The Sahara Desert

I meet up with a few other foreigners at a particularly posh resort complex in Merzouga, where I trade the Jeep for some local transport.

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Merzouga

A camel.

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I had a slightly better view than in the drivers seat of the Jeep

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The team heading into the Sahara

We load up and head out into the dunes – which I quickly notice spread as far as I can see. We’re led a couple of ours into the dunes where a camp has been setup, and I quickly race to the top of the biggest dune to take sunset photos.
After an enormous meal we laugh and play drums with our guides long into the night, the entire area bathed in the glow of the full moon.

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I could spend weeks here looking at the beautiful dunes

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The sand blew patterns in the dunes that changed overnight

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I couldn’t help putting tracks on all the dunes I could see

In the morning I’m up before sunrise and hike to distant dunes to capture the light, and a few camels that are hanging around waiting to take us back.

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Taking a well earned break

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Loving the sunrise

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To stop them wandering off overnight, they just tied up one leg on the front camel

The Sahara is a supremely beautiful place, so much so it’s hard to take it in all.

-Dan

P.S. Happily, the trade was only temporary, and the Jeep was waiting for me safe and sound.

Also, the seat in the Jeep is waaaaay more comfortable than that camel. I’m not sure I’d cross a continent on one of those simple smile

3 Responses

  1. Tom says:

    Great read so far Dan. Keep the reports coming. Keen to know how the Wranglers working out. Anything you would have liked to change? How´s the 3.8l doing with fuel consumption? Love the fact that you doing Africa in a Jeep.
    Safe travels.

    • Dan Grec says:

      Hey Tom,

      The Wrangler is working out great so far. I wish it was lighter for sure, and I’ll be writing detailled articles about lessons learned once I have a few tens of thousands of miles under my belt.
      I’ve seen everything from 22mpg on the flat highways at 50mph down to about 16.5mpg climbing in the Atlas mountains. It seems to like the gas here all things considered.

      Thanks,
      -Dan

  2. Catherine says:

    So gorgeous. I’m loving the pics, keep them coming. So much of the world most will never see except for,people like you and National Geographic.

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