TRAVELING THE BERBER COUNTRY

With Plein Désert

« Oasis, Desert and Palm Groves » – 10 days leaving from Marrakesh

Accommodation « Discover »

Day 1 – MARRAKESH

Reception at Marrakesh Menara airport and transfer to the hotel. Briefing about the sequence of the journey, then dinner at a restaurant in Marrakesh Downtown. Spend the night at the hotel in Marrakesh to recover yourself for the next day.

Day 2 – MARRAKESH – OUARZAZATE – SKOURA

9:00 – Breakfast is served. Admire the heart of the High Atlas Mountains on the way to Ouarzazate, just by the magical sites of the High Atlas and the Tizi n’Tichka. Discovery dramatic landscapes, lush greenery, red soil and garnet, and have first contact with Berber people from the mountains. Lunch in Ouarzazate, the door of the Desert, then discover the palm grove of Skoura. Visit the Kasbah of Ameridhil, one of the jewels of the autochthonous Berber architecture. Enjoy the rest of the day in the small oasis of Tiriguioute, where you will attend the preparation of the authentic meal following the traditional methods. Dinner and night in a double room at the guest house.

Day 3 – HIGH ATLAS – DADES VALLEY

8:30 am – Breakfast on the terrace. Then heading to the High Valleys of altitudes, south facing at the slopes of M’Goun ighil, the second summit of Morocco (4072 m), find many flooded passages which are first off-road tours. Lunch in a kasbah nestled in lush greenery in the heart of the famous Roses Valley. Possibility of hiking in the afternoon along the M’goun Oued where a string of Berber villages appears and all of them very picturesque. Arrival late afternoon in the upper valley of Dades Gorges, one of the most beautiful natural sites of Morocco. Dinner and night at the hotel in Dades.

Day 4 – DADES VALLEY – TINEJDAD – TAOUZ

8:30 – Breakfast is served. The sun is warming the terrace, the air is cool, the sky is blue. We are at 1750 m altitude. It is easy to perceive the bleating of the goats through the air. We head east to Todra Gorges, where we make a short stop to admire the palm grove. Then we continue going through the road of oases of Ferkla. Stop in Tinedjad at the sacred sources of Lalla Mimouna. Visit Zaïd Abbou Museum in where you can admire old trades of the region, as well as a glimpse of clothing and jewelry of Berber tribes of the High Atlas. Lunch on route, then continue in the afternoon to the palm grove Tafilalet. Bypass Erg Chebbi and the big dunes of Merzouga. Arrival at the end of the day at the heart of the desert, facing dune fields. Dinner and night at Itrane-Sahara Hostel.

Day 5 – TAOUZ – HASSI OUZINA – TAOUZ

9:00 – Breakfast. The day will be full of desert, sand and illusions. You will enjoy by hiking the amazing landscapes of the great South. These landscapes remind us the images of wild Africa: pink sand dunes, dry wadi, in which tamarisk and isolated palm groves grows. Heading mostly off-piste through virgin spaces discovering palm groves and nomadic camps. In a deserted region only a tasty lunch can restore us. Return to our base camp at the end of the afternoon passing through the sites of rock carvings and witnesses the occupation of people in this area at Neolithic when the Sahara was still green. Dinner and night at Itrane Sahara Hostel. *Possibility to rent a quad for the day or half day (Tour supervised by an expert).

Day 6 – TAOUZ – ERG CHEBBI – MERZOUGA – ERFOUD – ZIZ VALLEY

9:00 – Breakfast in front of the dunes, then heading towards erg Chebbi and the big dunes of Merzouga. Early visit of Ksar el Fida, former house of the Alawite Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane, and witness the Ksourian architecture when the Tafilalet was the terminus of caravans from Timbuktu. The Ksar, completely restored, shows several exhibition halls about local traditions. Mid-day keep discovering the small town of Erfoud, where we have lunch. Visit the workshops where artisans work the fossils of the area. Continue in the afternoon to the Ziz valley and the Zouila palm grove. Dinner and night at Zouila in authentic kasbah just by the side of a palm grove.

Day 7 – ZIZ VALLEY – GOULMIMA – TODRA GORGES

8:00 – Heading to Errachidia – Visit the souk if is settled on that day, then continue to the immense palm grove of Goulmima and visit Ait Morhad: stronghold of Berbers where we stop for a Moroccan mint tea. We have lunch in the small town of Tineghir. In the afternoon, visit Todgha Gorges, one of the major touristic sites in Morocco. Discover the palm grove and local farming methods (phoeniculture), because here, everything grows under the shade of palm trees. Homestay set up in Kasbah Taborihte. Dinner and night in an authentic family kasbah.

Day 8 – TODRA GORGES – IMILCHIL

Departure at 9:00 in morning towards the Todra Valley. Then head north to the plateau of lakes, which we will reach in the middle of the afternoon. Along the way, admire a continuous string of Berber adobe houses villages. There, in the High Valleys, lived Berbers Ait Hadiddou and Ait Brahim. Discover the ancestral farming methods. It is one of the most beautiful routes in Atlas Morocco. Incomparable colors are offered for hikers while passing through the fords: poppies in the spring, silver fronds of almond trees at the end of winter and the yellow of ripe wheat in June. Dinner and night at the hostel in Imilchil.

Day 9 – IMILCHIL – MARRAKECH

Departure around 8:00 am through the road that runs along Assif Melloul and down to the plains of Beni Mellal to hit the road Fez-Marrakesh. Arrival in the afternoon in Marrakesh, check-in at the hotel, visit and have dinner in town.

Day 10 –

After enjoying breakfast, we leave for the airport to catch the plane.

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