Posts Tagged ‘Ouarzazate Travel Agency’

Chigaga 4×4 Sahara Desert Tours to the Erg Chegaga Dunes, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

The Erg Chegaga Dunes of Morocco are the perfect place for a Sahara Adventure allowing Moroccan Travelers to escape the city lights and find themselves literally in the middle of no where. Erg Chegaga is considered by many to be the “real” Sahara Desert with it’s authentic rustic colored sand dunes and unique flora and fauna. Until recently cell phone coverage was not available in Chigaga and a Sahara journey to the Erg Chegaga Dunes was intended for those who wanted to discover the rocky and desolate areas of the Sahara. Historically speaking, the French and the British were primarily interested in visiting Chegaga however in the past several years that has changed.  Americans, Europeans, Asians, Africans and also Moroccans who are interested in an authentic Sahara Desert adventure that takes them deep into the vast Sahara frequent Morocco’s Erg Chigaga Dunes. Centuries ago, the Sahara Desert was covered with water that flowed through and over it. Morocco’s Sahara akin to its rocky piste region of the Onila Valley and Telouet were created by the geologic submergence of water and wind that pressed up against its basalt rock and has today created some of what make up the most magnificent landscape scenery in the Maghreb.

Chegaga-Sahara-Desert

The result of this deluge of water created a Sahara Desert of artifacts found near remains of giraffe, elephant, buffalo, antelopes, rhinoceros, and warthog, as well as the remains of fish, crocodiles, hippopotamuses and other aquatic animals. According to archeologists, the Sahara was much more densely populated thousands of years ago when the desert’s climate was not as harsh as it is today. Fossils, rock art, stone artifacts, bone harpoons, shells and many other items have been found in areas which today are considered too hot and dry to inhabit.

Chegaga-Sahara-Desert-Bivouac

The Sahara is the world’s largest non-arctic desert, and technically the world’s third largest desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers it covers most of North Africa, almost equivalent to the size of the United States of America. The Sahara desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean.The Sahara has a history that can be traced back to over 3 million years. Erg Chigaga is the only authentic Sahara Desert where the Erg Chigaga dunes lie within a wilderness where the only accommodation is in desert camps. This region is home to the Ait Atta Berber nomads. The Berbers are one of the oldest known inhabitants of the Sahara Desert. They are the people that occupied (and still occupy) more than two thirds of the Sahara’s total surface. The Erg Chigaga Sahara Desert is not built up in the same way as the Merzouga Sahara & Zagora Sahara. Aside from sand dunes and camels, there are only nomad families, wells for water usage, one school, twisted tamarisk trees, apple trees, the Black Sahara (hammada), Iriqui salt flats and Sacred Heart Oasis. Erg Chigaga is for the dye hard Sahara Desert Travelers.

Fossils- Sahara- Desert


3 DAY ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA TOUR) FROM OUARZAZATE

OUARZAZATE – ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – M’HAMID SAHARA DESERT

DAY 1: OUARZAZATE – AGDZ – DRAA VALLEY – ZAGORA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Ouarzazate at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Erg Chegaga Sahara Desert in a 4×4.

►Visit Kasbah des Cigognes which offers a panoramic view of the lake. Continue the road through the Draa Valley, passing Agdz. Once in Agdz continue the road by piste through the Tizi n’Tinififft Pass.

►Have lunch in local restaurant.

►After lunch cross directly through the Draa Valley and witness its incredible volcanic rock, plantations of palmarys and ksours. Arrive in Zagora.

►Diner and Spend the night at a Riad located within the palmary of Zagora.

DAY 2: ZAGORA – TAMAGROUTE – CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA)

►Breakfast at your Riad in Zagora.

▶Visit the old Kasbah Ait Lkaid in the village of Amzrou. At the end of the main road you will find the famous road sign to Timbuktu that reads “52 jours” – 52 hours by camel.

▶Next visit Zagora’s unique, beautifully glazed forest green pottery at the local cooperative in the desert town of Tamagroute. The holy village of Tamegroute’s claim to fame through out history is the beautiful pottery created that has a glaze made of henna and is sun dried.

▶Visit the old Zaouia in Zagora and its underground channels where people live and work.

▶Before taking the road to the Chegaga Sahara Desert, visit he Koranic Library that once held 40,000 volumes and theological college dating from the 11th century. The library contains a collection of illuminated Korans, the oldest of which are written on gazelle skins.

►Take the road to M’hamid. Have lunch in the M’hamid Sahara Desert.

▶ Continue the road by piste to Erg Chegaga then go by dromedary camel trek for 1 hour at sunset into the Erg Chegaga Dunes to camp overnight in a Biouvac tent. Your Tuareg guide will share some of the Sahara Deserts’ secrets. As you glide across humpback on these silent, mystical dunes there will be countless opportunities to photograph the endless rolling dunes.

DAY 3: ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – FOUM ZGUID – TAZENACKT – TAZNAKHTE -OUARZAZATE

▶Breakfast in the Erg Chegaga Dunes. Then take the road to Foum Zguid. You will pass deep, desert landscapes, dromedaries along side Nomad families that live in tents.

▶Visit Iriqui, the dry lake and Sahara desert plateau of Akassia. Enjoy lunch at an Oasis.

▶Take the road through Tazenackt, the region that is famous for Berber carpets. Then continue the road back to Ouarzazate This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to the M’hamid and Erg Chegaga Sahara Dunes in Morocco’s Sahara Desert.

Tuareg-Man-Erg-Chegaga-M'hamid-Dunes

3 DAY ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA TOUR) FROM MARRAKECH

MARRAKECH – ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – M’HAMID SAHARA DESERT

DAY 1: MARRAKECH – ZAGORA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Marrakech at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Erg Chegaga Sahara Desert in a 4×4.

►Departure from Marrakech to M’hamid Sahara Desert.

►En route from Marrakech to Zagora, stop to visit the Argan Cooperative where women make Argan Oil, Argan butter and cosmetics. Have a complimentary tasting and sample the products.

►Stop in the Tizin’ Tichka Pass, which boasts breathtaking views of the Tichka region as you continue your journey to the Sahara Desert for tea.

►Arrive in Ouarzazate. Visit the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah. Lunch in Ait Benhaddou at a restaurant with views of the Kasbah.

►Take the road by piste to visit the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

►Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou, which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►Continue the road through the Draa Valley. Arrive in Zagora.

►Spend the night at a Riad within a Palmary of Zagora.

DAY 2: ZAGORA – TAMAGROUTE – M’HAMID- ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA)

►Breakfast at your riad.

▶Visit the old Kasbah Ait Lkaid in the village of Amzrou. At the end of the main road you will find the famous road sign to Timbuktu that reads “52 jours” – 52 hours by camel.

