South of Morocco Private Immersion

Welcome to Morocco! Your tour manager will be awaiting your arrival at the airport in Casablanca. Once you have made your introductions, you will depart from the airport and head to the current imperial city of Morocco: Rabat. You’ll check into your accommodations for the night and then embark on a guided tour of this modern capital city. Your tour will cover the important monuments such as the Royal Palace, the Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohamed V, and the Kasbah of the Udayas.

Note: If you arrive early enough, you can stop to visit the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca on the way to Rabat. Alternatively, if you arrive too late or do not have the energy, you can do the guided tour of Rabat on the morning of Day 2.

After breakfast, your local city guide will meet you at your riad and show you all around Marrakech. Your tour will include visits to some important monuments of the Red City such as Bahia Palace, Ben Yousef Madrassa, and/or Koutoubia Mosque. In between these sites, you’ll explore the various artisanal sections of the souks where people have practiced their crafts for centuries.

Your tour will end around lunchtime, and then you will have the rest of the day free to explore on your own. Don’t forget to make your way to Jemaa el F’na in the late afternoon to one of the cafés overlooking the square to watch it come alive as the sun goes down!

After breakfast this morning, you and your driver will depart from your riad in Marrakech to begin your odyssey to the Sahara Desert. Your day will start with crossing over the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n’Tichka Pass, reaching an altitude of nearly 7500 feet above sea level. They say that life is about the journey and not the destination and this is certainly true when you are on this road. There will be plenty of stops for tea and photographs as you take in the breathtaking vistas before arriving in Ouarzazate.

Upon your arrival to the city known both as the “Door of the Desert” and the “Hollywood of Morocco”, you will visit the former palace of the Glaoui clan, Kasbah Taourirt OR, if you are a movie buff, you may enjoy a backlot tour of one of theactive film studios.

After your visit here, you will take the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Valley of Roses and into the breathtaking Dades Valley where you will stop for the night. You’ll have a little time to freshen up and relax before enjoying dinner at your accommodations.

After breakfast, you will depart your accommodations in Dades and continue your journey towards the dunes of Merzouga. Today’s first stop will be the oasis city of Tinghir. You’ll enjoy a guided walk in the palmeraie here before transferring to nearby Todgha Gorge where you will have an opportunity to walk through the most impressive part of the canyon. In this narrow section of the gorge (as little as 33 feet wide), the rock walls climb straight up 525 feet on either side.

From here, you will complete the final leg of the journey to the big dunes of Erg Chebbi near Merzouga. Tonight, you will stay at a guest house on the edge of the dunes. Upon your arrival, you’ll have a chance to rest and relax before dinner is served.

Today you will enjoy a tour of the desert region. Your first stop of the day will be to visit the village of Khamlia which is inhabited by Gnaoua musicians. Gnaoua which literally translates to “from Ghana” and is the name given to the spiritual based music that arrived in Morocco from sub-Sahara Africa via the caravans. Many arrived as slaves, and the metal instruments used are meant to represent the chains that kept them bonded. Young people live here to learn from the master musicians and to keep this art alive. Based on the practices of Sufism, the music is rhythmic and trance-inducing. Here you will enjoy a glass of mint tea and a short concert. We dare you to listen without moving your body… It is just about impossible!

After this visit, you will head to the nearby city of Rissani. On market days this sleepy city is transformed into a bustling metropolis where people from all over the region come to buy and sell their produce, livestock, and wares. If your visit happens to fall on a market day, you’ll have a chance to see this firsthand. No visit to the market would be complete without a stop at the “donkey parking lot” which also triples as the “used donkey sales lot” and the “donkey repair” shop. At the very least, it is interesting to contemplate that many people in the region still use donkeys as their main mode of transport. Of course, whether it is the market day or not, you will have an opportunity to try the local culinary specialty, Medfouna, also known as Berber Pizza.

After this, you’ll head to Erfoud to visit a small museum with an impressive collection of fossils found in Morocco. After seeing the collection, you’ll also have a chance to see how the fossils are removed from the bedrock and prepared for sale to museums, universities, and collectors around the world. Then, you’ll have a chance to go search for fossils in the wild (hint, they are everywhere, so not really hard to find).

When you have finished your tour of the area, you will head to the edge of the dunes where you will transfer to your next mode of transportation, a camel. You will begin your camel trek into the dunes to your luxury Berber camp for the night. Dinner will be served at camp followed by traditional music. After the entertainment, the lights will be turned off and if it is a clear night, you’ll have the opportunity to gaze at the gazillion stars in the desert night sky. When you are ready, you can retire to your cozy and comfortable tent for a good night’s sleep.

This morning, you’ll want to wake up early to watch the sand change colors as the sun comes up (be sure to set your alarm!). Grab a cup of coffee and climb up the nearest dune to watch this spectacular show. After this nearly transcendental experience, you will have breakfast at camp and time to prepare for your day. When you are ready, you’ll take to your camels once again to the edge of the dunes where you will meet your tour manager and transfer back to a more conventional mode of transportation. Note: 4×4 transfer is available if one camel ride was enough!

Once you reunite with your driver, you’ll bid the desert region au revoir and make your way into the Draa Valley of Morocco. This fertile river valley located in the Saghro (or Black) Mountain range is known as the Valley of a Million Palms and it is easy to see why. Here you will come upon Kasbah Tamnougalt, another important stop along the old salt caravan route. Although no one knows exactly when this was built, it dates back to at least the 18th century. Parts of the ksar (collection of kasbahs) have melted away with the rain over the centuries, but parts of it are currently being restored. You’ll have a guided visit of the Kasbah and the adjacent gardens. After your tour, you’ll make your way to your nearby accommodations where you will have a chance to relax before dinner is served.

After breakfast, today, you will begin the final leg of your journey back to Marrakech. You’ll continue along the Draa Valley until you once again reach Ouarzazate. From here it is just a short drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ait Ben Haddou. If this impressive ksar looks familiar, it may be because it starred (or at least served as a backdrop) for many films and TV shows such as Gladiator, Jewel of the Nile, Lawrence of Arabia, and Game of Thrones.

Upon your arrival here, you’ll stop first for a panoramic view of this “mud city” and then head in for a closer look. You’ll cross the riverbed to the entrance and then climb the steep and winding streets to the granary, or “bank” at the top for amazing panoramic views of the whole region.

After admiring the impressive views, you’ll make your way back down to your vehicle and travel once more over the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n’ Tichka pass reaching Marrakech by the early evening. You will check in again at your accommodation in Marrakech and have one last night free to explore on your own.

This morning after breakfast, you will transfer to the Marrakech Menara Airport in plenty of time for your departing flight.