Errachidia → Meski Blue Spring → Ziz Valley → Erfoud → Rissani → Merzouga
We meet you at Errachidia airport, the bus station or your hotel. Errachidia is a quiet modern town, but just south of it starts one of the most beautiful valleys in Morocco: the Ziz. Our first stop is the Blue Spring of Meski, a natural pool of clear water under palm trees, where the old Foreign Legion once made a camp. Then the road runs along the edge of the valley, and below you there is a long green river of date palms, with mud villages on both sides. Stop at the viewpoint and take your time — it is one of the best photos of the trip.
We continue to Erfoud, the town of dates and fossils, where you can visit a workshop that cuts black marble full of 350-million-year-old sea creatures. Then Rissani, the heart of the Tafilalet and the old land of Sijilmassa, the great caravan city of the Middle Ages. In the late afternoon you reach Merzouga, and the dunes of Erg Chebbi stand in front of you like orange mountains. Your camels are waiting. Ride into the sand for sunset, arrive at the camp for mint tea, and enjoy dinner and Berber drums under the stars.
Key stops
Meski Blue Spring · Ziz Valley viewpoint · Erfoud fossils · Rissani
Stay
Desert camp in Erg Chebbi
A full day around Erg Chebbi
Wake up early and climb a dune for sunrise. After breakfast, your driver comes to the camp with the 4x4, and the day belongs to you. First we visit a nomad family. They live in a dark tent made of goat hair and move with their animals to find water and grass. They will offer you tea and bread baked in the sand. It is a simple life, and a very proud one.
Next is Khamlia, a small village of people whose grandparents came across the Sahara from West Africa. Here they keep the music of the Gnawa alive. The musicians invite you inside, serve tea and play the iron castanets and the deep guembri. Often they ask you to dance with them. After lunch, we drive to Dayet Srji, a lake that fills with water after the winter rains. When it is full, pink flamingos sometimes come to visit. We continue to the old lead mines of Mfis and come back around the dunes in the late afternoon. Tonight you sleep in a comfortable hotel or guesthouse at the foot of the dunes, with a hot shower and a pool.
Key stops
Nomad family · Khamlia Gnawa music · Dayet Srji · Mfis mines
Stay
Hotel or kasbah guesthouse in Merzouga
Merzouga → Rissani → Erfoud → Errachidia
If you want, your driver can take you to a high dune at sunrise once again. The light in the morning is soft and pink, and the desert is completely silent. After breakfast we drive north to Rissani. If it is a market day, walk through the souk, where people from all the villages come to sell dates, spices and donkeys. You can also visit the Ksar Ouled Abdelhalim, an old palace of the royal family.
We return to Errachidia along the Ziz Valley and drop you at the airport, the bus station or your hotel, in good time for your next journey.
Key stops
Rissani souk · Ksar Ouled Abdelhalim · Ziz Valley
Stay
Tour ends in Errachidia