▶Next visit Zagora’s unique, beautifully glazed forest green pottery at the local cooperative in the desert town of Tamagroute. The holy village of Tamegroute’s claim to fame through out history is the beautiful pottery created that has a glaze made of henna and is sun dried.

▶Visit the old Zaouia in Zagora and its underground channels where people live and work.

▶Before taking the road to the M’hamid Sahara Desert, visit he Koranic Library that once held 40,000 volumes and theological college dating from the 11th century. The library contains a collection of illuminated Korans, the oldest of which are written on gazelle skins.

►Lunch in Zagora, take the road to the M’hamid Sahara Desert. Visit the M’hamid Sahara Dunes then continue the road to Erg Chegaga.

▶ Arrive in Erg Chegaga then go by dromedary camel trek for 1 hour at sunset into the M’hamid Dunes to camp overnight in a Berber Biouvac tent. Your Tuareg guide will share some of the Sahara Deserts’ secrets. As you glide across humpback on these silent, mystical dunes there will be countless opportunities to photograph the endless rolling dunes.

DAY 3: ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – FOUM ZGUID – TAZENACKT – MARRAKECH

▶Breakfast in the Erg Chegaga Dunes. Then take the road to Foum Zguid. You will pass deep, desert landscapes, dromedaries and Rocky Mountains.

▶Take the road through Tazenackt, the region that is famous for Berber carpets. Then continue the road by pise to visit Kasbah Telouet and its famous Pacha Glaoui. Kasbah Telouet was once an important stop on the Southern Caravan route for traders carrying spices, slaves and other commodities. Telouet’s Kasbah also known as Dar Glaoui once served as the royal headquarters and residence of the Glaoui tribe. Until Morocco’s independence in 1956, the Glaoui had power in the central Moroccan and French administration.

►Lunch en route.

►Arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to the M’hamid and Erg Chegaga Sahara Dunes in Morocco’s Sahara Desert.

Wind-Storm-in-M'hamid-Sahara-Desert

4 DAY ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA TOUR) FROM MARRAKECH

MARRAKECH – ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – M’HAMID SAHARA DESERT

DAY 1: MARRAKECH – ZAGORA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Marrakech at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Erg Chegaga Sahara Desert in a 4×4.

►Departure from Marrakech to M’hamid Sahara Desert.

►En route from Marrakech to Zagora, stop to visit the Argan Cooperative where women make Argan Oil, Argan butter and cosmetics. Have a complimentary tasting and sample the products.

►Stop in the Tizin’ Tichka Pass, which boasts breathtaking views of the Tichka region as you continue your journey to the Sahara Desert for tea.

►Arrive in Ouarzazate. Visit the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah. Lunch in Ait Benhaddou at a restaurant with views of the Kasbah.

►Take the road by piste to visit the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

►Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou, which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►Continue the road through the Draa Valley. Arrive in Zagora.

►Spend the night at a Riad within a Palmary of Zagora.

DAY 2: ZAGORA – TAMAGROUTE – M’HAMID- ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA)

►Breakfast at your riad.

▶Visit the old Kasbah Ait Lkaid in the village of Amzrou. At the end of the main road you will find the famous road sign to Timbuktu that reads “52 jours” – 52 hours by camel.

▶Next visit Zagora’s unique, beautifully glazed forest green pottery at the local cooperative in the desert town of Tamagroute. The holy village of Tamegroute’s claim to fame through out history is the beautiful pottery created that has a glaze made of henna and is sun dried.

▶Visit the old Zaouia in Zagora and its underground channels where people live and work.

▶Before taking the road to the M’hamid Sahara Desert, visit he Koranic Library that once held 40,000 volumes and theological college dating from the 11th century. The library contains a collection of illuminated Korans, the oldest of which are written on gazelle skins.

►Lunch in Zagora, take the road to the M’hamid Sahara Desert. Visit the M’hamid Sahara Dunes then continue the road to Erg Chegaga.

▶ Arrive in Erg Chegaga then go by dromedary camel trek for 1 hour at sunset into the M’hamid Dunes to camp overnight in a Berber Biouvac tent. Your Tuareg guide will share some of the Sahara Deserts’ secrets. As you glide across humpback on these silent, mystical dunes there will be countless opportunities to photograph the endless rolling dunes.

DAY 3: ERG CHEGAGA (CHIGAGA) – FOUM ZGUID –  SKOURA

▶Breakfast in the Erg Chegaga Dunes. Then take the road to Foum Zguid. You will pass deep, desert landscapes, dromedaries and Rocky Mountains.

▶Take the road to Skoura which is known for its Valley of 1000 Kasbahs. Visit Skoura. Dinner & Spend the night at a Guest House that has views of the Skoura Palmary and 1000 Kasbahs.

►Lunch en route.

►Arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to the M’hamid and Erg Chegaga Sahara Dunes in Morocco’s Sahara Desert.

DAY 4: SKOURA – AIT BENHADDOU – MARRAKECH

►Breakfast at the Guesthouse in Skoura. Visit Ait Benhaddou.

► Located 32 km from Ouarzazate lies the picturesque village. Aït Benhaddou of Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draa on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated Kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the Kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river

►Make sure to bring along your camera and photograph this spectacular site and the stunning views that surround this Kasbah and its crenellated towers and dark red pise walls. By the river, you will find observe a collection of Kasbahs whose walls are decorated with blind arches and geometric designs. Make sure to take a walk behind the Kasbah and visit the series of ksars, individual plain earth houses still inhabited by Berber families. Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar. Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou.

and enjoy a traditional Moroccan tajine. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4×4 and head to the village of Tamadaght.

►Next take the road back to Marrakech, passing the Tiz N Tichka Pass with its impressive High Atlas Mountain views.

►Enroute stop at the Argan Cooperative where you can see women make Argan oil, butter and cosmetic products from the Argan nut. Continue the road and arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Travel Exploraiton Morocco Sahara journey.

For more information about 4×4 Chegaga Sahara Desert Tours or Morocco Travel Vacations

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

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Leading Morocco Travel Agency Offers Moroccan Jewelry & Boutique Morocco Tours, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Travel Exploration Morocco is a Morocco Travel agency that has been in business for just four years and has climbed to the forefront of the Morocco travel business through offering unique tours to Morocco. Travel Exploration Morocco has a wide variety of boutique tours to Morocco that enable travelers to have an off the beat overseas adventure travel experience while engaging in an authentic visit to the Maghreb.

