ERG LIHOUDI: THE GATES OF THE SAHARA DESERT

A complete travel guide to visiting one of the best desert camp spots in Morocco, Erg Lihoudi , the “Dunes of the Jews”.

Are you looking for a Sahara desert adventure in Morocco that you can do on a budget? You’ve found the right page. In this quick guide, I’ll give you a complete run-down on Erg Lihoudi in Morocco.

I’ll give you some options on how to get there, recommendations on the Erg Lihoudi best desert camps to stay, and I will share some photos and impressions from my trip with you that I hope will inspire you to visit this Moroccan Sahara desert spot.

ABOUT ERG-LIHOUDI

Erg Lihoudi is an erg located 80 Km from Zagora, the main town in the Draa valley, and 7 Km away from Oulad Edriss.

Erg Lihoudi means “The dunes of the Jews” in Arabic and there two versions of the name circulating on line, Erg Lihoudi and Erg Lehoudi. They both refer to the same place and come from the Arabic word اليهوديهو

The name’s origin is to honor the Jews who used to inhabit these dunes in the past. At the moment there are no jew families living in the Erg Lihoudi dunes. However, if you venture for a walk around the camp you will find some stone structures that are graves of the jew people who used to live in the dunes.

The dunes’ height in this Sahara desert spot reaches 100 meters and they are located at the very edge of the Sahara desert.

A few km before Oulad Edriss you will see the “beginning of the Sahara desert’ warning signs on the road.

I am sharing here a pin with the location of the Erg Lihoudi (Erg-Lehoudi) dunes:

HOW TO GET TO ERG-LIHOUDI

The best way to get to Erg Lihoudi is tgo on a day drip from Zagora. You can eithe spend the day there and return to Zagora at dawn, or my most recommended option, that is to stay for one night in the Erg-Lihoudi desert camp. You do not want to miss sunrise and sunset times and the Sahara desert night sky.

Most desert camps in Erg Lihoudi offer some Berber drumming entertainment at night. The tour guides usually offer the show around a camp fire under swarms of stars.

Some tours will bring you directly by 4×4 to the desert spot and some other tours will stop at Oulad Edriss where you will embark in a 7 km camel trek to the desert spot.

This is my favorite option to get to the spot, as the camel trek is really beautiful, and an immersive travel experience as this is how the nomad tribes that inhabit these desert ergs travel.

You can ask any of the local agencies in Zagora to organize your trip. You can Whats app Omar Amdiaz, he took care of organizing all my desert trips in Zagora and I had a great experience.

If you are on a tight budget ask your tour guide to organize the trip taking the collective taxi to Oulad Edriss. You will not only help your budget but will be reducing your carbon footprint by sharing transport with other people.

Collective taxi is the way the local Moroccan people travel, it is the coolest way to travel in Morocco as you experience the local culture first hand.

WHERE TO STAY AT ERG-LIHOUDI

There are several desert camps where you can stay at Erg Lihoudi.

The price of your tour will vary depends on the camp you choose. Your guide can book your accommodation or you can also book it on line:

For average range accommodation book here.

For luxury accommodation book here.

 

THE DESERT TRIP TO ERG-LIHOUDI

Below I’ll give you a rough recap of my Erg-Lihoudi desert trip to help you better prepare for this incredible experience.

Erg Lihoudi was my first desert experience and I felt in love with it. I have been there a couple of times and on both trips I did the camel trek to the camp.

The first time I did the day trip and I left wanting to stay for the night on the camp, so that is what I did on my second visit to the Erg Lihoudi dunes and the experience I am sharing with you here.

ROAD TRIP FROM ZAGORA TO OULAD EDRISS

On both trips to the Erg-Lihoudi dunes I used the collective taxi to reach Oulad Edriss. It really enriched the experience to use this kind of transport.

We left Zagora early morning. As we left the town the landscape became more arid for some km and the vast Zagora palm groves became just some palm trees scattered around the area, in tiny villages, that look so authentic and quaint, that I felt tempted to ask the driver to stop by on each and everyone of the of them. I have to remind myself I am in a collective taxi and let go of my excitement to see everything around me in detail.

We passed by Tamegroute, just 25 km, from Zagora and venture further to reach the Erg-Lehoudi desert camp.

We stopped by several times to pick up and drop people and the other local passengers in the taxi were really quiet and kind.

The Hamada was visible all around us and imposed its presence all around.

