GIANT MOREEB DUNE

Literally translated from Tel Moreeb: "The hill of horror"! The "supernova of the desert", in a format comparable to Namibia's belles (300 m, 50% gradient). Far from the only one, of course, but Moreeb has the good taste of being accessible by normal car via tarmac on a road between the ochre dunes. The scenery is sublime, and the drive alone will leave you breathless. But we recommend that you go during the week, as it's very busy on some weekends, which detracts from the charm of the excursion. On arrival, a gigantic basin is surrounded by dunes of varying heights and colors, with parking and camping sites. With a suitable vehicle, you can leave the tarmac for a driving session on hard, practical terrain at the foot of the first relief. We strongly advise against coming at the sun's zenith, to avoid rapid neuronic fission, but rather in the late afternoon, when the desert takes on exceptional colors. The most courageous will climb the dune to enjoy an exceptional view of the sand mountains. On the access road, having counted 15.8 km from the junction with the main road, you can turn left onto the run-off track towards the valley floor. This is a more leisurely route, but off-roading is essential. If you don't have the courage to go all the way, stopping off on this road through the dunes to catch a glimpse of the sunset is just as beautiful! Every February, the Liwa Festival takes place on the giant dune, where the motor sports section is held on motorcycles, 4x4s and quads. If you're not afraid of decibels in the middle of the desert, then head to the bottom of the dune for the show.

"The desert is beautiful, doesn't lie, it's clean", wrote Théodore Monod, and Wilfred Thesiger did not deny this in his description of the approach to Al Jiwa (Liwa) in March 1948: "We reached a series of chains of dunes : seen from the west, each appeared in turn as an undulating, silvery-blue wall, about a metre high, running north and south along an orange-red ridge nearly two kilometers wide. Their farthest slopes fell abruptly into a jumble of various cavities. Gradually, they grew larger, more complicated, turning into rounded hills and chains of higher, but uniform, dunes, flanked by giant potholes and crescent-shaped hollows."