Dar-Tiskiwin-Museum- Marrakech

During the past decade the Kingdom of Morocco has expanded its footprint throughout the world as it’s well respected and recognized King Mohammed VI chose a progressive path to modernize Morocco and help its lower class rise up through providing a better life. Mohammed VI has also modernized Morocco through his progressive views on communication, construction and the arts. Morocco is virtually wired and Moroccan travelers can be assured that when visiting they will be able to reach home through their international cell phone from almost every part of the country. Morocco is wired from Safi to the Sahara. Every Imperial City offers a wide range of internet options from internet cafes to free wife lounges and for only $60.00 a modem can be purchased and within minutes you can be online.

MOROCCO-FRANCE-SARKOZY-MOHAMED-VI

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has also led a path to housing in urban areas by encouraging a variety of projects from new apartment buildings to luxury villas. While Morocco may have an over abundance of housing in its major cities as a result of this, one thing that any new Moroccan resident is guaranteed are options of a place to live.

Marrakech is also on the verge of expanding to have gigamalls and other kinds of shopping and eating plazas. For outsiders it may appear to be a bit much or headed to the mainstream if it has not already but for residents of Morocco it is a welcome change and opportunity to find goods that were for so long hard to locate in the Maghreb.

The arts are also flourishing in Morocco from public art being shown at Marrakech’s new train station to regular international exhibitions being held at the Contemporary Museum of Marrakech. While there is not one major museum in Morocco there is a plethora of fine art, crafts and Moroccan Jewelry art available in all of the medina’s, within the new city centers of Marrakech, Fes, Ouarzazate, Casablanca and Essaouira along with a mélange of imports that while are available at a high price can well be worth the purchase.

Silver-Berber- Headress

The better life for the average Moroccan who lives off agriculture means being able to till their fields regardless of volatile weather and having the advantage of knowing that additional supplements of wheat and other grains or means for their fields are available through local government assistance or through national government assistance.

King Mohamed VI has also achieved expanding Morocco’s footprint on the world stage through his moderate views of allowing so many foreigners to visit and settle as residents in the majestic Maghreb. Morocco is on the upswing attracting more tourism then ever before and offering more value for its money.

People who consider traveling to Morocco for the first time have so many options to choose from with regards to accommodations, eating choices and vacation experiences. Marrakech, often referred to as the Paris of Morocco for its lush green parks, colorful shops, elegant monuments and clean streets offers Moroccan travelers the opportunity to stay in 4 or 5 Star Traditional Moroccan Riads with welcoming tea service and all of the amenities plus more that one could find on a vacation to Europe. Marrakech compliments this by also offer 3 Star Riads that are charming and a variety of 3 Star, 4 Star and 5 Star Upscale and reasonably priced hotel accommodations.

Say the word food in the Maghreb and your lips are likely to moisten quickly. Every city in Morocco is known for having great cuisine. Wherever you travel on your Moroccan vacation, providing you chose a customized Morocco tour, a Morocco travel agency or do the research on your own, you are bound to have some of the best meals of your life in either a restaurant or with a local Moroccan family.

The best times to visit Morocco are in April and May as well as September and October. Moroccans are welcoming and traveling to Morocco during any season guarantees a spectacular holiday experience.

If it is your first time traveling to the Maghreb and you are an artist or teacher by trade choosing a vacation that enabled you to have a boutique Moroccan experience would be best. Travel Exploration’s Bead Your Way Through Morocco’s Trade Bead and Jewelry Treasure Hunting Tour will ensure you see the hottest places in Morocco, the most majestic landscapes while enabling you to add unique pieces to your Trade Bead and Moroccan Jewelry Collection.

Traveling to Morocco to visit its Waterfalls and Kasbahs is also another way to see Morocco without engaging full time with the hustle and bustle of Morocco’s Imperial Cities.

A Pottery and Zellij Tile Design Tour is yet another option that will engage the senses and allow you as an artists, Moroccan traveler and professor to learn the ancient tricks of the trade that old Fasis artists use to hand make Zellij tile and Fassis Pottery.

Fes-Pottery- Cooperative-Moroccan-Tourist- Painting-Dish

For the Moroccan traveler who is longing for a cuisine adventure, Travel Exploration offers A Taste of Morocco and for those interested in history and architecture, the opportunity to Discover Fes on an extended tour. For the Moroccan traveler who is interested in escaping to a seaside town of tranquility then the artist colony/ seaside resort of Essaouira is an option. For those who desire a visit to the Sahara, a camel trek or Quad riding tour visiting the region of Merzouga’s Erg Chebbi Dunes or M’hamids’ Sahara Desert is the way to go.

With all of the amazing travel opportunities available in the 21st Century Morocco is a hotspot that offers the perfect holiday vacation filled with adventure, art, history and entertainment.

For more information on Bead Making & Moroccan Jewelry or Customized Morocco Travel Vacations

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Morocco Travel Agency, Moroccan Jewelry Tours, Boutique Morocco Tours, Customized Morocco Tours, Bead Your Way Through Morocco, Moroccan Jewelry & Bead Treasure Hunting Tour, Trade Bead Morocco Tour, Trade Bead Tours, Bead making Tours, Jewelry Tours, King Mohammed VI, Imperial City, Traditional Moroccan Riads, Morocco Waterfalls, Morocco Kasbahs, Pottery & Zellij Tile Design Tour, A Taste of Morocco Tour, Ouarzazate Travel Agency, Morocco Travel, Tours to Morocco, Morocco Vacations, Morocco Holidays

Bead Your Way Through Morocco, Moroccan Jewelry & Trade Bead Treasure Hunting Tour, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Bead your Way Through Morocco is a Moroccan Jewelry & Trade Bead Treasure Hunting Tour created by Travel Exploration Morocco and hosted by Sarah Corbett, a Tribal Jewelry Expert. Travel Exploration Morocco is a Ouarzazate based Travel Agency and the first to offer this customized Moroccan Jewelry & Trade Bead Tour to Morocco with a Tribal Jewelry Expert.

Bead Your Way Through Morocco, Travel Exploration’s new quarterly Moroccan Jewelry & Bead Treasure Hunting Tour will launch it’s first Morocco travel itinerary on April 26th – May 9th, 2010. Bead Your Way Through Morocco will take Moroccan antique, trade bead enthusiasts and Moroccan jewelry collectors through a variety of Southern Moroccan cities, (Ait Ouzzine, Agdz, Tarodaunt, Tiznit) Saharan Desert Towns, (Zagora, M’hamid) the Seaside city of Essaouira and the Imperial city of Marrakech.

Berber- Moroccan-Headress

Travel Exploration Morocco has teamed up with Tribal Jewelry expert Sarah Corbett to offer an exciting and enthralling Moroccan Jewelry and Bead Treasure Hunting Tour to the Maghreb. This 14 Day/ 13 Night Moroccan Jewelry & Bead Tour will enable Moroccan jewelry and bead enthusiasts to explore Morocco’s hidden treasures with a focus on antique Moroccan silver and trade beads.

