00:11What's up guys we're here in the Urg Chebi Desert near Merzouga in Morocco and in this
00:16video we're gonna show you our full camel safari. So we chose the three-day two-night
00:21trek but you can choose many different options and we'll highlight those
00:24throughout the video but we'll give our honest review of our trip and the pros
00:28and the cons and yeah I hope you enjoy it Merzouga is a small town located in the
00:40Sahara Desert in the south of Morocco. It's known as the gateway to the Urg Chebi
00:45sand dunes at the edge of town consisting of soaring peaks of sand that change
00:50color with the shifting light of dawn and dusk. Many companies offer such trips but
00:55they vary greatly in cost comfort and experience. In this video we'll show you
01:02our three-day safari experience so you know what to expect from a camel trek.
01:06We'll also give an honest review and different desert activity options at the
01:11end of the video so let's dive in. We are Zach and Ina. We make helpful videos about
01:17destinations around the world so you can easily plan your own adventures.
01:35Day one of our desert adventure started in the late afternoon near Merzouga. After
01:41parking our rental car in a secure lot and a welcome tee from our host we were
01:45driven to meet our camels and desert guides. The camels seemed to be treated
01:50well when we arrived and were peacefully grazing on some food. The only difficult
01:55part of the camels was getting up onto them for the first time.
02:01Whoa you're eight feet taller.
02:04It took a little time to get used to the way the camels moved because of the
02:08wavy up-and-down motion but after gliding along the desert sand for a while we
02:13were feeling like pros thanks to Mohamed and Hassan who guided us.
02:24After one and a half hours on the camels the sun was starting to go down so we
02:28decided to hop off and sit in the sparkling sands of the Urg-Shebby desert.
02:48One more short ride on the camels brought us to our wild camp for the night. Set
02:53underneath a large sand dune the camp included a private tent with sleeping
02:57pads and blankets as well as a cooking tent for our guides and a candlelight
03:02dinner under the stars.
03:28On day two we were set to enjoy sandboarding, an oasis, a
03:33special nomad style lunch, and a new luxury camp. But first we woke up early to catch the sunrise.
03:50So we just woke up to a beautiful sunrise and some nice breakfast and now time to hit the slopes
03:56for some sandboarding.
04:06After sandboarding it was time to hop back on the camels. During our ride towards the oasis we came across
04:13hundreds of sand dunes with various shapes and beauty. We were also surprised to see actual bushes and greenery in
04:20some parts of the dunes. But the nicest part of this area was that we didn't see any other people
04:25the entire time.
04:26Just us in the desert. Just us in the desert. It was pure bliss.
04:40After about two hours we arrived at one of the highlights of the day. The oasis. This oasis boasted the
04:47highest dune in all of Urg-Shebby. But we'll talk about that in a moment.
04:52First, it was time to enjoy a Berber pizza, which was cooked by Hassan in an authentic fashion by burying
04:59the dough in hot sand. Our guide Mohamed explained the tradition in more detail.
05:05You make the dough first? Yes, first. Inside in the kitchen. The bread is first. And later on we put
05:12all the things inside. Eggs and some spice and some meat also.
05:20Okay, nice. Wow, so it's a lot of different ingredients. Yes, yeah. The sand is very hot.
05:26Yeah, okay. So this is the Berber pizza.
05:52After enjoying some of the best pizza in our life and watching our camels have their own feasts nearby, it
05:58was time to climb the tallest dune in Urg-Shebby.
06:01Located right behind the oasis, it's a beast.
06:14We are on top of the world!
06:26Next, it was off to our luxury camp for the evening, which meant hopping back on the camels for another
06:31stretch of desert.
06:32But before getting to the camp, we were able to take in one more beautiful sunset from the dunes.
06:52When we arrived at our camp in the evening, we were greeted with warm tea and some very tasty local
06:57food.
06:57But the highlight of the night was definitely the Berber drums.
07:02The drum session was a beautiful display of tradition through music.
07:23It's our third day here in the deserts and today we're doing a 4x4 tour to a nomad family and
07:28other things.
07:28But before we head out, we actually wanted to show you how a tent looks like from the inside.
07:33We're staying in a standard camp and so we'll show you.
07:37So this is the bed. It has pillows, it's quite soft.
07:40And there's also a toilet, a shower and a dining room as well.
07:54Our first stop on the 4x4 was the Hasi Labid Oasis.
07:59Here, we were able to see how locals use canals to get water and do farming under the palm trees.
08:06Next, we drove through the town center of Merzouga on our way to Kamliya village.
08:11This village is famous for the Nawa people, who originated in sub-Saharan countries such as Sudan, Mali and Niger.
08:20For centuries, they moved from their land as a result of the worldwide slave trade.
08:25Their style of music was different from the Berber music that we heard before, and was very rhythmic.
08:41After a short visit to the fossil and mineral mines, it was time to visit the nomad families.
08:47These families live on the outskirts of the dunes, with very minimal homes and equipment.
08:53Saeed explained a bit more about the tents, and how the nomadic people set them up.
08:58Camel and sheep are good and camels.
09:01They mix it.
09:03Rindrop, slow, slow.
09:04And thumb, tight, tight, tight, tight.
09:06This is why they mix like this.
09:11It's tight.
09:30Overall, we really enjoyed our three-day desert safari.
09:33Riding the camels for multiple days allowed us to go deeper into the sand dunes and gave us the real,
09:39authentic experience that we were looking for.
09:41The thing we liked the most was learning about the nomadic traditions from our guides.
09:46And we've put the other pros of our trip on the screen here.
09:50As for cons, we thought the luxury camp on day two was a bit noisy in the evening, because many
09:56of the camps are so close together.
09:58We also believe that if you only do one night in the desert like most people, your experience is limited.
10:04Because you don't stay in the peaceful wild camp like we did, and you'll be surrounded by many other tourists.
10:09The best option is a multi-day camel trek in our opinion.
10:13If you aren't interested in a multi-day trek like we did, then there are also many other options to
10:18enjoy the desert.
10:20These are included on the screen here.
10:22And we've also included links to all the trip options in the description below, including the tour we took,
10:27which was a combination of the two nights desert experience and the 4x4 desert tour.
10:32If you're planning your Morocco trip, we recommend keeping things organized with our interactive travel planner.
10:38Find a discount code below.
10:41We also included important links that you'll need for your desert trip in the description, such as all the links
10:46for the tours.
10:48We'll catch you on the next adventure.
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