Berber Trekking in the Southern Desert 10 Days

After a rich moroccan breakfast in your riad, your adventure begins! This memorable trip starts with the scenic drive from Marrakech over the Tizi-N-Tichka pass (2’260 m), where you can spot the traditional Berber villages with its inhabitants working and chatting at the roadside.
At lunchtime and shortly before the desert capital Ouarzazate, you have the opportunity to visit the famous Kasbah Aït Ben Haddou, the fortified clay city with its numerous ksars and kasbahs, where several famous movies such as Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Prince of Persia have been shot. This photogenic city is also listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Afterwards, you can visit the old kasbah of Ouarzazate with its medina named Taourirt or have a look at the movie museum just on the other side of the road. Dinner and overnight in a Riad in Ouarzazate.

After breakfast in your Riad you have the opportunity to visit one of the film studios of Ouarzazate. In the Atlas Corporation film studios you can join a 1 h guided tour, and you can discover the diverse sets and listen to the anecdotes of the multiple movies and actors. Several famous movies like Gladiator, Babel, Prince of Persia and recently The Physician have been shot in those studios. After crossing the Anti-Atlas, you arrive at the green and peaceful Draa Valley which is famous for its huge date groves and henna fields.
Now it is time for the desert! Zagora is the last city before the real wilderness starts. The rural house of your host family Hatouchi lies in a little berber village outside the city.
Enjoy a mint tea with the family and learn how they live with their animals in the middle of their crops. Enjoy a traditional Berber Dinner with some members of the big family and spend the night in their home. If the weather allows it, during summer time, you can sleep outside under the starry sky next to the house.

After a typical berber breakfast, the guides will pack your equipment on the camels and we start the trekking at about 9 o’clock. We are hiking from the house towards the Draa Valley and then turning to cross the Fajia-Plateau in direction Bani Mountains. This flat plateau is partly black with volcanic stones, partly sandy.
Extended lunch break and time to relax, then continue towards the mountains. In the late afternoon, we build up our camp at the bottom of the mountains. Freshly cooked dinner under the evening sky and first night in the tent or on matresses under the sky.

After your first breakfast in the desert, we will start our second day of hiking with the crossing of the Bani mountains taking a winding path over the Djenia pass. We’ll have a small break at the top of the mountain to enjoy the view over the plateau, the Draa Valley and as far as the high mountains.
We are descending again by following a hiking path through a rock valley until we reach the small berber village named Malili Ate Asfoi where we’ll enjoy our lunch in the shade of big acacia trees.
After lunchbreak we continue our way for another 2 hours to the dunes of El Mariar, where we’ll install our camp under a big tree in the middle of the golden dunes. Dinner will be prepared by our guides and you’ll enjoy your second night in your tent or outside.

Today we enjoy a full day of hiking in the desert with its golden dunes. We’ll walk to the Oasis Mouzmou and continue our journey after lunch to the dunes of Erg Bartam. Enjoy the mesmerizing silence of the desert and the beautiful sunset. Sit around a campfire and listen to some berber music.
Dinner will be prepared by our guides and you’ll enjoy your third night in your tent or outside.

After sunrise and a nice breakfast, we depart for our last day of trekking to the village of Ouled Driss, where we will spend the night in a Berber tent or small room of the camping (shared bathroom and showers). In the late afternoon, you can take a walk to the center of the village Ouled Driss with its old Kasbah.
Dinner will be prepared by our guides and overnight in the camping.

After breakfast in the camping, we’ll leave our caravane and take a transfer back to the house of the family Hatouchi in Zagora. There, we’ll have a typical lunch with the family and pack our staff in the car again before saing bye bye to our hosts. We’ll start our drive with our 4×4 back to Ouarzazate in the afternoon and enjoy the views of the Draa Valley along the way. Dinner and overnight in a Riad in Ouarzazate.

After breakfast, we continue our way back to Marrakech crossing the Tizi-n-Tichka pass and arrive in your Hotel/Riad in Marrakech in the afternoon.
The best after a Trekking trip is to relax in a Hamam and let yourself be treated and cleaned in a beautiful athmosphere. We will be glad to assist you with the booking of a Hamam treatment on your last evening.
Individual dinner in Marrakech and overnight in your Riad in the medina.

Breakfast in your Riad and transfer to the airport for your flight back or start of your individual program. Have a safe journey and see you soon again!