At the lead of Travel Exploration’s Bead Your Way Through Morocco Tour is Sarah Corbett, a Tribal Jewelry Expert who has focused her research, documentation and exploration on ethnic and tribal adornment from North Africa and the Sahara region for the past ten years. Corbett takes immense pride in sourcing and selecting antique tribal pieces for Museums and collectors worldwide. Corbett also makes some of these pieces (Moroccan Jewelry, Antique Silver Fibulas, Moroccan Hamsas, Trade Beads, Antique Beads) available to a wider audience through Vivid Trading.com.

Beaded-Berber-Bag-With-Antique-Amber-Silver-Amzrou-Zagora

Bead enthusiasts and jewelry collectors who attend the Bead Your Way Through Morocco Tour will be able to participate in a bead-making workshop in Morocco and have several viewings and purchasing opportunities of antique tribal beads and trade beads.

Moroccan-Trade-Bead

Bead enthusiasts and jewelry collectors who attend the Bead Your Way Through Morocco Tour will be shown a variety of renowned beads of antiquity such as Moroccan Amber, Moroccan Coral, Moroccan Copal, Moroccan Berber & Tuareg Silver and Venetian Beads (Trade Beads) at private viewings. These Moroccan jewelry treasures will be shown to guests by some of Morocco’s Tuareg and Berber traders who have their pulse on the most valued antique beads, trade beads and silver jewelry in Morocco alongside unique jewelry that passes through the North Africa region.

This 14 Day/ 13 Night Jewelry Treasure Hunting Tour to Morocco will also include a visit to the Bouthgrars’ Valley of Nomads, the Dades Valley region, a sunset camel trek to the M’hamid Sahara Desert Dunes, a visit to Amzrou, Zagora’s Jewish Mellah, known for it ancient silver making traditions and Taradount, often referred to as the mini- Marrakech whose orange ramparts surround its quiet people live tucked beneath the Souss Valley.

Silver-Mold-Berber-Moroccan-Cross-Amzrou

The trip will commence with a visit to Essaouira by the sea, where Moroccan Jewelry collectors and bead enthusiasts who have attended the tour can relax by the beach while still squeezing in one last viewing from a private Moroccan jewelry trader in the heart of old Mogador.

Travel Exploration Morocco’s Tour Host, Sarah Corbett actively participates in world bead studies, to record and preserve the knowledge of these amazing art forms, their creation and evolution. Recently Sarah has become involved in the translation of the works of Mr. Bert Flint the founder of the Tiskiwin Museum in Marrakech. As a result of Corbett’s connection, the Bead Your Way Through Morocco Tour will also include a one-hour private lecture at the Tiskiwin Museum with viewings of priceless pieces.

Moroccan-Perfume-Amulet

Bead Your Way Through Morocco is the perfect tour for Morocco travel adventurers who are also Moroccan jewelry and bead collectors who wish to see Morocco’s cultural and historical sites while treasure hunting in the Maghreb. Bead Your Way Through Morocco is definitely worth adding to your Morocco vacation or Morocco travel holiday plan.

Berber-Moroccan- Taguemout

DAY 1:  CASABALNCA – MARRAKECH

Flight Arrival at Casablanca’s International Airport.

►Have breakfast and then visit the Mosque of Hassan II. Casablanca is home to the Hassan II Mosque, designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau. It is situated on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. Its minaret is the world’s tallest at 210 meters. It is an enormous architectural masterpiece and the second largest religious building in the world. On Fridays, the Mosque of Hassan II is open to non-Muslims. The Mosque of Hassan II’s promontory offers lovely views overlooking Casa in the residential Afna quarter.

►After visiting the Hassan II Mosque, take the road to Marrakech. Arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon, check into your Riad. Relax and unwind, then visit Djemma El Fna Square.

►Welcome dinner at Le Marrakech’s which is filled with beautiful, old Zellij tile and has a view of Djemma El Fna Square.

Spend the night at 4 Star Traditional Moroccan Riad in Marrakech.

Souks-Marrakech-Waterman

DAY 2:  –MARRAKECH (GUIDED HISTORICAL TOUR)

►Breakfast at your Riad. Begin your one-day Historical Tour of Marrakech.

►Your introduction to Marrakech will begin in the new city, we will navigate our way to French, Gueliz and head to the Majorelle Gardens, a magical and lush small garden estate designed by Jacque Majorelle and maintained by Yves Saint Laurent. The Majorelle Garden is filled with colorful walkways, ponds, cactus and plants as well as a beautiful shop with hand-made goods. On our return to your hotel, we will pass by the La Mammounia Hotel Garden (where Alfred Hitchcock wrote the famous film The Birds).

►Visit the 19th Century Bahia Palace originally built for Si Moussa, a former slave who became King Moulay Hassan’s chamberlain. The palace holds a courtyard and riads decorated with and the most beautiful carved stucco, Arabic architecture. Next visit the 16th Century Saadian Tombs and El Mansour mosque. Marrakech is a city of underground channels built by the architects from Cordoba, Spain to provide water for the town and Palmary.

►Next visit the old, Medina, the old quarter of the Marrakech. From here we will explore this historically charming area by foot. In Djemma el Fna, you will visit the famous 12th century Koutouba Mosque and its influential minaret.

►Your guide will lead you through the labyrinth streets and alleys of the Djemma. Enjoy aromatic smells, taste fresh squeezed orange juice and venture into the souks specializing in Berber carpets, silver jewelry, artisan workshops, handmade shoes and tanneries.  Enjoy a three- course lunch consisting of fresh salad, tajine and fruit at one of Marrakech most delectable restaurants.

►Next we will visit the Museum or Tiskiwin, a private museum dedicated to popular arts & crafts, styled as a beautiful Spanish-Moroccan house, next door to Dar Si Said palace, a smaller version of the Bahia. Visit the courtyard.

Tiskiwin Museum Lecture: You will have a first hand viewing of the Tiskiwin and listen to a one-hour lecture and exploration of its history, be shown its private bead and jewelry collection.

Jewelry & Treasures of Marrakech Viewing:
Late afternoon/ Evening viewing of Moroccan Jewelry pieces at your Riad by a local Tuareg Trader in Marrakech. Enjoy a private two- hour viewing of fabulous beads, jewels and local silver pieces available for purchase and historical discussion about the origin and meaning of these pieces.

► Dinner at Le Marrakechi or at your Riad.

Spend the night at 4 Star Traditional Moroccan Riad.

