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Life TimesTravel

The Journal

Trekking, desert, mountains and the roads between — written from Morocco, at the pace the country actually moves.

8 pieces matching desert

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Saddled camels couched on the sand at a desert camp in low orange evening light, dune slopes and tamarisk behind
Journeys
Morocco

What Everything Costs, Part 2: Desert, Cities and Culture

Sahara tours, camel treks, 4×4 raids, cooking classes, hammams, guides and transfers — real prices in dirham and euro, with the per-vehicle logic that makes desert pricing work differently.

6 min read
Trekkers on a snow-covered slope in the High Atlas in winter, one carrying an ice axe, another wearing crampons
Journeys
Morocco

What to Pack for Morocco (And What to Leave)

A packing list built around the actual problem: one trip that may include a 45°C medina, a 4,000-metre summit and a desert night near freezing. What earns its place in the bag.

4 min read
The painted rocks near Tafraoute, granite boulders coated in blue and yellow paint on a hillside under a clear sky
Journeys
Morocco

What Morocco Actually Costs

Real numbers in dirham: riads, meals, guides, transfers and desert camps at three budget levels — plus where the money quietly leaks out of a trip.

5 min read
An open field of wind-rippled dunes with scattered tamarisk, the kind of erg terrain a raid crosses on piste
Journeys
Southern Morocco

Raid 4×4 in Morocco: How the Real Thing Works

Not a desert excursion with a driver — a multi-day convoy crossing the ergs on piste, navigating by GPS and roadbook. Routes, vehicles, sand technique, permits and what it actually costs.

8 min read
A camel caravan crossing a dune crest at golden hour, long shadows striping the rippled sand in the foreground
Desert
Marrakech to Merzouga

Sahara Desert Tours from Marrakech: 2, 3 or 4 Days?

The most-booked trip in Morocco, and the one most often booked wrong. What each duration actually buys you in dune time versus road time, and why the two-day version is a mistake.

5 min read
Vast rippled sand dunes near Merzouga stretching to the horizon under a pale sky
Desert
Sahara

Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga: Choosing Your Sahara

Morocco has two great sand seas and they offer genuinely different trips. One you drive to on tarmac; the other costs you sixty kilometres of off-piste to reach.

3 min read
A desert bivouac at dusk — a lit canvas tent, a family sitting by the fire on rugs, dunes behind
Desert
Sahara

What a Bivouac Actually Is

The word covers everything from a rug on the sand to a tented suite with plumbing. Knowing which one you have booked is the difference between a good night and a long one.

2 min read
Saddled camels resting on the sand at low sun, dune slopes glowing behind them
Desert
Drâa Valley · Sahara

Nomad Trekking: Walking the Desert the Old Way

Before the 4×4 transfer and the fixed camp, the desert was crossed on foot at the pace of a loaded camel. A handful of routes still work that way.

3 min read