Moroccan Desert Adventure

On this Morocco tour, you’ll have the day today to arrive to Marrakesh, where we’ll pick you up from the hotel and take you to the hotel. Depending on the time when you arrive, you could potentially spend some time in the marvellous Marrakesh today.

Tips to travel to Marrakesh

Our Berber friends will pick us at the Airport to take us directly to the High Atlas mountains, crossing the mountain pass Tizi N’Tichka, stopping in the most picturesque points to take panoramic pictures of Berber villages that are surrounded by mountains. Ait Ben Haddou is a “must see” stop when descending. It is a fortified village where we will visit its famous Kasbah, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. After a lunch in the village, we will keep on going in the direction of Ouarzazate, which is considered the great gate of the desert and the place where many expeditions start. Afterwards we will depart towards Valley of Roses, passing huge date – growing palm trees. We will have dinner and a night in the Dades Gorge.

Did you know that…

-The word Marrakesh actually means “the land of God” in Bereber. This city is between the desert and the summit of High Atlas

-The legendary land of the 1000 moroccan kasbahs can be seen from the south of High  Atlas. The kasbahs, or fortresses, are built for defensive purposes

– Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou are also known as “the door of the desert” due to their picturesque character. Many well-known movies such as Gladiator, The Jewel of the Nile, and Sahara were shot here

After the breakfast we will visit a climber’s paradise: Gorges of Todra.  The channel of river Todra has formed a gorge with enormous vertical walls of great beauty: walking between this natural wonder will make you feel tiny! We will stop for an included lunch in a typical Moroccan restaurant and then we continue towards the impressive dunes of Merzouga. Once in Merzouga, after trying the once in a lifetime experience of sandboarding and being offered a a cup of tea, we will hop on our charming friends the camels  who will carry us for an hour and a half to the nomadic campsite called Haimas. Before a dinner celebrating the occasion, we’ll head up the dune and enjoy the peace and quiet that the night offers us. We’ll sleep in the Haima under a blanket of stars in the heart of the desert.

Did you know that…

– The Throat of Dades gets its name from the river that passes through it

– It’s an enormous throat or gap that extends many kilometers above sea level

– It is also known as the “Route of the 1000 Kashbahs”, showing the importance of this place

– Rissani is famous for its market. Locals initiated the market centuries ago and it still opens now on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays

– Rissani was the commercial center of the country in the 14^th century and this tradition still stands

–  Even though Merzouga is in the middle of the desert, it is still full of tourism so you will be able to find every type of hotel and activity you could want!

We will wake up early to see the sun rising over the dunes. We will get back to the hotel via our friends the dromedaries to take a relaxing shower and have a comforting breakfast. We will depart towards the Draa Valley, which has over 10 million palm trees. We’ll head back over the high Atlas mountains once again, and make way for marrakesh. We’ll arrive around 20.00.

Did you know that…

– Sand dunes only exist in some places on earth, and only in tropical areas, and these areas are names Erg in Morocco

– The dunes are a result of the ‘weathering’ of the rocks which are broken by high temperatures to be turned into sand, which later the wind accumulates in specific areas to form dunes

– The Erg Chebbi is the biggest ERG of sand in Morocco, which is around 30 km in length and 8 in width. Inside the dune areas there is a number of collections of Haimas belonging to hostels which are open to tourist visits.

After having a big breakfast, we will have a guided tour of Marrakesh, the pearl of southern Morocco. We will visint the reservoir of Menara, the palaces of El Badi and La Bahia, the Saadian tombs and many other hidden treasures of this city.

The time of your transfer to the airport will depend on the time of your flight!

All good things must come to an end, and so the time has come when we must say goodbye to this incredible trip…safe travels!