DAY 3:  MARRAKECH – TIZNIT (5 Hours Driving Time)

►Breakfast at your Riad in Marrakech, then take the road to Tiznit.

►Pass through Agadir and witness the Argan goats in trees nestling in to eat away at the Argan nuts which are typically used in making Argan Oil, Butter and Cosmetics.

►Stop in Agadir or in a small village for lunch, then continue the road to Tiznit. Tiznit is a town in the southern Moroccan economic region of Souss-Massa- Draa founded in 1881 by the Sultan Hassan I.  It has a population of approximately 50,000. Tiznit is well known for its silver jewelry, daggers and sabres.

►Arrive in Tiznit, check into your Riad and have dinner.

Spend the night at 4 Star Riad in Tiznit.

Asrou-N -Swoul Berber-Silver

DAY 4:  TIZNIT – TAROUDANT (MOROCCAN JEWELRY & SILVER TREASURE HUNTING)

►Rise, have breakfast at your Riad. Then spend half-day visiting the Jewelry Souk in the center of Tiznit and a a journey to Bab Lakhmis Ait M’hamid where you will have access to and study the variety of kinds of Southern Moroccan and Mauranitian beads and jewelry. You will also be able to make purchases there to add to your collection.

►Have lunch in Tiznit, and then take the road to Taradount.

►Arrive in Taroudant, check into your Riad.

Dinner and Spend the night in a 4 Star Riad in Taroudaunt.


DAY 5: TAROUDANT  (TRADE BEAD MAKING WORKSHOP)

►Rise, have breakfast at your Riad, and then begin your exploration of Taroudaunt.

Taroudant is a Moroccan city  located in the Souss Valley in the southern part of the country. It is situated eat from Agadir on the road to Ouarzazate and south from Marrakech. It has the feel of a small-fortified market town on some caravan route. It is also known for its local crafts like jewelry and carpets. Taroudant is often referred to as the “Grandmother of Marrakech” because it is a scaled down, slowed down town that resembles Marrakech with its surrounding ramparts. Unlike Marrakech, Taroudant contains almost the whole city within its walls.

►Visit the old medina for a two-hours, then take the road just outside Taroudant to a small workshop that produces traditional Berber beads and is the original place that makes jewelry for the Souks throughout Morocco. Spend half the day watching the actual production of beads.

View The Trade Bead-Making Process:
View the bead-making process detail at the workshop where you can create your own jewelry from the beads that you have seen produced that day – which will be yours to keep as a souvenir of your visit. There will be access to a wide selection of beads available.  

Bead Demonstration Of Rare Bead-making Traditions:
During your workshop you will have the opportunity to witness a demo of three different styles of bead making, two of which are “rare’.”  Trade Bead making enthusiasts will enjoy this demonstration, as it will enable them to view how old traditions are still be practiced, produced and carried on in Morocco. Some of these traditions include utilizing couscous and other original Moroccan traditions to create beads. This “rare” tradition will be seen and recorded for the first time during our visit.

►There will be an opportunity to also purchase beads and special silver and other Moroccan Jewelry during your Bead Making Workshop in Taroudant.

►Lunch in Taroudant.  After lunch there is the option to continue Moroccan Bead and Jewelry Treasure Hunting or return to your Riad to relax for the evening.

Dinner & Spend the night at a 4 Star Riad in Taroudant.

Talouine-Saffron

DAY 6: TAROUDAUNT – TALIOUINE – AGDZ  (GUIDED HISTORICAL TOUR)

Breakfast at your Riad. Then spend take the road to Agdz. En route to Agdz, you will stop at the Taliouine Saffron Cooperative. Taliouine is the traditional area of cultivation of saffron in Morocco and has been for hundreds of years.  The Taliouine Souktana cooperative is on the road to Taroudant, in the village of Taliouine, in the heart of Sirwa Mountains. The Taliouine Cooperative sells only truly biological saffron, cultivated according the traditional ways, with natural fertilizers. The mountains dry climate is ideal for such a culture.

After visiting the Taliouine Saffron Cooperative, continue the road to Agdz.

Arrive in Agdz and visit a local, traditional Moroccan small store that is famous for its antique beads such as amber, coral, copal and also offers up a fantastic array of antique silver Moroccan Jewelry.  After treasure hunting in Agdz, take the road by piste to Kasbah Tamnogault.

Dinner and Spend the night just outside Agdz at the famous Tamnougalt Kasbah.

DAY 7: AGDZ – KASBAH TAMNOGAULT – ZAGORA

►Breakfast at your Riad. Take the road to visit the village of Ait Ouzzine.

Aït Ouzzine is a Berber village inhabited by over 300 families who live in beautifully painted crenulated Kasbahs, with their own henna fields, water wells, livestock and gardens. This peaceful village is tucked away along an impressive desert route connecting the Draa Valley (Tansikht) and Rissani.

►Meet a local Berber family, partake in a cooking lesson of how to make traditional bread, couscous and a tajine.

►Then explore and tour the village by foot. Walk in the green fields and see how the traditional Berbers live with their gardens of herbs, livestock, and henna plants.

Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert.

►After lunch, you can have your hands and feet painted with henna or your hair adorned with saffron by a local village artist and relax.  Experience the tradition of Berber perfume made from musk and amber along with the villages own spices.

►End the afternoon in Ait Ouzzine with mint tea and almonds.  Take the road back to Ouarzazate.

Dinner and Spend the night at a 4 Star Riad located within a Palmary of old Zagora.

DAY 8:  ZAGORA – TAMAGROUTE – AMZROU – M’HAMID

►Breakfast at your Riad in the Zagora Sahara, then begin your visit of Zagora, a Saharan desert town in the southern Draa Valley. Zagora is favored by travelers for its desert dunes, palms, 45 varieties of dates and its Hollywood sunset mountain backdrops. Take the road by piste (windy road) to discover the land where caravans once transported sugar, tea, dates and other dry goods to Ouarzazate.

Explore the Tamegroute Pottery Cooperative:
Learn how the local, forest green, glazed pottery is made and fired using regional henna.  The holy village of Tamegroute’s claim to fame through out history is the beautiful pottery created that has a glaze made of henna and is sun dried.

►You will enjoy a workshop lead by Tamagroute pottery masterswhereby you will learn how the pottery unique to this region of Zagora is made.  You will learn the history as well as their local techniques. An English translator will be provided along with all necessary materials for you to make your own Tamagroute pottery. Everything you make you will be able to keep.

►Visit the ancient Zaouia site and the Koranic library. Tamegroute has a Koranic Library that once held 40,000 volumes and theological college dating from the 11th century. The library contains a collection of illuminated Korans, the oldest of which are written on gazelle skins.

