DESTINATIONS MOROCCO | AFRICA
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A fam trip through the dunes of the Sahara offers a different view of North Africa, writes Jo Fernández
ouncing in a 4x4 through the pinky-orange Sahara in southeastern Morocco, with wind-blown dunes stretching as far as the eye can see, it feels a million miles from
Marrakech. That’s where most UK travellers head on a first-time visit to Morocco, but swapping the noisy souks for swathes of shifting sand provides a stillness, a silence and a remote beauty that’s hard to capture in words. The trade-off in choosing this slim stretch of the Sahara
over easy-to-reach cities such as Marrakech is that one direct flight turns into two (with one domestic connection), followed by bum-numbingly long road journeys. Well-organised tours help make this off-the-beaten-
track region more appealing to customers, whether a private or group option. On a fam trip with the Moroccan National Tourist Office, I join a group of agents to land in Errachidia – capital of the inland Drâa-Tafilalet region and gateway to the desert – via Casablanca, stopping at characterful, kasbah-style hotels on the way.
SANDS OF TIME
Time loses its meaning as a vast sea of sand mesmerises us, until eventually we spot a rare patch of greenery. Lofty date palms herald our lunch in Tissardmine, a small oasis of a village located on the edge of the sweeping sands of Erg Chebbi.
This don of all dunes stretches across 17 miles
towards the Algerian border. Cafe Tissardmine is a sanctuary in itself, a low-rise collection of sand-coloured buildings housing an open-walled restaurant, with a few rooms that double as an artists’ residence. After dining on bountiful bowls of salads full of beetroot, orange and olives, along with hunks of rustic bread and grilled
Well-organised tours help make
this off-the-beaten-track region more appealing to customers, whether a private or group option
spiced beef kefta, we leave sated and charmed by the setting and hospitality. Our desert adventure continues to Bivouacs Xaluca,
where neat, curved rows of white, yurt-like tents stand out against the sandy landscape under a pale blue sky dotted with cotton-wool clouds. Rich red rugs lead to a firepit, offering comfort even in this unfamiliar setting. My Tardis-like tent had a seating area by the window, a comfortable bed and a huge en-suite, and with no television, I revelled in the peace of my surroundings.
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travelweekly.co.uk 5 MARCH 2026 31
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