Marrakech – Boumalne Dades

Early in the morning, pick up from Marrakech and drive through the beautiful views of the High Atlas Mountains, offering an exhilarating ride through lush valleys and traditional Berber villages.

Arrival at the fortified village of Aït Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This village is a living museum including a Ksar and has been used as a backdrop in many international movies.

After lunch, departure to the Hollywood of Africa, Ouarzazate. Before you reach it, the Dades River winds through a lush valley, dotted with ruined kasbahs and surrounded by the most unusual rock formations and cliffs.

Overnight at the hotel, dinner and breakfast.

Boumalne Dades - Zagora - M'hamid

After breakfast at the hotel, you leave with a driver from Boumalne Dades to follow the Dades Gorge, a striking natural canyon carved out of the Atlas Mountains by the Dades River.

After lunch, the trip continues south to reach the beautiful Draa Valley with its vast palm trees and old villages.

You will stop for lunch in Zagora, the current administrative centre of the region, and from where the trade caravans used to leave for Tombouctou on a long journey that took 52 days.

Your journey then continues to the authentic village of Tamegroute with its library, pottery factory and underground Kasbah.

Continue to M'hamid, at the end of the tarmac road to reach your desert camp in time for the sunset over the dunes.

Have an evening meal, then enjoy a heavenly night in a tent.

M’hamid - Chigaga

After enjoying a picturesque sunrise over the beautiful dunes, you will have breakfast at the camp.

Then we drive two hours off road to reach the beautiful Erg Chigaga desert. This route passes through various "erg" (dunes), "Hamada" (stone desert) oases, and through the rocky desert to the magnificent Erg Chigaga desert.

These dunes are far from civilisation, in the desert itself. You will stop to enjoy the sacred oases and have lunch in the shade of the palm trees.

Then you will continue to Erg Chigaga where you will have the pleasure to ride a camel for about 1 hour.

There you will enjoy the sunset and the silence of the Sahara desert.

After a wonderful dinner, we will gather around the fire and enjoy the desert night with traditional Berber drums.

You will then spend the night in tents.

As an optional extra, you can sleep in tents with private bathrooms and hot showers.

Erg Chigaga - Haut Atlas

As on the previous day, you will enjoy the sunrise while having breakfast at the camp.

Then we start our day with a drive on the old Paris-Dakar race road.

We will stop at the dry lake of Iriki.

Lunch will be taken in Foum Zguid, the first village after the desert.

From here the road heads north along cobbled roads and stunning rock formations to the small town of Taznakht, famous for its Berber carpets.

Afterwards, you will continue to the High Atlas where you will spend the night in a guesthouse.

Haut Atlas - Marrakech

After breakfast, we drive along the beautiful and awe-inspiring Ounila Valley, full of bends in the roads, surprises at the hues of the rock and soil, Berber villages and gardens, as well as smeller Kasbahs.

Almost at the end of the Ounila River, you reach Telouet Kasbah, which belonged to the lords of the atlas, the Glaoui family.

Each annex is now in ruins, exposed to the elements, having been abandoned and looted after the last pasha fled after the French left in 1956. Expect to be pleasantly surprised by the traditional interior decoration as we reach the farest end of the Kasbah.

At the end of afternoon, after crossing the Tichka Pass, we arrive in Marrakech to complete our 5 day trip to Morocco.