Silver-smith-Amzrou

The Art of Silversmiths in Amzrou:
►Next, visit the village of Amzrou and it’s old Jewish Mellah. See how silversmiths work to make hand made silver fibulas and Southern Crosses.  Watch how molds are made from scratch, then how the Sahara’s sand is used to bind the molds for creating jewelry. The Jews who inhabited this village in the 1950’s taught the silver smiths in Amzrou their craft. Before the fled to Israel, they left a long history of craftsmanship along with the land to continue their silver making jewelry tradition. There will be an opportunity for bead buying, silver buying and also for purchasing of old artifacts.

►View the old Mellah’s Museum and artifacts for viewing and for purchase.  Amzrou and the old city boasts a private area filled with artifacts that are of Berber, Jewish and Arabic origin.

►After exploring Amzrou, take the road to the M’hamid Sahara. Sunset camel trek into the M’hamid Sahara Dunes.  Dinner at your luxury bivouac tent in the M’hamid Dunes. Spend the night in the M’hamid Sahara Desert.

DAY 9: M’HAMID – DRAA VALLEY – SKOURA

►Breakfast in the M’hamid Sahara Desert. Then take the road to Skoura.

►En route to Skoura, you will pass the magnificent Draa Valley, its Berber villages and the old routes where caravans once passed. The Draa Valley is surrounded with volcanic rock and breathtaking landscapes.

►Lunch and half-day visit of Skoura.

Skoura is a fertile oasis lined with immense palm groves that provide great views of the Atlas Mountains alongside
deserted landscapes. It is renowned for the cultivation of roses. The palm groves were laid out in the 12th century by the Almohad sultan Yacoub el-Mansour and named after its original inhabitants, the Berbers of the Haskourene tribe. The most beautiful Kasbahs in southern Morocco can be found here. Many of them are still partially inhabited.

►The most imposing of the Kasbahs in this area that you will tour is 17th Century Amerhidil Kasbah. This fortified residence once belonged to the most powerful family responsible for protecting the village and its lands called the Glaoui. Today it is owned by the Sheikh of Amerhidil.

►Touring the Kasbah is a most charming opportunity as its interior is now restored. The Amerhidil Kasbah is featured on a 50.00 note of Moroccan Dirhams and on an Orange Juice box branded, Marrakesh.

After your visit of Skoura, check into your guest house which is located at the peak of Skoura and boasts views of the majestic Skoura Palmary and its one-thousand Kasbahs. Relax by the pool. Dinner at your Guest House with cuisine made with the olive oil that is locally produced in Skoura.

Spend the night at a 4 Star Guest House in the Skoura Palmary.

DAY 10: OUARZAZATE (GUIDED HISTORICAL TOUR)

►Rise early, breakfast at your Riad and then take the road to visit the Ouarzazate region and its famous Kasbahs.

►“See Ouarzazate and die” are feelings often expressed by Moroccans with regards to this magical city that is the door to the Sahara Desert. Located just four hours from Marrakech, Ouarzazate is the main Berber city in the south known for its spectacular sunsets and dramatic mountain and desert scenery. Surrounded by breathtaking valleys, Ouarzazate was once crossing point for African traders seeking to reach northern cities in Morocco and Europe. During the French period, Ouarzazate expanded considerably as a garrison town and became the administrative centre of the Zagora region. Ouarzazate became famous when it’s nearby Kasbah; Ait Benhaddou appeared in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.

►Take the windy road by piste visit the Oasis of Fint passing the “Plateau de pierres“.  Journey on a one-hour walk inside the Oasis where you will have a cup of tea with the headmasters family Azziz Ouaziz and tour the surrounding area where date palm oases and dramatic desert scenery are king.

► Then take the road to Ait Benhaddou. Located 32 km from Ouarzazate lays the picturesque village. Aït Benhaddou of Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draa on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films. Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated Kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the Kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river. Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.  Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara.

►Enjoy lunch at a Kasbah that overlooks Ait Benhaddou.

►Next, visit Kasbah Taouirirt. Kasbah Taorirt was built by the Glaoui. Its location was strategic for trading routes and in the 1930’s when the Glaoui ruled the South it was then one of Morocco’s largest Kasbahs. Explore Kasbah Taouirirt’s nooks and crannies and discover some local female painters who sell their art inside as well as the many quality silver shops just steps outside the Kasbah.

Dinner & Spend the night in a 4 Star Charming Riad in Ouarzazate.

Tea-With-Nomad-Family-Bouthgrar-Mount-Mgoun

Day 11: OUARZAZATE – BOUTHGRAR- VALLEY OF NOMADS – DADES VALLEY

►Breakfast at your Riad. Take the road to visit Bouthgrar, the Valley of Nomads and the Dades Valley.

►Begin your visit at the breathtaking Valley of Nomads. Located in Bouthgrar is the Valley of Nomads, a beautiful 10 kilometer valley where Nomads live in caves that are surrounded by Mount Mgoun. Mount Mgoun is the second highest mountain in Morocco and boasts extraordinary views. Have tea with a Nomad family.  See first hand where they make their own carpets and co exist in Bouthgrar with other Nomad families.

►Your journey will then take you through the Dades Valley, which covers 125 km between Ouarzazate and Boumalne du Dadès in the High Atlas Mountains.

►Once you reach Boumalne at first sight you notice the limestone cliffs with uniquely shaped erosions and superb scenery and the valley’s pise (windy roads). Driving along you will pass flower filled fields, fertile fields, riverbanks and several fortified ksours. At the bottom of Gorge of Boumalne Dadès there are ruined hilltop Kasbahs and valley floor gardens.

►Lunch will be served at a nearby guesthouse that offers local Moroccan fare and a panoramic view. Relax and sip mint tea while gazing at the impressive valley view.

►Take the road back to Ouarzazate. Explore Ouarzazate’s famous areas that offer countless places to purchase old beads and Moroccan Jewelry.

Dinner and Spend the Night at a 4 Start Charming Riad in Ouarzazate.

Majorelle-Gardens-Marrakech

DAY 12: OUARZAZATE – MARRAKECH

►Rise, have breakfast at your Riad and then take the road to visit the Ouarzazate region and its famous Kasbahs.

►During your journey to Marrakech you will also pass the olive groves of the Oued Zat, as you ascend onto the Tizi-N-Tichka Pass Road. Built by the French in the 1920’s, the Tizi-N-Tichka Pass can be described as having mountainous barriers, Mediterranean and oceanic influences and desert borders. Along the route you will see panoramic views of the High Atlas Mountains as well as sights of fertile valleys, blue and red colored pise villages and other striking mineral environments.

