Erg Lihoudi

Erg Lihoudi lies about eight kilometres north-east of M'Hamid and is the accessible dune field of the lower Draa - reachable in half an hour by track, sometimes in an ordinary car, where Erg Chigaga further west takes two hours of hard piste or a long camel trek. The dunes are moderate, running to perhaps forty or fifty metres, with tamarisk and acacia in the hollows and a scatter of nomad tents nearby. Permanent camps operate at the edge, offering a night under canvas with dinner, drums and a camel ride out at sunset, which is the standard southern desert package and is done reasonably well here. The name is generally translated as the dune of the Jews and is associated with a Jewish community that lived in the Draa valley for a very long time before the mid-twentieth-century emigration. Chigaga is bigger and better if you have the day.

Highlights

• Accessible dunes - reachable in half an hour by track from M'Hamid.
• Forty to fifty metres - moderate sand with tamarisk and acacia in the hollows.
• Permanent camps - canvas, dinner and a sunset camel ride at the edge.
• A Draa Jewish name - associated with the valley's long-standing community.

When to go

October to April. Overnight, arriving for sunset.

Good to know

It is smaller than Chigaga and closer to the road, which shows. Camp quality varies widely - book through a known operator. Litter around the camps is a recurring problem. Summer heat here is dangerous.

Nearby

M'Hamid is south-west; Erg Chigaga is a long piste further west.