4-Day Marrakech to Chegaga Adventure: Discover Diverse Landscapes

Morning departure at 8 o'clock from your hotel or riad in Marrakesh to cross the High Atlas Mountains. After the Tichka pass, you leave the main road and take a side road to the Telouet Kasbah, which belonged to the Lords of the Atlas, the Glaoui family, and which now stands in ruins after the last Pasha fled the country following the departure of the French. From there you continue for lunch at Ait Ben Haddou along the newly asphalted connecting road. This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which we visit after lunch. Then we continue the short distance to Ouarzazate where you spend the night.

After breakfast, the trip continues to Agdez, where you stop to visit Kasbah Tamnougalte, the oldest Kasbah in the Dra'a Valley, before taking the ancient caravan road between the river and the mountains. On the way, we pass many villages and gardens so that you can gain a better idea of the way of life along the oases. Once in Zagora we stop for lunch in a very pleasant riad. In the afternoon we drive to M'hamid, the gate to the desert. Here a one to two hour camel ride leads to the highest dune to enjoy an unforgettable sunset and to spend the beauty of the night in a nomad tent close to the dunes of Erg Lihoudi.

After breakfast you return to M'hamid to visit the old village across the now frequently dry river Dra'a. In the afternoon, there is the departure for the Erg Chagaga dunes (300m) with 60km of off-road. This route passes different 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 are overwhelming. Here you could have a second camel ride if you wish. Dinner and a night's sleep are in a bivouac of nomad tents.

After breakfast, the road takes us through another 90km of desert with varying scenery; Lake Iriqui, the mountains and fossils. Lunch will be in Foum Zguid, the first village after the desert, where it is also possible to freshen up with a shower. From here the drive back to Marrakesh is along paved roads via the village of Taznakht, famous for its Berber carpets and rugs. From there we cross the High Atlas again to reach Marrakesh at the end of the afternoon.