We left the taxi in Tagounite where we bought some ingredients to bring to the camp and prepare our meals, and water, lots of water, as we were venturing into the Sahara desert.

Once the shopping is done we change into a different collective taxi to reach Oulad Driss. The landscape was still pretty similar and hypnotic, arid desert landscape and a few house scattered here and there. I wondered how they can survive in the middle of nowhere with such scarce resources around. But I guessed the people in this area have some life surviving skills that I do not have.

Finally we arrived at Oulad Edriss where the taxi drop us close to a camel pickup point on the right side of the road.

CAMEL TREK FROM OULAD EDRISS TO THE ERG LIHOUDI DUNES

The camel pick up point was located closed to a dying palm grove. My guide explained me how this palmerie used to be really fertile, only less than 10 years ago. But nowadays most palm trees are withering and the desert is reclaiming it kingdom. A sweet reminder on how good my choice of coming by collective taxi was to planet Earth.

We talked to some people taking care of the camels and they offered me some dates, while we engaged in a half english, half sign conversation. The dates were super delicious. Zagora area dates are world famous.

And finally I got ready for the show. The guy who gave us the camel helped me putting on a scarf on my head as the Tuareg people do. It is not only religious custom to cover the head for the people of the desert but a protection measure. The sun rays in the desert are too strong. Do not forget to bring your sunscreen and sunglasses to this trip.

As we left the camel pick up point behind, the terrain transitioned from a withering palm grove into a sandy landscape with sporadic presence of green bushes. Some strange circular formations caught my attention. I asked my guide and he is well aware they are there and have been there for a long time. However, he does not know how they were formed.

On the way we found a dry human shaped tree where people usually stop to take photos on their way to the Erg-Lihoudi dunes.

As we treked into the desert all my background thinking fades away and started tuning more and more into the present moment into the infinite silence of the Sahara desert.

We crossed other camel trekking groups and waved them on our way to the Erg-Lihoudi desert camp.

The scenery finally culminated into a vast sea of golden sand dunes , in the proximity of our destination camp. The Hamada stood as usual always there, with its mysterious and protecting presence drawing the line between the desert and the sky.

WALK THROUGH THE ERG-LIHOUDI DUNES

Once we have reached camp we get offered some tea to refresh and told to go walking on the dunes while the cooker was preparing some lunch for us.

The camp is a set of white tents arranged around a central area with a carpet and some cushions and low tables where you can eat.

The tents are sleeping tents and there is also a bigger tent where food is served in the night or during the day if people are not willing to eat outside.

There are some very basic toilet facilities 20 meters away from the other tents.

Once I sip my tea I took off my shoes and went walking barefoot in the dunes. There are some people sand boarding and using quads but they are not too close. There are enough dunes for all the camps to offer some empty dunes to its guests.

As I walked towards the dunes and got far away from the Erg-Lihoudi desert camp I could let go of all thinking and my senses got fully activated. It is state of very deep relaxation, exactly what I was searching for during my trip to Morocco.

NIGHT AT THE DUNES

As the night approached, the desert camp keepers and guide start preparing some traditional Moroccan Tagine and a fire, in the middle of the tents area.

We went for a walk around the dunes and took some pictures of the sunset. Sunset was pretty magical in the desert.

As the Sun descents, the temperature started dropping reminding me how cold it will get at night, so after my sunset walk was completed I returned back to camp to sit around the fire and eat some delicious Moroccan food. The desert guides took some Berbers drums and started playing some local rhythms while the sunset sky slowly becomes a show of twinkling stars decorating the silent night.

I am in awe by how beautiful the night sky looks and walked to the closest dunes to spend some time doing astro photography. Do not forget to bring your camera gear as there are some impressive opportunities for photography around the camp.

SUNRISE AND TRIP BACK TO ZAGORA

Before sunrise my guide knocked my tent’s door and reminded me sunrise will start soon as I had told him the night before to wake me up for sunrise time.

The scenery was breathtaking. As the sun rose behind the sand dunes, the changing colors of the desert seemed like coming from another dimension. I had never seen such a richness or yellow and brownish hues.

Once the sunrise is concluded we came back to Oulad Edriss, by camel to return to Zagora, to come back to Zagora.

I felt the experience had changed me, into a more relaxed and accepting version of myself, more in tune with the present moment. In my head, I started planning the next trip to the Moroccan desert.

Vising Erg-Lehoudi was one of the most beautiful things I have ever done in my life and I strongly recommend it, mostly for Sahara desert first time visitors and budget travelers.

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