Culture · 8 min read
Seven kilometres south of Merzouga, past the end of the tarmac, is Khamlia — a small village whose families descend from sub-Saharan Africans brought north across the desert centuries ago. What they kept is the music, and hearing it in the room it belongs to is very different from hearing it on a festival stage.
The Gnawa of Khamlia trace their ancestry to Mali, Sudan and the Sahel, brought north along the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Their music fuses West African rhythm with Moroccan Sufi practice — it was, and for some still is, a healing ceremony rather than entertainment.
The village itself is modest: low ochre houses, a dusty square, a school and a couple of association houses where the groups play.
The core instruments are the guembri, a three-stringed bass lute with a camel-skin face, and the qraqeb, heavy iron castanets that lock into a rolling, hypnotic pattern. The singing is call and response and can run for a very long time.
Sessions last around thirty to forty minutes. You sit on the carpet, tea appears, and by the end most people are clapping whether they meant to or not.
Groups play through the day for visitors, most reliably late morning and late afternoon. There is no fixed ticket: you are expected to leave a donation, and 50 to 100 dirhams per person is normal and genuinely appreciated.
Buying a CD from the group is the other thing that helps, and it is better money for them than a marketplace commission.
Khamlia sits on the same southern route as the nomad camps and the black volcanic desert at Mifis, which is why our half-day buggy and quad combo strings all three together.
It is also an easy add-on to the two-hour exploration if you say so when you book. The drive from Merzouga is under fifteen minutes by buggy on the desert track.
Ask before you film. Some pieces are ceremonial and the group will tell you which. Dress modestly, take your shoes off if the room does, and stay for the whole session rather than filming two minutes and leaving — that is the part the musicians notice.
Frequently asked questions
Gnawa music. The village's families descend from sub-Saharan Africans brought north on the caravan routes, and the groups there still play the tradition daily.
About 7 km south — under fifteen minutes by buggy on the desert track.
There is no ticket. A donation of 50 to 100 dirhams per person is normal, and buying a CD from the group helps more.
Yes — it is part of our half-day buggy and quad combo and can be added to the two-hour exploration on request.
Send us your date and group size on WhatsApp. We usually reply within a few minutes.
