First Day : Morning departure from Ouarzazate by 4x4 to Skoura Oasis where many ancient Kasbahs stand amongst the palm trees. The route continues to Kela’a M’gouna, with a stop to see cosmetic articles locally-made from the valley’s abundant roses. These products are well-known throughout Morocco and are highly valued. We continue off-road through the Rose Valley - also called the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs - to the Dades Gorge for lunch. In the afternoon a walk alongside the river, hiking through the canyon to see more of the Dades, is followed by a night in a hostel here.
Second, third and fourth days : After breakfast, a trek of three days and three nights in the area surrounding the Dades Gorge. During the trek, mules carry the equipment (tents, blankets, mattresses, kitchen equipment as well as personal luggage). The guide and the muleteers will point out the special features of the landscape and describe the life of the local Berbers who live in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. The men prepare the meals and erect the tents at night. The pace and length of each portion of the trek is set by the hikers, allowing time to stop as and when desirable or necessary. If anyone would like to, one of the nights can be spent with a Berber family.
Fifth day : In the morning, we walk back to the hostel to freshen up with a shower, before driving to the desert in Merzouga, stopping along the way to visit the Toudra Gorge and again later at the villages of Erfoud or Rissani for lunch. Arrival in the desert is towards the end of the afternoon, and the night is spent in a bivouac.
Sixth Day : In the morning, a three-hour camel ride across the great sand dunes and through the stony Sahara, the ‘hammada’, with a break underneath a large tamarisk tree, where the guide and the camel-driver will prepare lunch out in the open. In the afternoon, a camel ride for another two hours to reach the high dunes (Erg Chebbi). From here, at 250m, the sunset is a spectacular sight. Dinner and the night are in a bivouac at the foot of the dunes.
Seventh 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 return to the first bivouac is on camel-back, taking about two hours. Here there is the possibility of a shower. We then drive back by 4x4 east to the Dra’a Valley via the villages of Tazzarine (featured in the film ‘Babel’) and N’Qob for lunch. In the afternoon, we drive to Tanasikht, along the track of the ancient caravan route, reaching the Dra’a valley, full of large palm trees and ancient Kasbahs, at Agdez. We reach Ouarzazate at the end of the day, crossing the mountain pass of Tizi-n-Tinfifite.
Dinner and night in a Hotel.
