Day 161 - Sahara Sunrise, Camel Highways and Marrakech Madness
The day started brutally early with a 4:30am wake-up call. We had to be packed, ready, and down for breakfast by 5am, with only until 5:30am to eat before heading to the camels for our Sahara sunrise ride.
In theory, easy. In reality, when you’ve got a desert camp housing a few hundred people, one coffee station, jam causing breakfast bottlenecks, roaming cats everywhere, and zero concept of orderly lines from some travellers, it was chaos waiting to happen.
Thankfully, we were organised and got down right on 5am, beating most of the rush. We ate quickly, dodged a few overly confident cats, and made our way to the camel line-up.
That’s where the real madness started.
Some people were unbelievably pushy, trying to cut in at breakfast and again at the camel queue. But eventually, we found our group, about 10 camels in total, and joined what can only be described as the world’s slowest moving traffic jam.
With hundreds of tourists all leaving camp at once, it was basically a camel highway through the Sahara.
And honestly… it was incredible.
Riding through the darkness as the first light slowly crept over the dunes was something special. Then, as the sun finally rose over the Sahara Desert near Merzouga, the whole landscape lit up in gold.
It was one of those moments that genuinely lives up to the hype.
Beautiful. Peaceful. Surreal.
Not long after sunrise, we made our way back to the van drop-off point on the edge of Merzouga, where the next challenge began… the massive drive back to Marrakech.
The return trip was long, broken up by roadside stops every few hours and another expensive lunch stop. But this was hands down the best food we’d had on the tour so far. At 110 Moroccan dollars each, including buffet and a drink, it still wasn’t cheap for a family, but at least this one felt worth it.
The only catch? Once again, we had about 40 minutes to eat.
The drive rolled on through the same dry plains and rocky landscapes until we hit the Atlas Mountains again, this time without the fog from our first crossing.
And wow. The views were absolutely stunning.
Massive mountain passes, winding roads, dramatic valleys… definitely one of the best parts of the journey.
Meanwhile, Emmett and Maddie had become the van’s social centre, entertaining a group of four young women and another guy for hours. Emmett, naturally, gave them his full autobiography, including the apparently very important detail of how much money he has in his bank account. No secrets there.
Then came Marrakech traffic. And things got wild.
At the first passenger drop-off, our van was sideswiped by an older driver who changed lanes without looking. Our tour guide launched out, gave the bloke a solid verbal spray, then immediately softened and handed him 100 Moroccan dollars because he felt bad about the damage to the old guy’s car. Van was fine.
Second stop? Pulled over, unloading bags, and a police officer cruised by snapping a photo to issue a ticket. Somehow, our guide sweet-talked his way out of that too.
Third stop? A narrow street standoff with an equally stubborn woman driver. Neither would budge. We’re talking about one centimetre from scratched paint.
By stop number four, our guide genuinely had to pull over for a cigarette just to reset himself. Honestly, by then, we all probably needed something to take the edge off.
Eventually, we made it to our new Marrakech accommodation. From the outside, it looked rough enough to raise questions… but inside, it was actually fantastic. Big win.
Only downside? Cats. Everywhere. This part of Marrakech seems completely overrun with them.
By this stage it was already 9pm, but luckily we found a cheap local spot nearby still serving food, grabbed a quick dinner, then headed back for showers and finally got the kids to bed around 10pm.
After a 4:30am start, camel convoys, a full day of driving, roadside chaos, Marrakech traffic near misses, and endless cats…
We are absolutely cooked.
Here’s hoping the kids sleep in tomorrow. Because I definitely plan to.