Erg Chegaga

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Erg Chegaga sand desert
Erg Chegaga sand desert

The Erg Chegaga (also Erg Chigaga , Arabic عرق شقاق) is - even before the Erg Chebbi near Merzouga - the largest sandy desert ( Erg ) in Morocco .

location

The approximately 150 km² area of ​​the maximum 80 to 100 m high sand dunes of Erg Chegaga is located about 50 km west of M'hamid El Ghizlane and about 50 km southeast of Foum Zguid not far from the not exactly defined but fortified border with a fence to Algeria . The deserted region can be reached the quickest with an all-terrain vehicle , with a camel and accompanied by a local guide.

tourism

The sandy desert of Erg Chegaga is much more pristine than that of Erg Chebbi. Since it was in a military exclusion zone until around 1990, it was rarely visited by tourists. Tours and guides can be booked in the villages of M'hamid and Foum Zguid with local operators or in the west, who then work with Moroccan guides, camel drivers and companions. Most of the time, cool nights are planned in a tent camp or in a sleeping bag under the open sky. A crossing of the dried up Wadi Draa and a trip to the nearby sacred oasis of Oum Lâalag are possible. October to March is the suitable travel time, in the summer months June to August there are usually no tours offered due to the great heat of the day in the desert.

Web links

Commons : Erg Chegaga  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Information on M'hamid and Erg Chegaga from Edith Kohlbach

Coordinates: 29 ° 49 ′ 40 ″  N , 6 ° 15 ′ 0 ″  W.