Visitors from Chile, Peru and Argentina often arrive with real desert experience behind them, and it is worth saying how this one differs. The Atacama is high, mineral and almost rainless; Erg Chebbi is a sand sea 28 km long and 5 km wide standing abruptly out of flat stony hamada, with the High Atlas visible behind it on clear mornings. They have almost nothing in common except emptiness.
Getting there is the commitment. Merzouga is nine hours from Marrakech and eight from Fes, and practically nobody drives it in one push. The standard approach is two days each way with a night in Dades or Ouarzazate, which turns the journey itself into the best part: Tizi n Tichka at 2,260 m, the kasbah at Ait Ben Haddou, the Route of a Thousand Kasbahs, the Todra Gorge.
At this point a driver ceases to be a luxury. There are two Atlas crossings, passes that shut briefly in winter, extended runs without fuel or reception, and a last handover at the sand's edge where the road simply stops. Ours cover it every week. Every booking is private and the price is agreed before you leave home.
Why hire a driver here
- Nine hours from Marrakech, eight from Fes, so two days in each direction
- Cresting 2,260 m, the Tizi n Tichka closes for a few hours some winters
- Long deserted sections with no fuel, no services and no reception
- Where the road stops the dunes start; camps come by camel or 4x4
- Nights approach freezing in winter, which nobody packs for
Included in every booking
- The car, the driver, all fuel and every toll for the whole route
- The driver's own lodging and meals for as long as the trip lasts
- Collection at Marrakech, Fes, Ouarzazate or any point en route
- Real time at Ait Ben Haddou, the Todra Gorge and the Draa oases
- Cold water in the vehicle and sockets to charge from
