First Day : The departure is after breakfast from Ouarzazate to Tinghir (170km) via the Skoura Oasis, driving off-road to see all the Kasbahs, some sadly in a state of disrepair but idyllically placed amongst the palm trees. Once back on the main road, an off-road track passes through the Valley of Roses - also known as the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs - to the Dades Valley with a stop for lunch. After lunch and before taking the road again to the Toudra Gorge, there is time for a walk alongside the river.
Second Day : In the morning there is time for a short walk in the Tinghir palm-grove before heading for Merzouga through the Ziz Valley and the oasis of Tafilalet, arriving in Erfoud or Rissani for lunch. Merzouga is the destination towards the end of the afternoon but there is still time to make a two-hour camel ride to the bivouac near the dunes of Erg Chebbi (250m). From the top of the dunes, the sunset is spectacular. Here, at Erg Chebbi, we will have dinner and spend the night in a bivouac.
Third Day : 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. The drive continues to the Dra’a Valley via the village of Tazzarine (now featured in the film ‘Babel’) and on to N’Qob for lunch. After this break, the route continues to Zagora along the magic Dra’a Valley with all its kasbahs. (From time to time off-road driving allows a closer impression of life in the villages.) The night is spent in a beautiful riad set in Zagora.
Fourth day : Relaxing morning spent in the riad, with time to rest and swim in pool in the middle of the riad’s delightful gardens full of flowers, frogs, palm trees and birds, surrounded by a high adobe wall. It is truly a secluded private paradise. After lunch, the itinerary continues to M’hamid, where the road ends and the desert begins. Once again, a two-hour camel ride to enjoy the sunset is on the programme, returning to the bivouac at Erg Lihoudi for the night.
Fifth day : After crossing the dunes by 4x4, we visit the village and the ancient Kasbah of slaves and the crossroads of the ancient caravans. Lunch is in a riad surrounded by palm trees, situated just outside the village. In the afternoon, the trip continues by 4x4 to the Erg Cheggaga dunes (300m) with 60km of off-road driving, passing the varying features of the desert; ‘erg’, ‘reg’, ‘hammada’, oases. These dunes are far away from civilization, in the desert proper … and the silence and the expanse of the sand is overwhelming. We have dinner and spend the night in a bivouac here.
Sixth day : After breakfast, the route crosses another 90km of desert, following a track winding through unusual vegetation, and crossing the dried-up Lake Iriqui. Once across this vast expanse of lake, we stop for lunch in Foum Zguid, the first village on leaving the desert. The road back to Ouarzazate takes us through the village of Taznakht, well known for its Berber carpets, and we arrive in the course of the afternoon.
