>>> We were actually looking for the more arabian style tents.

Perhaps you are refering to the light-coloured (canvas) 'raïma' tents commonly found in Mori. We slept in one on a fly-in tour we did there once and have seen many more since: 4 corner poles sunk deep to sand (no guys) and a central pole, with over-long side sheets which you kicked sand over with sand like a snow valance or roll up to get a daytime breeze through. And a roof covered in colourful Senegalese patterned cloth.

I asked for the price of one of these (in Atar) but it was 100s of pounds and a bit bigger than I would choose. Price seemed plausible as they were huge hand-made items that last a lifetime or maybe longer with a bit of patching. Would have been nice to buy local but in the end I cut one out myself from John Lewis material dept (using old Sen' cloth I had lying around) and got it sewed for 200 quid, making mods on the design to put it up easier (short corner poles on guys (not buried) so it could stand on hard gravel, etc) - handy for quick lunch shade/repairs. Used it on bike tours (and filming when parked up a few days) - very handy spacious and communal shade/shelter - plan to use it again on upcoming trips. 5 x 3 m, 1-2m high, weighs about 15kg, sleeps up to 8.

Hope this helps.

I have a feeling the huge black goat hair tents you see in Mk would be very heavy and take a while to get up - more for transhumance than camping, IMO.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail