$894
Per Person
Merzouga Sahara Excursion Morocco Cultural Tour
4 days
Age 12+
Availability 0
Merzouga Sahara Excursion Morocco Cultural Tour
You do not have time but you want to get out of the busy life and enjoy the desert? This excursion is made for you to enjoy deeply and closely the Moroccan culture. While you are riding for this excursion you will pass through some most fabulous places and sites of the southern east of Morocco. You will be driven via the spectacular piece of engineering Tizi n’Tichka and its pulse-racing series of switchbacks providing over more jaw-dropping views. Passing through the 1956 abandoned Glaoui Kasbah, Talouat the most magnificent sights of the Atlas, and the UNESCO-protected red mud-brick Ait Benhadou. After this stopover point for lunch we will continue via a Thousands Kasbahs route to the gorgeous gorges of Dades and Todgha. Arriving to the gateway into the golden dunes to discover the Berbers lifestyle in the Sahara desert where you’ll surely choose to drift off to sleep while watching the twinkling stars in mid of an awesome stretch of golden sand sea after dinner. Wake by dawn to watch the sun starting its daily arc with a cool blue morning sky as it replaces the Sahara shadows just before becoming a glowing ball of fire. Leaving the desert to the struggling village of Taliouine and the African center of l’orrouge (red gold) or saffron, the most expensive spice via Alnif and the rambling Ksar of N’kob. Heading north to Marrakech via the High Atlas Mountains.
Itinerary day by day
Day 1 : Marrakech – Ait Benhaddou – Ouarzazate – valley of roses – Dades gorges
Around 8:00am your driver/tour guide will pick you up from the nearest point of your hotel/Riad. Through Tizi- N’Tichka pass (2260m) in the High Atlas Mountains, you will enjoy a snaky windy road (if you get car sick have your medication), beautiful landscapes with different colors and Berber villages along the way. The first pause will be in Ait Barka village. It will be around 10:00am to take beautiful pictures and have a cup of mint tea. It’s a point to start the highest Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The second pause will take place in the top of Tizi n’Tichka arriving to Ait Benhaddou, the 11th century UNESCO-protected red mud-brick ksar that has formed the backdrop for many Hollywood movies production such as Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, Gladiator, Game of Thrones and many others. Here you will also have time to explore the history of this amazing heritage. Then you will have lunch before continuing via Ouarzazate, « Ouallywood » studio and Taourirte Kasbah. Traversing the valley of roses and daggers straight to Dades gorges a rust-red and mauve mountains. A series of crumbling Kasbahs and Ksours line the valley in the Berber villages to the monkey Fingers Mountains.
Day 2 : Dades Gorges – Todgha Gorges – Tinejdad – Erfoud – Risani – Merzouga Desert
This morning, you head southeast towards Merzouga and the gateway into the golden dunes of the Sahara desert. Before getting there you’ll be stuck between gigantic rock walls and a hard place is a sublime experience in the Todgha gorges. Then it’s onward to Tinjdad where a local Berber culture museum is worth a lunch stop, later on after lunch we head to Arfoud where you can marvel at the million-year-old fossils that the area is famous for. Then it’s off to Merzouga that has the highestdunes in Morocco, you can store any luggage while packing an overnight bag to bring along. You’ll have the chance to ride your camel « ship of the desert » into the sandy seas. After hour-long camel ride you will be among the luckiest to watch the sun set over the Sahara dunes. Your stay for the night will be a Bedouin style tent.
Day 3 : Merzouga Desert – Alnif – n’Kob – Agdez – Taznakht – Taliouine
This Morning, you’ll rise with the sun to witness what we hope is a spectacular sunrise among the dunes, this is truly worthwhile and is what our Sahara tours are all about. After breakfast we head to Taliouine via Alnif and the rambling Ksar of N’kob with its prehistoric rock-carving sites and 45 mud-brick ksour make you stop by and stare. The name N’kob comes from a cave that once served as a lodging for nomads. Arriving to Agdez that means « place of rest » and it’s certainly worth taking a break here before continue our road to the struggling village of Taliouine and the African center of l’orrouge (red gold) or saffron, the most expensive spice via southern Morocco’s capital of carpet and rugs.
Day 4 : Taliouine – Taroudant – Tizi n’Test – Marrakech
From Taliouine to Marrakech via Taroudant that is considered to be one of the most elegant purely Berber towns of Morocco with its majestic, tawny-brown and honey-gold circuit of 7km walls. While you stroll and linger around, note the distinctive, highly beautiful blue veils that many of older local ladies put on. Later on you will be driven via the road that blasted through the high Atlas Mountain by the French in the late 1920s and famed by Tizi n’Test that offer one of the best panoramic drives in morocco. Heading north to Marrakech we will stop over for Tinmal village to visit the 1156-year mosque.
