Erg Chebbie Dunes

Sand sand and more sand
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From Meski we drove to the Erg Chebbie dunes near Merzouga. On the way we stopped at a fossil shop which had all manner of fossils and minerals to sell at fairly reasonable prices. We bought another piece of agate and bought Jay a piece of meteorite which was quite cool. They had loads of sinks and tables made out of fossils embedded in polished ‘marble’ – but a bit heavy for the truck!

We passed through Risani then over abut 10kms of rough track to get to the Auberge/Campsite. It was actually easier than I thought and we all made it without a tow from Ray (our tour leader). The auberge is like a small fortified building right on the edge of the dunes and we parked up on some hard sand areas which had been compacted by flood waters! Quite amazing to parked at the very edge of what becomes the Saharan desert.

Quite amazing to parked at the very edge of what becomes the Saharan desert.

Sunrise
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The dunes are really red and very spectacular, although it is not as dry as you think. While playing with Jay we found sand wet enough to build sand castles only 10cms under the ground. We were offered the chance to do a camel tour into the dunes to watch the sunrise the next morning. Jay and I had a practise run on the camel but it was too high and scary for him so Claire did this on her own (while I slept in). I walked up to some of the higher dunes the next morning and watched the sunrise myself.

One of the locals
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The night sky in the dunes is amazing and the number of stars is quite incredible. The sand is also incredible and gets into everything even though the grains feel quite large. The video camera was an early casualty so no more video for the trip :-(

The other thing you notice is how much life there is at the edge of the desert. Especially impressive are the Scarab beetles which scurry about all day leaving very distinctive tracks. Jay had lots of fun watching them eat small plants through my magnifying glass.

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Both Jay and Ella loved the dunes and Ella was especially fearless crawling down them and tumbling over then crawling some more. The only problem was the sand in her eyes, and mouth, and ears and nose… Will we ever get the sand out of the camping car?

Erg Chebbie is a fantastic place to visit and we could have easily spent a few more days there – but after a day and a half we were off.