Night in the Sahara Desert – Moment of Inspiration

Location: Sahara Desert – Night under the stars

Country: Morocco (closest city Merzouga).

The Moment: Conversation with Aziz – a nomad who spent his life in the desert. We spent the night under the stars in the Sahara desert. The stars seemed within reach. The desert sand crisp and cool. Everything was perfect but what made this moment incredible was a deep conversation with Aziz. He was a nomad 15 years ago before setting into a nearby village. He was also our host in the desert. He talked about the way of life, the challenges and the spirit.  I asked him about hardships in the desert and his response really resonated with me “When you are put in a position, you will find a way. That is the human spirit”. DEEP and meaningful!

He also talked about the important of conscious tourism and how it has directly helped him and his family. We had this conversation around a small bonfire after enjoying some music under the desert sky. Enjoy the video and the pictures from the experience are attached below.

Key facts to help you get here:

1. Nearest town is Merzouga. I recommend staying at Auberg Les Roches. The whole team there made us feel like family. They will also organize the night in the desert for you with Aziz or one of his colleagues.
2. Merzouga is far so the best way to get there is to fly into Marrakech or Casablanca. We rented a car and drove comfortably all across Morocco (I recommend avoiding the cities – do not drive in the big cities like Marrakech or Fez). The countryside is filled with beautiful scenary, well developed roads and friendly locals.
3. I recommend you fill up your car with food. There are a lot of people who will thank you from the bottom of their heart if you give them a bottle of water or some fruits. It really moved me and I felt a bit helpless not be able to provide more. However, the act of kindness that you will do by sharing food with people you meet in small villages enroute form Marrakech to Merzouga will end up being the highlight of your trip.

I will write a full blog on Morocco. It was actually one of my best trips ever and it is really accessible from Canada (only 5.5. hours) with a very well developed highways system, thousand year old cities, mountains, desert, waterfalls, beaches and magical cities like Magical City of Chefchaouen, Morocco and UNESCO world heritage places like the ones I captured in this article ” Experience Game of Thrones, Gladiator and Ben Hur in a UNESCO World Heritage site! ”