Erg Chebbi

Merzouga desert

By Francisco Morais

March 11^th, 2020

The journey began in Marrakesh, crossing the Atlas Mountains by bus through long hours on the road. The landscape shifted gradually: from green mountains to arid plateaus, until the horizon opened into endless sand dunes. By the end of the day, we reached Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga. The night was spent in a Berber tent, under a sky free of artificial light, where the desert’s silence blended with the distant sound of the wind.

The desert rises in shifting forms, where the wind redraws the landscape every hour. The fine sand dunes stretch endlessly, in a silence broken only by the movement of light. The slow rhythm of caravans marks the passage through the desert. Between measured steps and endless horizons, the crossing recalls ancient routes that once linked the Maghreb to the Sahara..

When the sun sets, the desert reveals another dimension. The sky, free from artificial light, turns into a map of stars, and silence becomes absolute.