▶En route you will go by piste to visit Kasbah Telout, one of Morocco’s hidden jewels and a famous Kasbahs that is the origin of the Pacha Glaoui Family. Kasbah Telout is hidden among a tiny road in a small village that is 20 minutes outside Tichka. Its history stands alone with its original zellij tile, authentic, preserved silks and grand remnants of the Glaoui family. Unlike the other Kasbahs in Southern Morocco, Telout was occupied by the Glaoui’s instead of the slaves and has stunning views. This Kasbahs has yet to be coined a UNESCO World Heritage site and while it appears in parts to be in ruins on the exterior, its interior is one of true splendor.

►En route stop for lunch and visit the Argan Cooperative where Argan Oil, Butter and Cosmetics are made with the Argan nut by hand as Berber women crack the nuts and the grind them one by one. Have a complimentary tasting.  This cooperative is run entirely by women. Lunch in the village of Tadart.

►Arrive in Marrakech. Evening Free.

Spend the night in a 4 Star Riad in Marrakech.


DAY 13: MARRAKECH – ESSAOUIRA (GUIDED HISTORICAL TOUR)

▶Rise, breakfast at your Riad. Then take the road to visit the seaside port of Essaouira. The journey to this former Portuguese fishing village offers up only a few roadside towns and the occasional Berber village. In the ’60s and ’70sEssaouira was a pitstop on the hippie trek from Marrakesh. Jimi Hendrix made the pilgrimage, as did Bob Marley and Cat Stevens. Essaouira was the inspiration for Hendrix’s song “Castles Made of Sand.”

▶ Visit this sea-side medieval town that boasts lovely white-washed and blue-shuttered houses, colonnades, thuya wood workshops, art galleries and mouthwatering seafood. Once called Mogador by European sailors and traders, Essaouria is known for its annual Gnaoua Music Festival that attracts 300,000+ people in June. It also has an expansive beach for surfing called Plage de Safi.

▶ Take a stroll along the town’s sunlit pedestrian main square, Place Prince Moulay el Hassan and the Skala du Port, the fishing harbor, offer breathtaking views of the Portuguese ramparts. Explore the ramparts and the spice and jewelry souks of the medina. Your guide will take you to the old Jewish Mellah and explain the entire history of Essaouira.  The medina of Essaouira (formerly “Mogador“) is a UNESCO World Heritage listed city, as an example of a late-18th century fortified town.

Bead & Jewelry Hunting in Essaouira:
Take time out in Essaouira’s old medina to visit the jewelry shops that specialize in antique Venetian beads, Berber Silver, Amber and Copal.

▶ Have lunch at the fish-grill cafes, with wooden tables and benches laid out overlooking the sea that was once- in the 19th century- the only Moroccan Port south of Tangier. After lunch take a relaxing walk on the beach in Essaouira.

▶ After lunch visit Orson Welles’ Square and memorial, designed by Samir Mustapha, one of the town’s artists, which pays homage to Orson Welles filming of Othello in EssouariaEssaouira’s history is a reminder of the times when Spain, Portugal and England fought to maintain control over its coasts. It has a typical Portuguese harbor that is a stunning example of Moorish and Portuguese architecture.

▶Before departing from Essaouira, take a stroll along Essaouira’s beach for a relaxing seaside experience before your departure back to Marrakech.

Jewelry & Treasures of Marrakech Viewing:
Evening viewing of Moroccan Jewelry pieces at your Riad by a local Berber Trader in Marrakech. Enjoy a private two- hour viewing of fabulous beads, jewels and local silver pieces available for purchase and historical discussion about the origin and meaning of these pieces.

Spend the night in a 4 Star Riad in Marrakech.


DAY 14: MARRAKECH DEPARTURE

Departure from Marrakech’s Menara Airport.

For more information on Bead Making & Moroccan Jewelry or Customized Morocco Travel Vacations

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

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Morocco 4×4 Tours, 4×4 Excursions to Morocco’s Sahara Desert and 4×4 Private Morocco Travel, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Morocco 4×4 Tours offer the best way to discover the Sahara Desert & Berber Villages in the Maghreb. When visiting a country like Morocco, your journey is best served when traveling by luxury accommodations to the Sahara Desert such as a 4×4 Toyota Land cruiser. A Morocco Travel journey to the Sahara Desert and Berber Villages offers the opportunity to discover old pistes (windy roads) that were once traveled through by the old caravans.

Morocco-4x4-Tour-Toyota-Landcruiser -Lake-El-Mansour

Covering the routes of the old caravans and rocky Sahara Desert pistes is best done in a 4×4 when touring Morocco. A Morocco 4×4 Tour allows you as a Moroccan traveler and your family to visit tiny Berber villages and hamlets that are located throughout the country’s Sahara and Atlas Mountain regions in relative ease and comfort.

Morocco-4x4-Tour-Road-Map-Piste-Lake-El-Mansour

When traveling in a 4×4 during your Morocco Tour, you will also be able to feel care free as a result of long distances that exists between cities such, as Marrakech and Ouarzazate, Ouarzazate and the Merzouga Sahara Desert, Ouarzaztae and the M’hamid Sahara Desert and Marrakech and the Tizi N’ Tichka pass. 4×4 Morocco Travel enables guests who take a private tour to Morocco to relax in comfort in between arriving at their local Morocco holiday destinations.

Tichka-Pass-Morocco-4x4-Tour

Morocco 4×4 Tours also offer a kind of unique adventure that cannot be found when traveling in large tour buses or small cars in Morocco. A 4×4 Morocco Tour feels more like a Morocco expedition then a standard Morocco vacation. Morocco 4×4 Tours are your key traveling through the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert and Tizi N’ Tickha Mountains with the utmost ease. A 4×4 enables Moroccan travelers to see a wide range of stunning Moroccan scenery and the option to be free and stop to take photographs at leisure.

Morocco-4x4-Tour-Toyota-Landcruiser

4×4 Morocco Travel also allow for a customized Morocco Tour itinerary. When traveling throughout Morocco in a 4×4 there is an opportunity to explore a variety of different routes within the Sahara and Atlas Mountain regions then when traveling by bus or car. Some say, that to see the “Real Morocco,” a journey must be done in no less the 10 days in Morocco and the best way to accomplish this is on a private Morocco 4×4 Morocco Tour. Traveling in a 4×4 also offers the privacy to explore on your Morocco vacation without the nuisance of other travelers.

Morocco 4×4 Tours also offer 4×4 excursions to the cities of Marrakech and Ouarzazate. As a Morocco Travel Agency and Destination Management company based in Ouarzazate, Travel Exploration Morocco promises to deliver the best on road and off road experience during a 4×4 Morocco Tour. With our American-Moroccan partnership, Travel Exploration Morocco guarantees that our guests will discover the best of Morocco through our expertise of planning and placement in the best Riads in Marrakech, the best Riads in Fes, the best Riads in Ouarzazate and luxury bivouacs in the Sahara Desert.

