Travel shallow
Loads stay below 18 kg per walker; every third ridge is skirted, never crowned, to keep ankles cool and morale intact.
N 24° 19.4′ · E 11° 42.8′ Permit window 09 Jul-02 Aug 2026
The Singing Erg
A desert expedition bureau for a sea of dunes: eight routes, two buried wells, one acoustic basin, and a sky you steer by hand.
- Surface
- 54°C sand skin
- Cache
- Blue tarp K-17 sealed
- Signal
- 3 radio checks left
- Lead guide
- Samira Qadir
- Last well
- Hassi Qamar · 41 km
- Wind
- ENE 22 kt
- Sand song
- 82 Hz basin tone
Bureau ledger 07
The bureau measures emptiness as a working material.
The Singing Erg occupies a wind-fed dune sea between the black hammada of Tazrout and the old caravan salt road. We do not sell conquest. We sell disciplined passage: route permits, water arithmetic, night bearings, and a promise that no party crosses the acoustic basin without first learning how sand can sound like a distant engine.
Desk open04:10before first ridge shadow
Parties out0638 walkers under permit
Silence zone2.7 kmcamel bells bagged at Basin M-3
Spend shade
At noon the bureau buys time with awnings, wet cloth, and silence. A 24-minute halt can save a liter after sunset.
Hear the slope
A booming slip face means grains are dry, round, and moving together. Guides stop the column before the dune starts singing underfoot.
Leave a bearing
Every camp records a star line, a cairn shadow, and a radio check. Navigation is redundancy, not romance.
Expedition routes
Four crossings currently approved by the desk.
All route windows assume a six-person party, two guides, one water master, and no animal traffic in the acoustic basin.
Sidi Aql Traverse
Classic west-to-east crossing: ochre shield dunes, a dry lake glittering with mica, and a final night under the Qamar escarpment.
Best taken when noon glare is hard enough to erase footprints by the second watch.
- Distance
- 118 km
- Bearing
- 084°
- Water
- 46 L/person
Khamsin Hook
Shorter, harsher, louder. This route clips the singing basin at dusk when the slip faces cool and the boom becomes measurable.
Acoustic permit required: no metal cups, no animal bells, no ridge-top cheering after 19:40.
- Distance
- 74 km
- Bearing
- 119°
- Water
- 34 L/person
Tin Merzouga Quiet
A wide northern arc for botanists and meteorite hunters. Few dramatic ridges, many cold dawns, excellent horizon discipline.
Carries a second black-lamp kit for basalt scatter and late-night chondrite searches.
- Distance
- 146 km
- Bearing
- 061°
- Water
- 57 L/person
Salt Road Return
Follows erased caravan stakes, crossing two navigation dead zones where compasses wander near iron-black basalt plates.
The return line is approved only with a star witness and a shadow compass in the lead pouch.
- Distance
- 93 km
- Bearing
- 272°
- Water
- 39 L/person
Water discipline table
The desert accepts only exact arithmetic.
Issued by water master Ilyas Verne after the 2025 Qamar incident; every liter is counted twice and spoken aloud.
Evaporation loss0.42 L/hr
Cask sealRed wax 11
Abort trigger2 failed pulses
| Watch | Allocation | Salt | Method | Failure rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-dawn march | 1.2 L | 0.7 g | Sip every 18 minutes, no full stops before first shadow. | If urine darkens twice, party halts 40 minutes. |
| Noon shade | 0.8 L | 1.1 g | Wet scarf, boots loosened, pulse checked in pairs. | Awnings remain up until skin temperature falls. |
| Dusk traverse | 1.6 L | 0.5 g | Walk long shadows; refill mouth before ridge climbs. | No one crests alone; the water master leads. |
| Star watch | 0.6 L | 0 g | Tea is logged as water, not morale. | If dew cloths yield under 120 ml, morning route shortens. |
| Sealed reserve | 6.0 L | 2.0 g | Carried in red casks under guide seal. | Opening one cask cancels the planned summit day. |
Acoustics note
Why a dune sings when the grains fall together.
The basin’s voice appears only after three dry days and a wind from ENE to ESE. The upper slip face avalanches as a sheet: rounded grains, each roughly 210 microns, lock into a shared rhythm. The dune body becomes a resonant chamber and throws a low note across the basin.
Dominant tone82 Hz
Measured band74-92 Hz
Safe distance310 m from toe
Step lightly below 70 Hz
Stop column above 86 Hz
Mark toe with blue ash
Field resonator · M-3
Hz
Press + drag to sound the slip faceStable basin tone
Night navigation
Star bearings for a horizon with no landmarks.
When the radio sleeps, the bureau runs a double entry: one compass line, one star line, one skeptical witness.
Polaris spine
Set the left shoulder to Polaris and keep the ridge noise centered; use when the north wind scrubs footprints.
Altair ladder
Three bright steps clear the eastern lip after 22:10; the line points toward the buried marker at Tin Sefra.
Fomalhaut return
Used for retreat from the acoustic basin. If the star dims in dust, stop instead of guessing the valley floor.
False lamps logged3
Compass drift−4.8°
Witness callNasira / Oren
Camp shadow0.9 m at 23:10
Field notices
Recent desk entries from the dune sea.
Blue tarp cache at Marker K-17 confirmed intact; scorpion shade under north stone, do not lift bare-handed.
Khamsin Hook party reported basin tone at 79 Hz, then 84 Hz after a ten-minute sheet slide. No foot traffic on slip face.
Heat shimmer erased Qamar escarpment for 31 minutes. Guides switched to shadow compass and delayed crest crossing.
Star watch counted eight Perseid precursors, one false lamp, and a camel bell heard from the old salt road.