At 5am, we woke up to hike the mammoth sand dune nearby. It was purported to have an elevation of 900 meters, but it turns out it’s only 600 meters above sea level.
Our hike was a steep climb of 150 meters, but walking up a ridge of a steep gigantic sand dune sure was exciting.
We narrowly missed the sunrise, we arrived at the summit about 15 minutes late. With all the cloud cover, it was really hard to tell, so it wasn’t much of a let down. We took a bunch of pictures from the top of the dune, and managed to get sand everywhere as the wind was blowing like mad.
Our Berber guide grabbed Jon & I’s hands and ran with us straight off the steep end. It was thrilling, cause I kept thinking we’d go head over heels, but we didn’t.
We later had breakfast in the tent, pancakes & jam & fresh fruit & coffee. It was wonderful.
We said goodbye to the desert & our gracious Berber hosts, and jumped in the Toyota for a long drive back.
We stopped in Ouerzazatte for lunch, did some shopping, and enjoyed the cleanest public bathrooms in all of Morocco…at a French Restaurant.
We arrived in Marrakech around 7pm. Watch the video below to see what it’s like at night, in Marrakech!
At Riad Ariha, they had prepared a wonderful sorbatta (wheat & veggie soup) and spaghetti with marinara sauce. Yummy!!!
The carbs would come in handy as the next day we would be attempting the summit of Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in Morocco!
Tags: Gates of Sahara, Merzouga, Sand Dune Summit