Morocco Sahara Microlight Flight

Merzouga, Morocco · Morocco

Easy7 daysAfrica~£700 est.

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Overview

Erg Chebbi is the Sahara of the imagination made conveniently compact: a 22 km sea of apricot dunes rising 150 m from black hamada plain, right on Merzouga's doorstep. Seeing it from the air at dawn is the trip's whole argument — microlight and, seasonally, balloon flights lift off in the cold stillness before sunrise, and the first light rakes across the crests, turning the erg into a graph of pure shadow and gold. Flights are small-operator affairs arranged through the auberges, weather-dependent and paid in cash dirhams, so hold the plan loosely and allow a spare morning. The next day, do it again at ground level: a camel caravan out to a Berber camp among the dunes, mint tea by the fire, and a night sky the nearest streetlight cannot touch — Merzouga has some of the darkest usable skies in North Africa. October to April is the season; summer is dangerously hot, and even winter dawns need a down jacket aloft. Around £700 for a week including the flight, camel trek and desert camp, plus the long, spectacular drive in from Ouarzazate or Fes.