazing. You’ve convinced me…if I ever get the chance I’m going! Great post!
You should definitely make the effort to get there, Jessica! :-)
This looks incredible! Really really beautiful pictures. I’m currently staying in Gibraltar and so only a ferry trip across to Morocco, and was looking for some trip ideas as it would be a shame not to go when I’m so close, and this would be amazing! Looking forward to hearing more about the trip in detail, it sounds like you had a brilliant time. It would be great to hear about how you found out about this tour and booked it too.
You should definitely make the trip across to Morocco. It’s well worth it :-)
Gorgeous photos! The sand looks so incredibly soft I just want to roll about on top of it. Never really considered going there before and now you’re making me think about it…
You should go, Tom! The sand was perfect and I stole some in the bottom of my shoe when I left ;-)
Great photos – I love the one of you laying in the sand! Looking forward to reading more about your desert adventure, Jess and I are dying to see the Sahara desert!
Ah, I know you’d both love it so much! Hope you get to see it one day :-)
That shadow photo of everyone on thier camels, kicks. ass.
Can’t wait to hear more about it
Thanks, Shaun! :-) It’s one of my favourites.
AMAZING PHOTOS :)
Thank you, Jodie! :-)
Those dune photos are amazing!
(And, for the record, I’m not sure you can ever use that word too much when it comes to a place like this!)
It’s true. I love how everybody in the comments is calling it amazing too! :-)
Gorgeous! What an amazing experience, can’t wait to hear more about it!
Thanks, Andrea! :-)
Your photos are absolutely amazing.
Thank you, Cece! :-)
Unreal captures. I just recently moved to Morocco and am loving it so far. The Sahara is a beautiful area.
The Sahara was definitely my favourite part of Morocco :-)
These pictures are absolutely stunning. I don’t think I would have ever thought about traveling to the Sahara Desert, but now that I’ve seen your photos, I want to go right now! I’ve added it to my bucket list and can’t wait to read more about your trip there.
I hope you get to visit, Juliann! :-)
Wow! Amazing photos, maybe I’ll add it to my list of places to go!
You should! :-)
WOW!!!
Your pics…. WOW!!!!! LOVE ‘EM
Visit Kenya Lauren…
Thank you! I’d love to visit Kenya one day :-)
I love the photo of the camel shadows. Really gorgeous! I have been to the Moroccan Sahara two years ago and seeing this makes me want to go back. But 12 hrs on a camel. Were you not sore? :-)
Yeah… camels are kind of uncomfortable, aren’t they?! I was very, very sore afterwards :-)
That golden color on the dunes are amazing! I’ve never had a huge desire to go to Morocco or the Sahara, but the photos are changing my mind. Beautiful place.
It one of my favourites :-)
Your photos are fantastic. We recently did a 3 day trip from Marrakech to Merzouga which included an overnight in the desert. It was a life time wish of mine and I am so happy we did it. I can tell you loved the desert too by your photos.
Thank you, Jan! I’m happy you got to explore it too :-)
Gorgeous photos! Seeing the Sahara Desert is on my list too!
You have no excuse now you’re living in Europe! :-)
Great photos! Did you go do some stargazing while you were out there? The skys are so so clear…
I did. I couldn’t believe the amount of stars you could see! I studied astrophysics as part of my degree so it was great to be able to see all the stars you couldn’t in Central London!
Wow, amazing photos! Looks like such a magical place. I’d love to go there some day :)
Thanks, Lizzie! I hope you get to visit :-)
The color of the sand is unbelievable.
I wasn’t expecting it to be so orange.
GORGEOUS! I just want to roll down one of the dunes!
Haha, I was too scared to roll down them… they were pretty high up!
Great photos Lauren, making me want to go back there now!
I want to go back too!
Ahh the memories… this portion of Morocco was one of the highlights of my entire trip. Love the photos!!! So glad you loved it.
The main reason for me making the trip to the desert was your posts about it :-)
These are some seriously magnificent photos!
Thanks, Laurence!
Fantastic! Love the red sand dunes
They were incredible :-)
Soooo pretty! I’ll be here in a couple weeks and these made me even more excited :D
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! :-)
It really is such an amazing red/orange colour.
It was unlike any other sand I’d seen anywhere else in the world.
Amazing pictures, I’m off to Morocco tomorrow, and after seeing this post I’m looking forward to it even more!
I hope you have an amazing time, Marysia! :-)
Great pictures Lauren! Reminds me my crazy adventures in Morocco! Have you spend the night at the desert as well?
Yes, I spent the night in the desert and loved it. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done! :-)
Great photos. I was there once upon a time and the sunset/sunrise were amazing
Thanks, Ross!
AMAZING pictures! I was confused between choosing Istanbul or Marrakech – you definitely helped me solve it. I was wondering, what tour agency did you use? Read your other post and you said it was $60. All I can find is about 150 euros per person. Thanks!
I booked the tour through my hostel. It’s far, far cheaper to just turn up and ask around than book anything online. There are hundreds of tour operators that offer super-cheap prices, and your hotel/hostel/riad should be able to book something for you at a decent price :-)
What a fantastic destination. I’d love to go there sometime. I also admire your photography if it was me taking those pictures, I would mess it up. Any cool tips on how to capture the desert?
I’m in a no way a photography expert and shoot in auto most of the time!
Hi Lauren, after see this post I decided to follow u and…WANNA GO TO MORROCO so baaad!
Can u tell me which city u arrived and stayed pls? Thank you!=)
I took the tour from Marrakech. The Sahara Desert is enormous so there’s lots of close cities :-)
sorry…I mean, which city is the closest one to Sahara? Thanks:P
Oh, there are so many! Marrakech is where most people take trips from. But it’s not in any way the closest!
Stunning photos! I want to go there straight away :)
Thanks so much! :-)
Truly amazing pictures Lauren. It’s on my bucket list to must visit places and glad you did and it really inspired me to do more. Thanks for the great story.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the read!
Hello! What tour group did you book with? It sounds like the exact type I’d like to go on. I’m going to Marrakesh in three weeks! :) Thanks for any help.
Hi Leanne! I booked my tour through my hostel. I recommend just turning up in Marrakech and asking your accommodation to book you on one — it works out at about a third of the price of tours you can book online that way.
I appreciate your blog and this post! Couple questions:
How does your suitcase get there, i’m bringing a small wheeled carry on and am worried maybe its a little ridiculous for this?
Can I expect tours to start everyday? I realize this is not a question you can totally answer as you won’t know all tours, but I’m planning to just book something with my hostel, however i’d like it to be the day after i arrive and i’m not sure if i should plan more time into my schedule. :)
You put your bags/suitcases in lockers before you head out into the desert, so you’ll be fine bringing it with you.
Yep, tours leave everyday, for sure. You see dozens of them leaving every morning.
Thank you for your reply! Your blog has inspired my trip to spend most of my time in chefchaouen, so thank you for that!
Yay! I hope you love it there as much as I did :-)
Did you go back to Marrakesh on day two? Can I ask what time you arrived back to your hotel?
On day three. You spend the first night in a hotel close to the desert, the second sleeping in the desert, and then return on the 3rd. I *think* we would have got back at around 5 p.m., but I took this trip in 2012, so I’m half guessing.