when the sun goes down

Merzouga (Erg Chebbi), Morocco

golden

Merzouga (Erg Chebbi), Morocco

that magical time of the day when the sand turns into many different hues of orange, red... a color difficult to describe...

 

camping among the dunes

Merzouga (Erg Chebbi), Morocco

camels and dunes

Merzouga (Erg Chebbi), Morocco

The picture speaks for itself...
 

silence

Erb Chebbi - Merzouga, Morocco

“...One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...” 

                                                           -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

sand as far as the horizon

Erb Chebbi - Merzouga, Morocco

“Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It’s a little lonely in the desert…” “It is lonely when you’re among people, too,” said the snake.”       

      

                                                      -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

a sea of sand

Erg Chebbi - Merzouga, Morocco

I wouldn't believe this picture to be real if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes!  Go to the top of the dune and look around; all you can see is a sea of sand for miles.  The wind whisks the sand around and forms an ever changing magical landscape.

It's Erg Chebbi (name of the area of sand dunes) in the Sahara Desert not far from the Algerian border.  It covers an area of approximately 50 kilometers north to south and 5-10 kilometers east to west.