Desert Safari: Marrakech and Desert Trails 4WD

early morning from your riad/hotel in Marrakech and travel through the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi ´n´Tichka Pass (2260 m) - the highest road pass in Morocco offering spectacular panoramic views of the mountains and valleys. As the road winds its way up the mountains you are afforded the most beautiful landscapes with different colours and many amazing adobe Berber villages along the way. We will be visiting several incredibly spectacular Kasbahs along the way, including Tamnougalt. The trip continues through the verdant palm-lined Draa river valley where delicious dates are grown. Arrival in Zagora. Dinner and night in a Riad.

After the breakfast, we will have enough time to visit Zagora and its surroundings especially the Jewish quarter in Amzerou and the palm groves. Afterwards, we continue our trip towards M´hamid; the doorway to the Sahara Desert. Along the way we stop in Tamagroute, the original town of the 16th century Saadian dynasty, to visit an old Koranic library and a subterranean Kasbah. We arrive in M’hamid where the Draa Valley disappears into the endless desert sands along with the tarred road, here too it seems that civilization ends. Lunch will be a desert picnic. From here you start the Nomadic way of life by riding the camels off into the descending sunset to the spectacular Erg Chegaga dunes and travel along the desert with its different facets of life and also diverse components. Dinner and night will be enjoyed under the nomad tent or under the starlit sky in the midst of wondrous sand dunes.

After enjoying the sunrise up on the sand dunes, breakfast is served to you, then it´s departure time in 4x4 vehicles via the old Paris-Dakar road to Foum Zguid, crossing the dry salt lake of Iriqui. Lunch will be in the Berber village of Taznakht. Arrival in the small town of Ait Benhaddou. A 16th century UNESCO world heritage site, Ait Benhaddou is one of the best preserved and most spectacular kasbahs in Morocco. A famous location for sets in many blockbuster Hollywood films, Ait Benhaddou was used for the well-known film of 2000, The Gladiator, The Mummy, Kingdom Of Heaven, Prince of Persia and many more over the last century. There are 8 or 9 Berber families still living in the fortress village and you are welcome to visit to see their way of life. Tonight we stay in a hotel and have dinner in the town nearby.

After the breakfast we have an hour to visit the site of Ksar Ait Benhaddou. From here we continue our journey of discovery along the Ounila Valley to Kasbah Telouet, a palace of the Pacha of Marrakech and a testament to the myriad of gifted artisans in the region. From here we will cross the majestic High Atlas Mountains, over the high pass of Tizi´n´Tichka and down to the plains of Marrakech. The descent offers a colourful and exceptional panorama of the area of flat ground of the Haouz. We arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon and it´s the end of our wonderful tour of discovering Morocco.