Holidays Desert in morocco
MoroccIt’s hard to imagine a more dramatic change to winter surroundings than to find yourself on a camel, riding across a vast expanse of sun-scorched desert. From your arrival in the town of Ouarzazate you descend through the colourful Draa Valley to the great Southern Desert - the northern fringes of the Sahara. Camping in Bedouin-style tents and mounting your sturdy camels, each day you savour a remote landscape of stony ‘hamada’, golden sand dunes and palm-fringed oases. The villages en route offer a glimpse of life in this harsh environment where water is the source of all activity. Immersing yourself in traditional desert culture you can enjoy the typical cuisine of the region and the lively camaraderie of your local guides and camel drivers. You end your trip in bustling Marrakech, its fabulous walled medina enclosing a labyrinth of twisting alleyways and crowded souks full of colourful pottery, spices and carpets. Camped out beneath a star-filled desert sky you’ll wonder why all winters can’t be like this.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1: Fly to Ouarzazate After your flight, you transfer to your hotel in Ouarzazate. Amidst three valleys at the gateway to the Sahara, the town was originally a stop for trans-Saharan caravans.
Day 2: Imin Ougni; drive through desert Today you journey through lush valley along the Oued Draa river to meet the nomadic camel drivers deep in the desert . Mounting your own camel, you set out as a typical desert caravan through the valley. Towards evening you reach Imin Ougni, where you set up camp in traditional nomad tents. This evening you dine on traditional Moroccan cuisine in the unearthly silence of the desert night.
Day 3: Bougeorn; Camel trek in the Draa Valley After breakfast, you watch as the camel drivers load your beasts before finally setting off. You continue through irrigation fields, scattered palms and on past the crumbling Kasbahs of small villages. You stop for lunch by the river then continue across the scorching desert to the small at Bougeorn. Here you set up camp and listen to the traditional songs of the drivers under the starry expanse of the night sky.
Day 4: Dunes De Tidri; scenic sand dunes Today you continue by camel to the Dunes de Tidri - a magical area of rolling dunes that stretch spectacularly off into the distance. Sunset is often the most magical time of day; as the fading light illuminates the golden sand enticing soft browns and reds from the distant escarpments.
Day 5: Ouled Driss After breakfast in the fresh and cool air of the morning you set off once again. There are few people here save a few nomadic herdsmen with their precious dromedaries. At noon you have lunch amidst the low dunes and palm trees. By afternoon, you arrive in the pretty village of Ouled Driss – and camp in a palmeraie close by.
Day 6: Marrakech; Ait Benhaddou kasbah After an early breakfast, you clamber aboard your vehicle for the return trip to Marrakech. Stopping in Aït Benhaddou for lunch, you may recognise this magnificent 15th century stronghold from the film Gladiator. After lunch, you continue over Tizi-n-Tichka pass and descend from the mountains to enter the city of Marrakech.
Day 7: Marrakech; city tour This morning, wake to the sound of muezzins call to prayer. After breakfast, a local guide will take you deep into the city past the minarets and souks into the heart of the medina. You’ll see the graceful Koutoubia Minaret and the medieval fair in the great open square, the Djemaa el-Fna. The afternoon is free to wander and make your own discoveries.
Day 8: Fly Home Transfer to airport and fly home.
Small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.
How Morocco desert adventure makes a difference
Environment
Responsible mission: As adventure travellers we relish and celebrate the diversity of the world. We also recognise our obligation to protect the environments that we explore. Our aim is to tread lightly, whilst contributing to maintain the world’s culture and nature, and most importantly to engage the help of all our customers to utilise the potential of tourism as a tool to aid sustainable development. We believe that responsible travellers are welcome in the places that they visit.
On this trip: We travel in small groups (max 16 people) so have a minimal impact on the environment as we go. On this trip we use a local agent from Morocco, locally owned hotels, local leaders. Not only does this mean that more of the money we generate stays within the community, but their local knowledge and expertise helps us to better understand the environment in which we are travelling, whilst reinforcing within the local community that preserving this environment is both important and worthwhile
Helping to minimise negative impact: All of our customers are invited to offset their international flight emissions. Contributions go to the Blue Ventures Carbon Offset program, a non-profit organisation which provides solar stoves for subsistence communities in Madagascar, benefiting the people and protecting the environment. We also contribute £2 per person towards offsetting of your in-country travel. We fully offset all emissions from our staff travel and run an energy efficient office.
Giving something back: We have a foundation that collects the funds that you donate to us to support our projects. All our customers are invited to make a £1 per person contribution to the foundation at the time of booking. We will match every contribution that you make with our own £1. You as a customer choose where these funds are used from a shortlist of nominated projects – so it really is YOUR foundation.
Partnerships: As a company we support The Travel Foundation, a UK charity that has been established to promote responsible travel practises throughout the whole of the travel industry. We also work with a number of charity partners who work in the destinations that we visit; including Friends of Conservation and Born Free Foundation. We partner with many small grassroots projects throughout the destinations that we visit - they all share our responsible vision.
Community
We are supporting the Girls Boarding House - Central High Atlas, in the Bougmez valley by donating £2.20 per traveller to Morocco towards this organisation.
