Day 1: Marrakech – Taroudant

Departing from your hotel or riad into the High Atlas Mountains, we take the 203 across the High Atlas passing through Tahanoute, Asni and Ouirgane and the Ouiragne lake, climbing ever higher whilst the traffic decreases in volume.We cross the famous Tizi-n-Test pass, 2092m, stopping at the beautiful brick Tinmal mosque, which may be visited by non-Moslems. Lunch will be at a mountain restaurant with superb views. Descending the other side following the Siroua Mountains, we reach the River Souss plain and Taroudant, known as “the little Marrakech”. It is spectacular for its massive ramparts and beautiful medina. It is here that you spend the night in a riad set in a large garden with olive and orange trees.

Day 2: Taroudant – Chegaga Dunes

After breakfast, we retrace our steps a while and come to Taliouine, which is the heart of the saffron growing area in Morocco where you can visit the small but interesting, government-run saffron museum. The scent of saffron inside is most enticing.We cross the two passes of Tizi-n-Tighatine and Tizi-n-Ikhsane before reaching Kourkouda and Taznakht. This small town is famous for its Berber gelims and carpets and it is from here that we continue south towards the desert. As we approach the desert, the landscape becomes flatter and more barren. At the end of the paved road in Foum Zguid, we drive into the Sahara across the now dried-up Lake Iriqui. In the middle of this lake, we can search for fossils.  The track takes us through stony desert, the “hammada”, and becomes increasingly sandy. The small dunes need to be negotiated carefully as the ever-present breeze and wind change their shape constantly.  You will appreciate the skill and experience of your driver, whose built-in GPS knowledge takes you safely through an area seemingly lacking in landmarks to guide you.  Once at the camp, you take an hour to an hour & a half camel ride and can clamber up to the top of the high dunes to watch the sunset.

Day 3: Chegaga Dunes – Zagora

After breakfast in the bivouac, the itinerary takes you across another 60 km of the desert road via M’hamid. The old village is typical of desert dwellings with adobe buildings and covered streets to keep out the searing heat of the height of summer. Later we take the road north again towards Zagora, the largest town in the entire area, and where we stop for the night in a luxury desert camp with the same activities and comfort as in Chegaga.

Day 4: Zagora – Merzouga

After breakfast, we follow the ancient route of the caravans, which used to ply their goods brought from Mali or Mauritania in Marrakech and Fes. We continue along the Dra’a River, travelling between the river and the mountains past all the Kasbahs and local gardens to get an impression of life here in this remote area of Morocco. Leaving the Dra’a behind, we turn east in Tansikht and start the next step of the journey towards Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi dunes. We stop for lunch at a riad in N’Qob overlooking the mountains. Later we pass through Tazzarine, featured in the film “Babel” and reach the bivouac in Merzouga, where you will be greeted with a glass of tea. If you wish, you can take another camel ride to watch the sun go down over the dunes.

Day 5: Merzouga – Dades Gorges

If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise, when the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows are an awesome sight.  After breakfast at the camp, we leave for Tinghir and the Toudgha gorges. On the way, you pass the water channels – “khettarat” – that you can descend into to appreciate the architecture and genius behind this form of irrigation, which prevents evaporation in the summer heat. The channels start at a higher gradient at one end until they finally emerge at the surface of the soil where they are fed into the fields. You can find out more about these channels by reading Andrew Wilson’s work.

In the gorge and the valley, there are opportunities to walk beyond the gorge itself or by the village gardens and fields before you reach it. Later the itinerary continues to the Dades Valley. The area, which now forms the Dades Gorges, lay at the bottom of the sea millions of years ago. Great quantities of sediment were deposited around giant coral reefs, and over time this material became compacted into a variety of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone. Eventually, the movement of the earth’s crust caused the region to rise above the sea, forming the Atlas Mountains and surrounding landscape. The night is spent in a hotel or kasbah.

Day 6: Dades Gorges – Ouarzazate

After breakfast, a visit to the Dades gorges and a short walk there is scheduled. Back at the car, the trip to Ouarzazate continues, going off-road along the Boutarar piste to visit Berber nomads in their caves and partake of a glass of tea with them. This visit makes it clear to the visitor just how hard the existence is for these nomads in this very dry landscape, trying to feed their goats and bring up their children. From here, we continue through the Valley of the Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in May. Cosmetics and toiletry items are produced and valued throughout the country.  In Skoura and the oasis there, Kasbah Amredhil waits for a very worthwhile visit.  The kasbah has been beautifully restored and gives a clear idea of life within such housing.  It is made entirely of adobe, an excellent building material; warm in winter and cool in summer, due to the thickness of the walls.  45 minutes later, you reach Ouarzazate, where you spend the night in a guesthouse.

Day 7: Ouarzazate – Marrakech

After breakfast, the route goes on to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, one of Morocco’s seven World Heritage sites, and the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and some of the buildings date back to the 17th century.  From here you drive along the beautiful and awe-inspiring Ounila Valley, full of bends in the roads and surprises at the hues of the rock and soil, Berber villages and gardens, as well as smaller Kasbahs. We continue to Telouet set right in the midst of the mountains and once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakech, El Glaoui, from where the highest pass in Africa, Tizi-n-Tichka was controlled. Each addition to the building now stands in ruins exposed to the wind and the rain, having been abandoned and plundered after Thami El Glaoui, fled the country following the departure of the French in 1956. Wait to be pleasantly surprised by the traditional interior decoration as you reach the farthest end of the Kasbah.  At the end of the afternoon, having crossed the Tichka pass, we arrive in Marrakech.