Main Info
Begin your Sahara excursion to Zagora with a pick up from your accommodation in Marrakech at 8 AM. Drive through the beautiful landscapes of the high atlas mountains crossing the Tichka pass, the highest road in Africa enjoying the breathtaking sceneries to reach the Kasbah ait ben haddou where we will stop to explore this fortified village, marked as world heritage by unesco since 1987, after the visit, we will stop to enjoy a traditional lunch in a local restaurant before heading to Zagora, a Saharan desert town in the southern Draa Valley.
Destination | Erg Chegaga Desert, Draa Valley & Kasbahs |
Departure Location | your accommodation in Marrakech |
Return Location | your accommodation in Marrakech |
Departure Time | Please arrive by 07:45 AM for a prompt departure at 08:00 AM |
Return Time | Approximately 6:00 PM |
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Itinerary
►Begin your Sahara excursion to Zagora with a pick up from your accommodation in Marrakech at 8 AM. Drive through the beautiful landscapes of the high atlas mountains crossing the Tichka pass, the highest road in Africa enjoying the breathtaking sceneries to reach the Kasbah ait ben haddou where we will stop to explore this fortified village, marked as world heritage by unesco since 1987, after the visit, we will stop to enjoy a traditional lunch in a local restaurant before heading to Zagora, a Saharan desert town in the southern Draa Valley. Zagora is favored by travelers for its desert dunes, palmerie, 45 varieties of dates and its Hollywood sunset mountain backdrops. Take the road by pise (windy road) to discover the land where caravans once transported sugar, tea, dates and other dry goods to Ouarzazate.
►En route pass the Sahara Desert town of Agdz and the heart of the Draa Valleyknown for its 45 qualities of dates. Stop for a picturesque view in Agdz and its stunning palmeraie along with local trade routes famous for bringing dates, spices and other goods from the South to Marrakech.
►Continue the road to Zagora. Arrive and visit Amzrou. Walk the palmeraie and hamlet set amid lemon, almond and olive trees, and gardens of the village of Amzrou. Visit the former Mellah (Jewish quarter), where a mosque now stands. Amazrou is inhabited by Arabs, Haratines and Berbers who continue the Jewish tradition of silver making. Amezrou, also home to the old Jewish Kasbah, was once the center of life for a community of talented jewelers. Most of the Jewish people are no longer there, however Berber craftsmen have taken over the tradition and their workshops are open to the public.
►Pass Zagora’s Dunes of Tinfo and visit the old Kasbah Ait Lkaid in the village of Tamegroute. At the end of the main road you will find the famous road sign to Timbuktuthat reads “52 jours” – 52 hours by camel.
►Visit Zagora’s unique, beautifully glazed forest green pottery at the local cooperative in the desert town of Tamagroute and pass by the Koranic library. The holy village of Tamegroute’s claim to fame through out history is the beautiful pottery created that has a glaze made of henna and is sun dried.
►After visiting Zagora take the road to the M’hamid Sahara Desert. Arrive for a sunset camel trek into the M’hamid Sahara Dunes.
►Dinner & Spend the night at a Charming Guest House in Zagora.
►Zagora Rise. Explore the local village, unique fauna and region of M’hamid El Ghizlane by 4×4. Pass the Hammada and the Oasis.
Tamegroute has a Koranic Library that once held 40,000 volumes and theological college dating from the 11th century. The library contains a collection of illuminated Korans, the oldest of which are written on gazelle skins.
►M’Hamid is the last Oasis in the Great Sahara Desert and historically where caravans gathered before setting off on journeys to Timbuktu. M’Hamid is also referred to as Bounou which historically was a village of various Southern tribes such as the Ait Atta Berbers, Drawa and the Hassani.
►Lunch in M’Hamid. Then continue the off road to the Erg Chigaga Sahara Desert. The dunes are some of the most expansive and the furthest in Morocco. The color of the dunes are rustic and some refer to this part of the desert as the Black Sahara.
►Sunset camel trek to your Luxury bivouac. Tea on arrival, then enjoy an Arabian Nights dinner.
►Overnight in Erg Chigaga at a Luxury Bivouac.
►Take the off road piste by 4×4 through another part of the Sahara Desert where you will take in the varied scenery at Lake Iriqui and discover the mountain region along with ancient fossils. Lunch in Foum Zguid. Foum Zguid is a town in the Tata Province.
► Continue the road past Taznakht, known for Berber carpets towards Ouarzazate. Return to Your Riad or Hotel in Marrakech.
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