Walking the dune ridge before sunrise

The dunes of Erg Chebbi rise out of the flat stony desert near Merzouga like a wave that forgot to break. Some of them are more than 150 metres tall, and in the hour before sunrise they change colour almost minute by minute, from grey to violet to a deep burnt orange.

I stayed two nights at a small camp run by a Berber family who have guided travellers here for three generations. On the first evening their youngest son, Youssef, pointed at the tallest ridge behind the tents and told me that if I wanted the light, I would need to be on top of it before the call to prayer drifted over from the village.

Climbing in the dark

Walking up a dune is like climbing a staircase that keeps sliding away beneath you. I left at half past four with a head torch, a single camera and a 24–70mm lens, following the crest because the sand there is firmest. It took nearly an hour to reach the top, and I arrived out of breath and covered in sand just as the eastern sky began to glow.

The photograph here is the view back along the route I had just climbed. My footprints ran along the knife edge of the ridge, catching the first warm light while the shaded side stayed cool and red. I took perhaps a dozen frames before the sun cleared the horizon and the contrast went flat.

By noon the wind had erased every footprint. The only record that I had been there was the picture.

Practical notes for photographers

• Bring a plastic bag or rain cover for your camera. Fine sand gets everywhere, especially into zoom lenses.
• Change lenses inside the tent, never out on the dunes.
• Walk on the ridgelines rather than the faces, for easier climbing and cleaner frames.
• Ask your camp to wake you. They know exactly when the light arrives.

Erg Chebbi is easy to reach from Fes or Marrakech, but give it more than one night. The desert needs time to stop feeling like a destination and start feeling like a place.