Sahara Desert

As mentioned in my previous post, we booked a 3 day Desert Tour from Marrakech to Fes via Marrakesh Tours.

Through this tour, we met some new found friends that made our journey even better. Below is the 3 day itinerary of the tour.

DAY 1 : Atlas Mountains, Aït Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate and Dades Gorge

On the way to Aït Ben Haddou, a traditional mud brick city that’s part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, we passed the Atlas Mountains dotted with Berber villages and riven with canyons.

Aït Ben Haddou is a famous tourist attraction and is actually seen in the famous Game of Thrones Season 3.

In Ouarzazate, which is nicknamed the door of the desert, we learned more about the Berber locals and their way of living. Long time ago, Ouarzazate was a small crossing point for African traders on their way to northern Morocco and Europe. Now, it’s known as a noted film-making location. The area is also known for its Ouazguita carpets with geometric designs, which you can buy directly from the village locals.

After a long full day, they took us to a Kasbah in Dades Gorge where we retired for the night.

DAY 2: Todgha Gorge and Merzouga 

Todgha Gorges is a series of limestone river canyons in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains.

After that, we crossed a rocky terrain towards Merzouga, a small Moroccan town in the Sahara Desert near the Algerian border. It is known as the gateway to Erg Chebbi, a huge expanse of sand dunes north of town. A camel caravan was waiting for us just in time before the sunset.

The camel ride was a bit of a work out, I must say. It took us around an hour to reach the desert camp, where we stayed overnight. The camp had tents all around and an open space area in the middle where we all gathered as we waited for our dinner.

After dinner, we went star gazing outside the camp. It was such an amazing experience that, looking back, I could not believe that I got to sleep in the Sahara Desert for a night. Truly one for the books!

DAY 3: Ifrane and Fes

By sunrise, we rode our camel back to the hotel where we took a shower, freshened up and had breakfast. That was the last stop of the desert tour. We bid farewell to our new found friends (as they all chose to head back to Marrakech) and went on with our 8-hour drive to Fes. Marrakesh Tours fixed a private car for us. So along the way, we stopped at Ifrane – a cute town with alpine-style architecture. They call it their “little Switzerland” because of the nearby ski slopes and forests.

It was interesting to see how green the north of Morocco is. Even the temperature cooled down and the architecture also looked different.

The drive to Fes was long however fairly easy. The driver dropped us off at our hotel – the start of the last leg of our Moroccan trip, coming up!