Living like a Berber in the Moroccan Sahara

Spending the night in the Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, was a unique experience and was the most awe-inspiring adventure of my stay in Morocco.

On a hot day, we set out to Merzouga, a small town located in the southeast of the country on the border with Algeria. We stayed at a lavish hotel, with large and beautiful swimming pools that starkly contrast the bareness of the sand dunes that surround it. But, for all the hotel’s amenities, I preferred the simplicity and quietness of the Berber camps in the middle of the desert.

We actually almost never made it to the Sahara because as we were about to mount our camels, a violent sandstorm, locally known as “haboob”, took us by surprise and forced us to remain inside. Thankfully, after a few hours, the storm waned and we were able to continue our journey through the dunes.

The Saharan weather was surprisingly pleasant in comparison to the high temperatures in Fez; I never thought I would ever see rain in the middle of the desert. As we slowly made our way to the Berber camp situated in an oasis behind the largest sand dunes of Morocco, we glimpsed at the sunset behind the dark clouds and talked with our guides about local customs and daily life in the desert.

The Berbers are quite proud to be the guardians of the Sahara. They number 13 to 20 million- i.e. between 40 and 60% of the Moroccan population- and speak a diversity of dialects, including Tamazight and Riif. Because of the rural and international exodus of the 20th century, many Berbers live in large cities or in Europe. Since the Berber culture precedes the Arab expansion in the regions, it is still attached to the traditional lifestyle and dialect. Preserving the fragile ecosystem of the Sahara remains one of the Berber’s greatest challenge, especially since the tourism surge in Morocco has led to the expansion of hotel complexes. Specialists cite over-urbanization and the mismanagement of garbage and water as the principal causes of pollution. In an effort to prevent the destruction of these beautiful sites and to promote ecotourism in Morocco, the Ministry of Tourism has laid out several objectives for sustainable tourism in 2020, including the enhancement of environmental regulations on accommodation and motorsports in the desert.

Even though the Berbers struggle to maintain a traditional lifestyle, they have adopted modern equipments such as ceramic toilets seats and solar-fueled electricity in order to make visits more comfortable to tourists. And we were all particularly amazed to see one of our guides answering his cell phone whilst sitting on the slope of a dune in the middle of the desert. According to an anthropologist from the University of Amsterdam, local populations have also changed their culinary and clothing habits because of mass modern tourism; they have internalized new “cultural heritage” into their own expression of their tradition, and adopted well-known dishes like the tajine or the recognizable blue garments, in order to keep up with tourists’ idea of Saharan culture.

Once we arrived to the Berber camps, our muscles were so sore from the uncomfortable two-hour camel ride that we could no longer walk properly. We were welcomed with mint tea and our hosts served us a simple but copious dinner.

After a short sleep, we woke up before dawn to ride back and admire the rising sun over the immensity of the desert...probably the greatest sight in all of Morocco.