Nomad Family & Khamlia Gnawa Music

Overview

A shorter, slower way to meet the people of the desert. We drive out to a nomad family who live with their animals near the dunes, sit in their tent for tea and freshly baked bread, and talk (with your guide translating) about life on the move.

Then on to Khamlia, a small village whose Gnawa musicians play hypnotic rhythms with drums and metal castanets called qraqeb. The music came here with people from sub-Saharan Africa centuries ago and is still played in family houses today.

Highlights

• Tea and bread with a nomad family
• Gnawa music in a Khamlia family house
• A walk through the village
• Short, easy and relaxed
• Your guide translates everything

Step by step

1. Nomad family

   Leave Merzouga around 9:00 or 14:00. About 30 minutes by 4x4 to a nomad family's tent for tea and conversation.

2. Khamlia

   Drive to Khamlia to listen to Gnawa music, then walk through the village with your guide.

3. Back to Merzouga

   Return to your hotel about four hours after leaving.

Two ways of life at the edge of the dunes

Merzouga is best known for its sand, but the people who live around Erg Chebbi are just as fascinating. This half-day tour brings you to two of them. First, a nomad family who still live much of the year in a tent, moving with their goats and camels in search of grazing. Then Khamlia, a village of Gnawa families whose ancestors came from West Africa centuries ago and whose music is now famous all over Morocco.

It's an easy, slow-paced outing: a short drive, a long glass of tea, conversation through your guide, then music. No early start, no long ride, and plenty of time to ask questions.

Visiting the nomad family

The family lives in a tent of woven goat hair, low and wide, with rugs on the ground and everything they own within reach. You'll be invited in for mint tea, the ritual of welcome all over Morocco, poured from high above the glass to make it foam. If bread is being baked, you may see it cooked in the hot sand under the ashes of the fire.

Through your guide you can ask about their life: how they move, where they find water, how the children go to school, how the climate has changed. Families are proud and hospitable, and the visit is a genuine meeting, not a show. They usually welcome a small practical gift; your guide will suggest something.

• Dress modestly: shoulders and knees covered
• Ask before photographing people, especially women and children
• Accept the tea: refusing is impolite, and three glasses are traditional
• Take your shoes off before stepping on the rugs

The Gnawa of Khamlia

The Gnawa are descendants of people brought across the Sahara, many of them enslaved, from the lands south of the desert. Over the centuries they built a culture of their own, with Islamic and African roots, and a music that is both spiritual and joyful. Its instruments are the guembri, a deep three-stringed bass lute, the qraqeb, heavy iron castanets, and drums.

In Khamlia, musicians play for visitors in their own house, dressed in white with colourful hats. The rhythm builds slowly until it fills the room, and you'll probably be invited to dance. It's customary to leave a contribution for the musicians or buy a CD of their music; your guide will tell you what is usual.

Walking through Khamlia

After the music, your guide walks you through the village: earthen houses, small gardens watered by channels from the wells, children playing in the lanes. Khamlia is small and quiet, and you'll see how life works in a desert village, from the bread ovens to the mosque.

If you're interested, we can stop at a local cooperative or a small shop selling local crafts, but there is never any pressure to buy.

Morning or afternoon?

We run this tour at about 9:00 or about 14:00. In summer the morning is more comfortable, and in winter the afternoon light is lovely. The afternoon tour ends in time for you to join a sunset camel ride or our sunset trek to camp, which makes a perfect day.

The 4x4 is private and air-conditioned. Parts of the route are on desert tracks, so expect a few bumps, but the drives are short: about 30 minutes to the nomad family and 15 more to Khamlia.

Is this the right tour for you?

Choose this tour if you're interested in people and culture, have half a day in Merzouga, or are travelling with children who enjoy music and animals more than long drives. If you have a full day, the 4x4 tour around Erg Chebbi includes these two stops and adds the seasonal lake, fossils and Rissani market.

Families love this tour. Children usually make friends with the nomad children within minutes, and the drums in Khamlia are a big hit. We can shorten the visit if little ones get tired.

Responsible visits

Tourism is an important source of income for both the nomad families and the Gnawa musicians of Khamlia, but it only works if visits are respectful and fair. We visit families we know, keep groups small, and make sure the people you meet are paid for their time and hospitality.

If you'd like to support the community further, buy music directly from the Gnawa musicians, or crafts from village cooperatives. Your guide is happy to explain how.

Who the nomads of Erg Chebbi are

The nomads around Merzouga are mostly Amazigh (Berber) families of the Aït Khebbach and neighbouring tribes, who for centuries moved between the desert and the mountains with their herds. Over the last decades many have settled in the villages, but some still spend much of the year in tents, following the rain and the grazing for their goats, sheep and camels.

Their life is simple and hard: water comes from wells, cooking is on a fire, and the tent is moved several times a year. Conversations with them often turn to the weather, the drought of recent years, and the children's schooling, and to the ways their lives are changing.

What Gnawa music sounds like

The heart of Gnawa music is the guembri, a long-necked lute with a camel-skin body and three gut strings, which plays deep, repeating bass lines. Over it, the qraqeb, pairs of heavy iron castanets, keep up a fast, metallic rhythm, and the singers answer the lead voice in call and response. The effect is hypnotic: the music is traditionally played at all-night ceremonies called lila, where it is meant to lead the listeners into trance.

In Khamlia you'll hear a lighter, welcoming version, with drums and dancing, often finishing with an invitation to join in. Many guests buy a recording so they can take the sound home.

Practical details

The tour takes about four hours, with pick-up and drop-off at your hotel in Merzouga or Hassilabied. Bring sunglasses, a hat, water, and some cash in dirhams for the musicians and any crafts you'd like to buy. Wear modest clothes, covering shoulders and knees, for the visits.

The 4x4 is private and air-conditioned, and the drives are short. If you'd like to add a camel ride, a visit to Rissani or the seasonal lake, ask us and we'll extend the tour or suggest the full-day 4x4 tour instead.

Best time to go

Any month works in Merzouga. Spring (March to May) and autumn (October and November) are the most comfortable. In summer we start camel rides late in the afternoon and quad rides early in the morning, and in winter the evenings are cold, so bring a warm layer. Use the month guide and live weather on our home page to see what to expect.

Photos

What guests said

Questions about this tour