Dar Sidi Bounou welcomes you in Sahara

Dar Sidi Bounou Guest House is located in a beautiful shady palmerie garden right on the edge of the Moroccan Sahara Desert. You do not have to travel a long way in a 4×4 to get to the desert – it is right here in Bounou.

If you go into our back garden there are undulating small dunes to relax on. If you walk for five minutes beyond the garden there are much bigger dunes to climb where you can watch the sunrise or sunset. Making a walking excursion of about forty minutes from Dar Sidi Bounou into the surrounding palmerie habitation, you can arrive at the spectacular Bounou Kasbah, the Draa Valley’s most ancient Berber Kasbah, or at the vibrant Kasbah Village of Ouled Driss.  On the way, you would probably meet some of the traditionally dressed local inhabitants and see an ancient way of rural life that has survived with few concessions to Western modernity.

If you have a taste for adventure and would like to see some vast open spaces with wind sculpted dunes and infinite skies and to experience the true wild nature of the desert, you can make an Excursion With Camels and local guides direct from Dar Sidi Bounou to some very special places with comfortable bivouacs which have simple beds and basic washing facilities – off the beaten track and peaceful – because these quiet places are not in the guide books. Dar Sidi Bounou excursions are arranged to suit you and your party, your interests, capabilities and timing. You will not be a part of a noisy group of tourists. These less strenuous excursions are suitable for families with young children and people who appreciate their creature comforts.

For those of a more adventurous nature, there is wild camping.  Extra camels carry everything: tents, bedding, cooking equipment, water, etc. and you ride or walk when you wish. This is a fairly strenuous activity suited to the fitter and more experienced traveller. The guides do all the setting up: light the fire and prepare tea, make supper and play music while you watch the sunset and the first stars. These special excursions can be just overnight, returning to Dar Sidi Bounou after breakfast, or for as many days as you wish, going on quietly, with just the sounds of nature, to even more remote areas. These excursions are designed exclusively to suit your own particular individual requirements. The specialist Guides are very experienced and will do everything possible to make your excursion a wonderful and safe adventure, however you are reminded that you are at the mercy of the sometimes harsh Saharan climate, which may include surviving wind, sand and sudden thunderstorms… as well as putting up with less comfort than you would have in a bivouac.

If you want to travel farther and faster to places like the popular Erg Chegaga, which is in all the guide books, with its much visited big dunes or the archaeologically fascinating  Tidri area, we can arrange trips by 4×4 for a few hours, overnight or longer.