After breakfast, departure to Ouarzazate, crossing many Berber villages through the beautiful landscapes of the Atlas mountains range. Cross the Tizi N’Tichka pass over 2000 m high. And start the descent towards the different pre-Sahara scenery of the Southern slopes.
After a coffee stop in Ouarzazate, continue to Zagora. Following – just after the rocky area leading to Agdz – the banks of the Draa River, where six palm forests form a long ribbon of greenery. Thanks to the river’s proximity, cereals, henna, vegetables, fruit and date palms are cultivated on the floor of the valley or on stepped terraces. Then the scenery becomes drier, and sand gets more and more appearing and here is Zagora, only 80 days – by camel – from Timbuktu!
Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
Morning departure To Erfoud, crossing the « regs » landscapes, typical of pre-Sahara landscapes, alternating dunes and rocky tables, crossing small Berber villages (stop for light lunch).
Upon arrival in Rissani, the cradle of the present reigning dynasty in Morocco, the Alaouits, See the outside of the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif and, time allowing, go inside the Abu Aam Ksar (fortified village).
Then on to Merzouga, in the dunes of Erg Chebi, for your first experience of a Bedouin bivouac overnight under the traditional tents, including dinner.
Enjoy a camel ride over Erg Chebbi dunes to watch a dramatic sunset before dinner.
Today you will drive along one of the most beautiful itineraries in the whole of Morocco, called “The 1000 Kasbahs Valley”. Up to Tinejdad, the landscape is still arid and punctured by the mounds of the old irrigation system of the “Khettaras”.
Then after Tinerhir, a former military outpost built on terraces above a magnificent palm grove and gateway to the incredible Todra Gorge with its 300m high cliffs, the desert and palm trees turn to flowers and orchards, first at El Kelaa des Mgouna where the speciality is the growing of the Damascus roses. The perfume PARIS, by Yves Saint Laurent, is made from the extract of these roses.
Stop for rose products such as water, body milk and dried petals. Then to Boulmane du Dades, a large town and local administration centre at the foot of the Dades Wadi gorge.
Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
After breakfast, leave Boumalne Dades to Ouarzazate, where you’ll visit Kasbah Taourirte.
20 km after Ouarzazate, stop for the visit of the Ksar Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO preserved site. This vast fortified village served as natural « décor » for the shooting of numerous Hollywood productions, like “Lawrence of Arabia “, “Romancing the Stone” with Mike Douglas or more recently “Prince of Persia, The Sands of Time“.
Time at leisure for lunch on site, back to Marrakech through the high Atlas Mountains.
