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A Taste of The Desert

After landing in Marrakech, you'll travel from the city on a scenic drive through the High Atlas Mountains. Along the way you'll spot several Berber villages and farms, as well as rivers. You’ll stop for an optional visit to a traditional Berber home, where you'll be warmly welcomed and gain insight into their daily lives. You’ll enjoy sweeping views of endless peaks and valleys as you traverse Tizi-n-Tichka Pass, while keeping an eye out in the distance for Toubkal, which is the tallest of them all...

Day 1: Scenic Drive through High Atlas Mountains

After landing in Marrakech, you'll travel from the city on a scenic drive through the High Atlas Mountains. Along the way you'll spot several Berber villages and farms, as well as rivers. You’ll stop for an optional visit to a traditional Berber home, where you'll be warmly welcomed and gain insight into their daily lives. You’ll enjoy sweeping views of endless peaks and valleys as you traverse Tizi-n-Tichka Pass, while keeping an eye out in the distance for Toubkal, which is the tallest of them all. The High Atlas also acts as a barrier between the mild Mediterranean climate in the north and the Saharan Desert to the south. As you continue towards Ouarzazate, the climate becomes noticeably desert-like. The city was once a major center of trade, but today is better known as the exotic backdrop seen in many of your favorite films and TV shows. From there you'll head to the Dades Valley, known for its lush oases and elaborate Kasbahs. After dinner, you’ll spend the night in a cozy hotel nestled in the tranquil valley.

Optional: Visit a traditional Berber home

Day 2: Explore Todra Gorge and Camel Riding on Erg Chebbi Dunes

This morning you'll head east to the Todra Gorge, where a stunningly steep fault splits the deep golden limestone in two. On the zig-zagging drive to Todra, gaze out at the lush date palmeries and jutting rock formations. When you’ll arrive, walk along the bottom of the 984-foot (300 m) ravine by a crystal clear stream, with the spectacular rocks towering above. In the afternoon, you’ll make your way to the Sahara through the oasis towns starting from Tinejdad, then to Erfoud where you can enjoy an optional visit can be made to a fossil factory to see how they extract them from the bedrock, and finally to Rissani where you’ll have lunch and explore its vibrant souk before continuing on to the deep amber sands of Erg Chebbi, a large sea of Saharan sand dunes. You’ll climb onto a camel and take a ride around the dunes before a magnificent desert sunset. Eventually, you’ll enjoy a delicious Bedouin meal and traditional live music for dinner, and even learn how to play a drum the Moroccan way.

Optional: Visit the fossil factory

Day 3: Draa Valley and Ouarzazate

After breakfast, you'll return to Rissani morning to visit the “Maison Touareg” bazaar and cultural center. You’ll learn about the tribes in this area and about the symbolism of the spectacular carpets they weave. There are plenty of other authentic handicrafts to haggle for as well, including jewelry, leather, and pewter. From there, you'll travel west through vast desert plains, mountain peaks, and acacia forests, encountering tribes along the way. The landscape turns lush and green when you’ll reach the fertile Draa Valley, full of Palmaris, fruit trees and farms. You’ll stop to stretch your legs here and taste fresh produce right off the tree. Then, you’ll enter the Anti Atlas Mountains, offering views of dramatic river valleys and desolate rock landscape on the Tizi-n-Tinififft Pass. You’ll end the day in Ouarzazate, where you’ll have dinner and spend a relaxing night in your place of stay

Day 4: Ait Benhaddou Kasbah and Marrakech

If you'd like a bit more time in Ouarzazate, you’ll have the option of spending the morning on a guided tour in Taourirt Kasbah, one of the most impressive in the country. Alternatively, visit one of the city's two film studios and see where scenes from movies like The Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia were shot. From there you'll head to Ait Benhaddou, which is about half an hour west of Ouarzazate in the foothills of the High Atlas. This Kasbah is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies on an ancient camel caravan trade route connecting the Sahara and Marrakech. It's a stunning example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture, with tree trunks and bamboo used for the roofs. You’ll roam the maze-like network of narrow lanes and passageways until you come upon the many skilled artists and craftspeople that both create and sell their work here. And then, you’ll return to Marrakech and spend the last evening exploring the main Jemaa el-Fnaa square and souk, where you'll find everything from silk scarves to snake charmers.

DAY 5

After breakfast, you’ll be either transferred to the airport of Ouarzazate or Marrakech.