Agadir → Taroudant → Taliouine → Tazenakht → Foum Zguid
We meet you at your hotel in Agadir in the morning. The road follows the green Souss Valley to Taroudant, where we stop for a coffee and a walk along the old red walls. This city is calm and friendly, and the souk is a good place to buy argan oil or silver from local craftsmen.
Then we climb into the Anti-Atlas. In Taliouine, you visit a saffron cooperative and drink tea made with the red threads of the crocus flower. After that, the land becomes dry and wide. We pass Tazenakht, where women weave the bright Ouzguita carpets, and then turn south to Foum Zguid. This little town is the last oasis before the big empty desert. We arrive in the late afternoon. Relax in your guesthouse, eat a warm tagine and go to bed early. Tomorrow, the adventure begins.
Key stops
Taroudant · Taliouine saffron cooperative · Tazenakht carpet shops
Stay
Guesthouse in Foum Zguid
Day 02
Approx. 95 km off-road
Foum Zguid → Lake Iriki → Erg Chigaga
After breakfast, your driver lets some air out of the tyres, and you leave the road behind. For the next three hours you drive across the open Sahara. First comes the stony hamada, then sandy tracks, then Lake Iriki. Most of the year it is dry — a huge, flat, white plain where you can see mirages dance on the horizon. After a rainy winter, it can hold water and even birds. Along the way you may see nomad tents and camels. If a family invites you for tea, accept. It is a moment you will not forget.
Slowly the dunes rise in front of you. They are tall, soft and orange, and they go on for kilometres. We have lunch at the camp, and in the afternoon you can rest in the shade or try sandboarding. Before sunset, your camel man takes you up into the dunes. You sit on the top, the wind is soft, and the whole desert turns pink. At night, dinner is served under the stars, and the camp team plays music by the fire.
Key stops
Hamada plateau · Lake Iriki · nomad families · Erg Chigaga dunes
Stay
Desert camp in Erg Chigaga
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Erg Chigaga → Foum Zguid → Taliouine → Taroudant → Agadir
Wake up before the sun and climb the nearest dune. In Erg Chigaga, sunrise is very quiet. You hear nothing but the sand moving in the wind. After breakfast, we drive back across the desert tracks to Foum Zguid and find the road again.
This is the longest day, but the road is beautiful. We cross the Anti-Atlas again, stop for lunch in Taliouine or Taroudant, and enjoy the green of the Souss Valley after two days of sand. We arrive in Agadir in the evening and drop you at your hotel, with sand in your shoes and the desert in your heart.
Key stops
Sunrise on the dunes · Foum Zguid · Taliouine · Taroudant
