M'Hamid

M'Hamid el Ghizlane — M'Hamid of the gazelles — is the last town on the N9 before the road gives way to sand. South of here, there is nothing but the Sahara and the Algerian border.

The town was the terminus of the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Traders from Timbuktu arrived here with gold, salt, and enslaved people. The weekly market on Mondays still draws nomadic families from the surrounding desert, though the caravans are gone.

M'Hamid is the starting point for desert excursions to Erg Chigaga — the largest sand sea in Morocco, a five-hour drive or two-day camel trek to the southwest. Erg Chigaga is wilder and emptier than Erg Chebbi at Merzouga. The dunes are taller. The camps are fewer. The silence is absolute.

The Draa River, which runs through the valley from Agdz to Zagora, has usually disappeared into the ground long before reaching M'Hamid. The palmery survives on wells and khettara. The heat in summer is severe.