2 Days Merzouga Wildlife Tour: Fennec & Herpetological

After breakfast, set out across the Merzouga desert for a birding expedition. The dunes and surrounding plains are home to a remarkable variety of desert birds. You may spot different sandgrouse species such as crowned, spotted, and pin-tailed sandgrouse, as well as the African desert warbler, greater hoopoe lark, desert sparrow, desert lark, bar-tailed lark, black wheatear, and desert wheatear. With patience and luck, species like the African houbara, cream-colored courser, streaked scrub warbler, fulvous chatterer, trumpeter finch, Temminck’s lark, great grey shrike, and pharaoh eagle owl can also be observed. During the right season, flamingos may be seen at nearby desert lakes.

In the late afternoon, enjoy a two-hour quad excursion through the dunes in search of the desert’s most iconic inhabitant, the Fennec fox. As the sun sets, return for dinner before setting out again for a nocturnal wildlife safari. This adventure lasts several hours (3 - 4 Hours) and reveals the secret life of desert mammals and reptiles, including Egyptian jerboas, gerbils, sand rats, fat-tailed gerbils, and northern elegant geckos. With a bit of fortune, you may even encounter the elusive sand cat. Overnight stay in your desert accommodation.

After breakfast, the day is dedicated to reptiles and desert fauna. The herpetological tour introduces you to the Sahara’s unique species such as the desert monitor, horned viper, Cerastes vipera, sandfish, sand racer, Uromastyx, agamas, sand lizards, and desert scorpions. Each discovery reveals the adaptations that allow these animals to thrive in such extreme conditions.

Before sunset, another quad excursion takes you once again to the dunes to spot Fennec foxes at dusk. Overnight in the desert. The following morning, rise early, just before sunrise, for one last quad excursion to search for Fennecs in the golden light of dawn. After this magical encounter, return for breakfast at the hotel, where the tour concludes.