Desert Morocco Mhamid

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233
2 Days
Ouarzazate
Mhamid
Min Age : 3
2-days  Desert Morocco Tour From Ouarzazate :

This desert tour from Ouarzazate takes you to the fullest and closest Saharan dunes – to Erg Lihoudi near M’hamid. To reach them you need to cross part of the Anti-Atlas Mountains range, barren and spectacular with its rock formations. You travel via Agdez and the ancient Kasbah Tamnougalte, which you will visit with a local guide. It is the oldest in the Dra’a Valley. You will discover the Dra’a Valley with its palm groves, adobe housing and green oases with a felling that in many ways you have traveled back on time.  Following the ancient route of the caravans plying their goods up through the Sahara is an amazing experience, especially when you look up to the watch towers overlooking the route. The workshops of the green glaze pottery, well-known throughout Morocco and the Qoranic Library in Tamgroute village with its exquisite manuscripts are other highlights of this desert tour from Ouarzazate. You pass through Zagora, the largest town and largest oasis before the desert.

In the desert, you will experience the excitement of a camel ride.  And why not take photos of your group wearing blue turbans the nomad way with the spectacle of the sunset as the back-drop? Dinner under the Milky Way in this magic, peaceful atmosphere is unforgettable. And the evening ends by sharing nomad music round a camp fire. Your luxury desert camp offers you a comfortable private tent to lie and absorb the day’s adventures and experiences before drifting off to sleep in the calm and magic of these desert dunes. In truth, the silence and majesty of the Erg Lihoudi Dunes outside Mhamid El Ghizlane.

 
 Highlights 
  • Driving over the Anti-Atlas Mountains and the famous Tizi-n-Tinfifte pass
  • Exploring the ancient Kasbah of Tamnougalte with a local guide
  • Discovering the immense palm groves of the Dra’a Valley, Kasbahs and oases
  • Driving off-road following the ancient route of the caravans
  • Riding camels in  Erg Lihoudi dunes and taking photos
  • Watching the spectacle of the sunset from the top of the dunes and practising sandboarding
  • Tasting dinner under the starlight, followed by nomad music round a campfire
  • Overnight in your private tent in an authentic or  luxury desert camp in the middle of the Erg Lihoudi dunes
  • Visiting the green pottery workshops and ancient Qoranic library in the village of Tamgroute

Key information

Desert Tour 2 days Departure from Ouarzazate

What's included

  • Transport in a private air-conditioned 4×4; Toyota Prado Tx or deluxe van and fuel
  • Experienced local English/ French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver/guide
  • Overnight in an authentic desert camp in private & comfortable tents with a private toilet and shower equipped with beds, mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets, and carpets
  • All meals: breakfast, dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
  • A camel ride of about an hour – an hour & a half with a guide, and free sandboarding, if desired – just ask the camp staff
  • Free time to explore the sites such as Dra’a Valley, Kasbah Tamnougalte, for walks, photos

What's not included

  • Drinks
  • Lunchs
  • Tips
  • Extras
Itinerary

1 st day:Ouarzazate – M’hamid

Morning departure at 08.30 takes you south over the Tizi-n-Tinfifte pass to Agdez. Descending from the pass you will be amazed at the view of the extensive oasis and the number of palm trees, all indicating the beginning of the Dra’a Valley. This valley has thousands of date palms, producing an amazing 44 varieties of dates.  The date harvest starts in September and lasts a couple of months, so that is the best time to stop in Agdez for the freshest ones.  After a short tea break here, we continue by driving away from the main road along the ancient caravan route

Soon after the police checkpoint in Tansikht, we come to the village of Tinsouline.  Here you can drive just a kilometre or so off-road to the fascinating rock carvings of animals long extinct in Morocco at Foum Chenna. They are about 4000 years old.  Zagora is the largest town in the whole area and where we shall stop for lunch. As you leave the town, you can look back from a small pass to marvel at the extent of the Zagora oasis.

In the afternoon we drive further south still, to M’hamid, the very gate to the desert and the end of the paved road. This is where the Sahara starts. Here a one-one and a half-hour camel ride leads to the highest dune to enjoy an unforgettable sunset. After dinner, nomad music enhances the exoticness of the desert as you listen round a camp-fire.  Overhead the stars twinkle down on you and you feel you can pull them out of the sky. A star-gazers’ app on your phone will help identify them

You have dinner and spend the night at an authentic desert camp with shared bathroom facilities, and a private tent with beds, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows and carpets. 

2 nd day:M’Hamid – Ouarzazate

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, there will still be time for a long walk in the dunes.

The return trip brings us back through Tamegroute for a visit to the potteries. They are famous throughout Morocco for the green glaze, which you may have already seen in Marrakech. Tamgroute has a small medina of covered desert streets and an ancient Quranic library with exquisite hand-written Arabic texts.

From here the road leads north again to Tamnougalt Kasbah (one of the most ancient Kasbahs in the south of Morocco and the oldest in the Dar’a Valley) for lunch. We arrive back in Ouarzazate, at the end of the afternoon.

Map
Photos