Sandboarding the Saharan Dunes - A Lazy Day on the Edge of Civilization - Merzouga, Morocco

Welcome back to my Moroccan adventure! Today was supposed to be the day I left the desert and headed back towards civilization, however, the universe had a different plan for me this day. After waking up early and waiting around for an hour, I was told that my bus had broken down on the road, and the next one wouldn’t be available until the following day. I didn’t plan to still be in Merzouga, but my new friends and I decided we would make the most of this unexpected change.

We didn’t really know what to do, so we just decided to stroll around town and see if we might find some inspiration. This shop nearby had a very friendly owner, who invited us inside to peruse his wares. Seeing as there wasn’t much else to do, we stopped in and looked around. The owner of the shop was especially affectionate with one of my female friends and offered to wrap her in a traditional Berber turban. As you can see below, he did a great job.

We joked that she should repay him by helping to sell some of the trinkets in front of the store. She put her heart into her work, but sadly, no one was interested.

All this perusing was working up quite the hunger in all of us, so we decided it was just about time for some lunch. A few of us wandered over to investigate the food situation at Snack Jawad, a small eatery across the road. At first, they seemed a bit apprehensive about us coming to eat there, but they let us sit down and check the menu. When the rest of our group came from across the road, they insisted that we go to their newer restaurant next door. The other location was more modern-looking and better suited for groups.

Wanting something easy and filling, my friend and I ordered the Moroccan lunchtime staple of French tacos, which were quite delicious.

After some brainstorming, one of our new desert friends mentioned seeing a snowboard at our guesthouse and suggested we trek up to one of the nearby sand dunes for a little sandboarding. We all agreed that this was the most fun option, so we went back to the guesthouse to see about borrowing the snowboard. When we got back to the guesthouse, the owner happily lent us the snowboard and even pointed us in the direction of the best spot to use it.

The dune he had pointed out was certainly the largest one in the nearby vicinity, and we really had no idea how strenuous it would be to walk up to the top until our group was stretched out across the massive dune. Being that I was eager and in good physical shape, I was one of the first to the top, however, much of the group struggled up the steep sun-baked dune, and it was a good 20 minutes before the group was whole again at the summit.

I had never sandboarded before, but I had snowboarded on a few occasions. It was fun riding down, but not as much fun walking back up. We joke about how they should install a lift to help some of the lazier people get back up to the top.

The view from the top of the dune was really quite amazing, with panoramic views of the vast sea of sand as far as the eye can see. We stayed there until sunset, lounging around and swapping funny stories about the beauty and unexpected nature of life.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my unanticipated final day in Merzouga. All photos were taken by me.

If you are interested in reading more about my time exploring Morocco, please consider taking a look at some of my other recent posts, including…

Following camels to a nearby salt flat and desert lake, which can be read here.
My camel ride into the Sahara, and camping with the Berbers, which can be found here.
Visiting a traditional Moroccan flea market in Fes, which you can read about here.

Have a wonderful day! :)