Terre des Étoiles

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars make me dream.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Let’s start with the bad news… there’s no internet. How are you going to cope without being able to upload your latest camel selfie to Facebook, or Instagram a photo of your #tagine, or tell your jealous friends that you just spent a night under the stars in a Moroccan tent? Don’t worry, I found it hard to comprehend too, but once I arrived, I realised that all my social-media bragging could wait until I got back home. I wasn’t going to let this once in a lifetime opportunity be interrupted, so I decided to embrace it and do that rare thing where you actually talk to people and appreciate the simple things in life instead of being glued to my devices 24/7.

The rest is good news. The beautifully decorated tents are the height of luxury and have all the amenities you need. Complete with king sized beds, private bathrooms and surrounded by deep silence, Terre Des Etoiles will provide you with unique memories to last you a lifetime. The hospitality is excellent, with friendly staff who are always there to make sure you feel completely relaxed and welcome.

To complete the setting, goats, rabbits and hens mooch around the garden, whose herbs and vegetables add exotic flavours to the tagine that cooks for hours on the kanoun, ready for tonight’s supper. Of course there is also a range of activities for you to discover outside of the establishment. Why not try hill walking, mountain biking, mule riding, camel trekking, or even go in a hot air balloon? Or if you simply can’t bear to leave the haven of peace, head over to our large Berber tent to read one of the many books available, or perhaps enjoy a leisurely game of chess.

Although the day time is fantastic, it’s at night when the desert truly starts to come alive. Terre Des Etoiles translates as ‘Land of Stars’ and you can see where they got the name from. With no pollution, the vast expanse of crystal-clear deep blue sky is covered with them. If you’re lucky, you might see shooting stars, meteor showers or supernovas. We just saw normal stars on a normal night in the desert, but for us city-born workaholics who had never done anything like this before; this was the most magical experience we could possibly imagine. This experience is why people travel. And this experience is one of many reasons for booking a few nights in the land of stars.

I must say, since this trip I’ve made a conscious effort to disconnect from our world which is slowly becoming overrun by technology. Sometimes it’s nice to sit back, put our daily worries into perspective and realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful, multicultural place. When people talk about ‘life-changing experiences’, we usually write them off as being clichés, but go to Morocco and you might start to think a little differently, if your adventure is anything like mine.