An absolutely great desert tour if you don’t have much time at hand and like to start and finish in Marrakech. This trip winds through some magical corners of Southern Morocco such as the High Atlas and the Draa Valley, you’ll get to view many typical Berber villages where time seem to stop centuries ago and visit the postcard perfect Ksar of Ait Benhadou featured on many brochures about Morocco.
Marrakech
This tour is accessible to all with no minimum age – though consider the driving distances for elderly and small children. This trip doesn’t run in summer months of July and August.
No special equipment needed. Though if you are traveling in summer please bring a hat, sunscreen lotion and sun glasses. For riding camels, longer pants are preferred than shorts/skirts and possibly light sport shoes/tennis rather than sandals that can slip.
Winter nights are cold! So warm jackets and even hats are great addition.
Remember sand gets everywhere so if you have some expensive equipment zip lock bags is to keep it safe from sand grains getting on it.
Your driver will collect you from your hotel or riad in Marrakech in the morning. We start traveling to the peaks of the High Atlas Mountains crossing them on our way to Ouarzazate. It is great drive with amazing views dotted by Berber villages. We will be traveling along the Ounila route of unparallel views visiting the Glaoui Kasbah of Telouet and later the famous UNESCO protected Ksar of Ait BenHaddou. Passing Ouarzazate travel along the baren gorges reaching the Draa palm groves spending the night in the Draa oasis.
Today’s drive will take us along the Draa Valley towards the principal town of Zagora. Here if you are interested possible stop in Amzrou to visit the ancient medina where once Jewish and Muslim worked and lived next to each other. There is a restored synagogue that could be visited. Then onto Tamengroute the famous green pottery center very well-known across entire Morocco. You can view the process of dishes being made here from mud on pottery wheels and burn in the earthy oven. Then as we start approaching Mhamid the last town of the area, the palm groves will be gone, and the road will dissolve into nothing. Here drive for about 2 hours off road till we reach the wilderness of the Erg Chigaga desert dunes.
Settle in your tents and then head off into the desert for your camel trek admiring the surrealistic desert landscape around you.
At nightfall we enjoy your dinner followed by campfire and drum music.
We recommend waking up early to the memorable sunrise. After breakfast we leave for Marrakech. We’ll keep going onto another off road this time taking us along the fata morgana lake of Iriquie to Foum Zquid. Here we meet with pave road and travel along the Anti Atlas Mountains to the Berber carpet capital of Morocco Taznakht. Little further the road we meet with the High Atlas Mountains crossing them back to Marrakech.
