Camping in the Sahara Desert: An unforgettable adventure in Morocco

Of all my travel experiences, camping in the Sahara Desert was one of the best things I've ever done. It was unique, memorable, exciting and adventurous but it was also affordable and actually an easy tour to take from Marrakech.

There are lots of Sahara Desert camping tours you can choose from and most of them will pick you up from your hotel and take care of everything for you.

You could opt for a budget Sahara Desert tour (which is what mine was!) or go for a more luxurious glamping experience! Whatever you do, it'll definitely be a once-in-a-lifetime trip and I can't recommend camping in the Sahara Desert enough.

Here's a budget-friendly 3-day, 2-night desert safari for less than £100. It includes one night in a bedouin camp in a private tent and one night in a hotel with loads of activities too.

Anyway, let me tell you about my Sahara Desert camping experience!

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We all collapsed into a fit of hysterical/nervous giggles as we laughed at how ridiculous that sounded. Then the laughing stopped as suddenly as it started when we realised it just might be true.

I'm still not sure if our drivers were teasing us or we were genuinely lost but I'm sure we passed the same sand dune on more than one occasion! I have no idea how you differentiate one sand dune from another but the surrounding sand dunes were beginning to look worryingly familiar.

There were two 4x4s driving to our camping spot which was about an hour into the desert.

After an hour of all the ups and downs and swerving around huge dunes we'd lost the vehicle in front and were in a frantic hurry to find our little camp site before sunset.

We'd been promised that sunset in the Sahara Desert is one of the most spectacular sights on earth so we had high expectations and didn't want to miss it!

I was on a weeklong tour around Morocco with Intrepid Travel and I already knew that camping in the Sahara would be the highlight of the trip.

I grew up in Wales and I’m a country girl at heart so I love being in the great outdoors. My usual camping trips involve mountains and lakes, an inevitable burst of rain and eating burnt sausages from an instant BBQ, so I wasn’t sure how this would compare. But let me tell you, camping in Africa is something else. And camping in the Sahara Desert. Wow. Just wow.

Camel rides

The day started on a high with a camel ride across the Moroccan sand dunes to take us part of the journey to our camp. The camels heaved us over giant dunes as we perched nervously on their humps.

The trick to riding a camel is to go with the movement of their jerky steps.  You’ll find yourself lurching forwards and backwards as you hold on for dear life while clenching your thighs to their sides. It may not be the most comfortable journey but it’s definitely an interesting workout.

Camels are slow, gentle animals and you can’t help but fall in love with their relaxed attitude and those massive eyelashes.

A camel ride might not be the most glamorous way to get around but it certainly is a lot of fun.

After an hour of riding we swapped our camels for 4x4s and sped over the dunes to our campsite. It felt like a miracle when we finally saw our traditional tents waiting for us in the distance.

Sunset in the Sahara

We reached our camping spot just in time to watch the sun set into the desert and we raced up the nearest sand dune to watch Mother Nature’s show.

Our chatty group that had barely stopped talking since we met in Marrakech was silenced for the first time all week. And with a view like this, who could blame us.

There wasn’t a single sound for miles around and it felt like we could have been the only people in the world.

We watched in a magical kind of silence as the sun sank into the sand, momentarily turning the sky into fire and covering us with a gorgeous, golden glow. This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of sunsets that you know you'll remember forever.

The warmth in the sand disappeared the moment the sun went down so we raced back down the dunes to our traditional woollen tents where we huddled together to keep warm and drink sweet mint tea.

The tents were basic and had gaping holes in the sides which we found provided perfect windows to look up at the stars. It was quite possibly the most magnificent view I’ve ever seen.

There were so many twinkling stars above us that the sky didn’t even look dark. The Milky Way was a shimmering silver streak across the sky while shooting stars darted across it like diamonds. We dragged our sleeping bags and blankets out from our tents and lay in the soft sand to admire the view while making countless wishes on the shooting stars.

Moroccan tagines were served for dinner as we sat cross-legged in the tent around a steaming pot of delicious cous cous and vegetables. We sat there for hours; talking, laughing, telling stories and drinking sweet tea by candle light.

Stories by candlelight

Tahar, our guide, turned out to be a great storyteller as he recalled his childhood memories growing up with his nomadic family in the desert.

Tahar didn’t leave the desert until he was 8 years old and had only ever met other nomadic families so he had no idea there was a whole world out there.

I remembered how I’d felt up on that sand dune where it seemed like the desert went on forever. It felt like there couldn’t possibility be other people out there, never mind cities or lakes or seas.

Tahar touched his face and his skin to indicate that he’d thought that the whole world looked like him, spoke like him and lived like him. I couldn’t image what a shock it must have been to discover how big the world really is.

He told us he was a naughty child and didn’t take well to nomadic life.

He was useless at looking after his father’s goats and always lost them so his father sent him away to school. He’d been brought up speaking a dialect known only by nomadic families so he struggled to learn anything at first but now he speaks 8 languages! He began working in hotels and gradually moved into tourism until he became the amazing tour guide that he is today.

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Tahar woke us up early the next morning, promising that it would be worth it so we wriggled out of our tents. We took our blankets with us to keep warm and made our final tough journey to the top of the dune. You know it’s going to be a good day when you wake up to a view like this…

Read more about my trip to Morocco:

What to wear in Marrakech

A photo journey through the High Atlas Mountains

Quad biking in Morocco

An itinerary for a stylish weekend in Marrakesh

Your Morocco packing list + what to wear in Marrakech

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My camping experience was included in a tour with Intrepid Travel.

I took this tour when I worked at Flight Centre and it was part of a FAM trip. This is a familiarisation trip for travel agents (I worked in social media but somehow managed to wangle my way onto the trip!) You could book individual tours if you prefer independent travel.

If you're looking for a more luxurious Sahara glamping experience then there are plenty of those available. Here's a luxury desert camping trip that looks incredible!

Personally, I would definitely go for a luxury Sahara desert experience these days. A luxury experience really doesn't cost much more because it's all so affordable in the first place. Our budget experience was a lot of fun but we really didn't sleep much so this kind of wiped us out for the following day.

Having said that, if you're on a tight budget during your trip to Morocco then you'll still have an incredible time if you do one of the cheap Sahara desert tours.

And if you love to take beautiful photos then check out this 3-day 'Instagramable' desert trip which looks gorgeous.

Camping in the Sahara Desert FAQs

Now to answer some of the FAQs I've had about camping in the Sahara Desert...

What should you pack when camping in the Sahara Desert?

If you're travelling with a lot of luggage then you'll probably be able to leave your big suitcase or backpack with your hotel, allowing you to take just a small bag with you into the desert. This will make things much easier as you won't need to take an awful lot with you.

As you can see from my photos, I wore jeans for most of my trip. I would definitely recommend wearing long trousers if you'll be riding a camel as it will be more comfortable and you won't need to worry about flashing your pants! I'd also wear trainers or sandals with straps - some kind of shoe that isn't going to fall off when you're on the camel or walking through the sand.

The main thing you need to remember is that it gets cold at night time. Really cold! Make sure you pack something warm and cosy to wear to bed and you'll want some warm clothing for the evening.  Don't forget socks too!

If you want to get some gorgeous photos like the ones you see on Instagram then make sure you pack something beautiful like a long, floaty dress that's going to stand out against the orange background.

If you're in a budget camp then you might not have access to electricity so you'll want to take a portable charger to keep your devices topped up. You might be surprised to find that many of the camps have WiFi and your 4G or 5G will probably work if you have a roaming plan for Morocco.

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