Erg Chebbi · The Dunes Move East

The dunes of Erg Chebbi are over a hundred and fifty metres high — the most reachable sea of sand on the edge of the Sahara. The wind pushes them a little further east each year, so their shape keeps changing and yesterday’s route has to be drawn again today.

The Berbers of the desert have their own way of reading sand: the line of a dune ridge tells you the wind, its colour tells you the moisture, the stars tell you the direction. They say you should not take a map into the desert; take someone who knows it.

At night the desert is cold and the stars are unreasonable. When the wind stops, you can hear the sand moving.

Natural Mysteries / Merzouga · Morocco / Time immemorial