During my time in Marrakech, I decided to book a 3-day, 2-night Sahara Desert tour through my hostel. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. While there were some incredible moments, the organisation was terrible, and I wouldn’t recommend this specific tour.
Here’s exactly what happened and what you should know before booking a desert tour in Morocco.
Day 1: The Journey Begins (With Confusion!)
⏰ Pick-up at 7 AM – Because my hostel was in a street too small for a van, I was picked up on a bike. Since my trip ended in Fes, I had my entire suitcase, which the guy held on the front of his bike while driving with one hand. Not ideal!
🚐 Van Chaos – Once we got to the road, I was put in a van with one other person. We drove around the corner, stopped, and sat there for 15 minutes with no explanation. Then, someone pointed at me and told me to get into another van—again, no idea what was happening or how they knew who was supposed to go where.
🏰 Aït Ben Haddou Stop – This was our first proper stop, a beautiful ancient town where Gladiator was filmed. The views were stunning, and locals were selling artwork.
🍽️ Expensive Lunches – Everywhere we stopped for food was super overpriced, costing 4x what I had been paying in Marrakech. Luckily, breakfasts and dinners were included.
🏡 First Night: Dades Valley – The town was small and cute, sitting in a valley. We were split into four different hotels, and no one knew what was happening. The lack of communication was a theme for the entire trip.
Day 2: Carpet Shops, Camels & A Strange Night in the Desert
🛍️ Market & Carpet Shop Stop – Before heading to the desert, we stopped at a local market and a carpet shop, where they gave a carpet-making demonstration.
🤢 Sick in the Desert – By this point in the trip, the food in Morocco had completely messed with my stomach. I had severe diarrhoea, and if I hadn’t taken pills, I would have absolutely shit myself on the camel. Not exactly the experience I had in mind for a desert trek!
🐪 Camel Trek to Merzouga – We were dropped off at three different locations with no explanation. My group had five people, plus another four from a different group. We rode camels for two hours to our desert accommodation.
🚨 Poorly Treated Camels – I immediately noticed the camels looked very skinny and poorly treated. The ride itself was stressful because it felt like I was going to fall off. Four people in the group got off and through the sand walked instead.
🏜️ Desert Camp Experience – That night, dinner was followed by a “show”, which consisted of three guys playing one song on drums and then walking out. Everyone was confused.
🌌 The Best Part – A small group of us wandered out into the desert and lay under the stars for an hour. This was by far the best part of the whole tour—the sky was breathtaking.
Day 3: Sunrise, Sandboarding & Stress
🌅 Sunrise in the Desert – We were taken out to the dunes at 6 AM to watch the sunrise, which was a beautiful moment.
🏂 Broken Sandboard – They gave us one sandboard to share, which was already broken.
🚗 Extra Charge for a Car Back – Everyone opted to pay extra to take a car back instead of riding the camels again. This felt like a scam.
🚐 More Confusion & Almost Left Behind – Two cars were supposed to pick us up. One left for an hour and didn’t return. We were already late to meet our driver. Once we finally got to our vans, we were split into two groups: one for Marrakech, one for Fes.
❌ Almost Left Behind in Merzouga – I had booked Fes, but they had me down for Marrakech. The Fes van left without me. After a stressful argument and multiple calls, I was finally put in a random car, which chased down the Fes van so they could take me with them.
🚌 The Long Drive to Fes – This was a very long drive. I finally met two amazing travellers on this ride. One of them had anxiety and had been struggling with the lack of communication. So it wasn’t just my group—everyone was confused the entire time.
Final Thoughts: Would I Recommend This Tour?
❌ No, I wouldn’t recommend this tour. While there were some great moments, the lack of communication, poor organisation, and mistreated camels made it not worth it.
💰 You get what you pay for. This tour was only €100, so it was very cheap. If you want a better experience, I’d suggest booking with a more reputable company.
👫 Better for couples. As a solo traveller, it was stressful not knowing what was happening. I think couples may have handled the uncertainty better since they at least had each other.
⭐ My Advice: If you want to do a Sahara tour, book a better one! There are amazing tours out there, and I’m sure a well-run experience would be incredible.
A tour I would recommend is G Adventures: Moroccan Sahara Discovery
Planning a trip to Morocco? If you would like to read more about my trip for more tips, you can see all my North Africa & Middle East blogs here.