Best-Riad-Fes-Travel-Exploration-Morocco

Travel Exploration Morocco also works with the top 4 and 5 Star Riads in Morocco that offer a palace-like unique atmosphere with spectacular Moroccan Food. In Southern Morocco Travel Exploration Morocco works with some of the best Riads and Guesthouses that offer the most majestic views and magnificent traditional Moroccan cuisine.

Best-Quality-Riads-In-Morocco

Travel Exploration Morocco is a proud member of ASTA– the American Association of Travel Agents. As a member of ASTA, Travel Exploration Morocco guarantees our guests trip through an ensured plan. ASTA- The American Association of Travel Agents offers Americans, Europeans and other foreigners the option to travel with ease, knowing that the Morocco Travel Agency and American- Moroccan Destination Management Company that travel agents collaborate with is officially approved by American Travel counterparts.

ASTA Logo

When planning a Morocco 4×4 Tour it is important to consider the wide variety of options that agencies offer. Some helpful tips that will make your Morocco 4×4 Tour….simply the best.

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Five Tips For The Best Morocco 4×4 Tour

  1. Make a list of what is most important to you during your Morocco 4×4 Tour and ask the Morocco Travel Agency to answer the questions you have in full detail.
  2. Ask a Morocco Travel Agency or Morocco Destination Management Company what they plan to provide you with during your 4×4 Morocco Tour that is different from others travel agencies which will enable you to have the best Morocco travel experience.
  3. Make sure that the Travel Agency you book a Morocco Tour with is either a member of ASTA- American Travel Association or a member of his/ her own country’s Travel Association. A true sign of this is for the Morocco Travel Agency to have the logo of the association they are a member of posted on their website and included in their brochures. You can also log on to ASTA- American Association of Travel Agents website and check if an agency is a member.
  4. Make sure that the Morocco Travel Agency you work with during a Morocco 4×4 Tour guarantees that they will spend more per guest and on your comfort through providing the best quality Riads or Hotels and food accommodations. Travel Exploration Morocco has a reputation of spending 20% more per guest to ensure safe, enjoyable and comfortable travel and accommodations. This is a must when traveling to the Maghreb.
  5. A good Morocco Travel Agency always asks you questions about yourself, lets you know that, as the guest who is traveling to Morocco, you come first and provides you with a complete organized list of what to bring for your travel experience.

For more information on Morocco 4×4 Tours

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

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Berber Tours To Morocco, Discover Berber Villages, Ancient Kasbahs, Camel Trek in the Sahara Desert, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Berber Tours to Morocco are authentic way to Discover a Berber Village, visit ancient kasbahs and camel trek in the Sahara Desert. Discover a Berber Village is a Southern Morocco Cultural Tour that is an EXCLUSIVE Travel Exploration Morocco. Discover a Berber Village is a historical journey where Moroccan travelers can have an up close and authentic experience in a Moroccan, Berber Village while visiting the Ouarzazate and Zagora regions of Morocco. When traveling to Morocco, a Morocco vacation is not complete without visiting Morocco’s indigenous people and discovering its Berber Villages. A Berber Tour to Morocco is the most important Moroccan voyage for those who are interested in Morocco’s history and old world traditions.

Berber-Family- Berber-Tours- Ait-Ouzzine

Visiting Morocco on a Berber Tour, offers Moroccan travelers the opportunity to spend the day and an over night stay with a Berber family in Ait Ouzzine, (translated from Berber as “the nice village”) near the small city of N’kob within the Zagora region. Ait Ouzzine is a Berber village that tucked beneath the Middle Atlas Mountains within the Draa Valley region. Visiting the Berber Village of Ait Ouzzine on a Berber Tour guarantees a unique Morocco Travel adventure. A visit to the Berber village, Ait Ouzzine includes partaking in a cooking lesson of how to make traditional bread and a Moroccan tajine, exploring the village’s Kasbahs by foot, strolling the green fields and seeing first hand, how the traditional Berbers live among their live stock and at peace within their natural surroundings.

Ait-Ouzzine-Village-Old-Kasbahs

During the Berber Tour in Ait Ouzzine, a traditional Berber family will serve lunch and host you as a Moroccan traveler with top quality and genteel service. The menu for your Berber Tour in a Berber village for lunch will include a traditional meal of Moroccan couscous, followed a Moroccan tajine and fresh local fruits for desert.

Ait-Ouzzine-Tajine-Berber-Tour

After lunch, part of the Berber Tour includes having your hands and feet adorned with henna by a local village artist and experiencing the tradition of Berber perfume. The Berber Tour does not end here. After experiencing the unique making and enjoyment of Berber perfume, Moroccan travelers will be able to spend the night with a Berber family in their traditional family Kasbah.

The Berbers are the original inhabitants of Morocco. It is said that the origin of the Berbers is Afro-Asiatic. The Berbers refer to themselves as Imazighen, meaning “free people.”  The Berber population in Morocco fled to the mountain regions when the Arabs invaded the Maghreb in the seventh century. The Berbers witnessed several invaders come and go such as the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines – while they remained secure in the mountains and the depths of the desert.

Henna-Hands-Ait-Ouzzine-Village-Berber-Tours

When the Arabs invaded in the seventh century, the Berbers quickly adopted Islam. Today, a majority of North Africans are of mixed Amazigh and Arab ancestry yet consider themselves Arabs. Of the minority that identifies as Amazigh, the largest group lives in Morocco, making up about a third of the country’s 32 million people.

Since the Arabs conquered Morocco, the Berbers in the Middle Atlas Mountains and other regions of Morocco have maintained ancient traditions and preserved a unique, semi-nomadic lifestyle that is authentic Moroccan. As converts to Islam, the Berbers kept their original cultural and religious traditions in tact while accepting those imposed by the Arab population. Today Berbers practice both their own cultural traditions and observe Islamic religious and cultural traditions as well.

Tea-Pouring- Ceremony-Berber-Village-Tour

As one of the most modern Muslim country’s in the world where Arabs, Jews and Christians have lived side by side in relative peace for centuries, Morocco boasts the largest Berber population who maintain their oral, agricultural and ancient traditions through the expression of Berber music, Berber culture, Berber food and Berber dance. The Timitar Festival in Agadir which is held annually in July is a celebration of both Berber Music &  other styles of Moroccan music. Another tradition that is recognized among the Berber population is the Imilchil Marriage Festival which is an authentic marriage ceremonial mousseum whereby Berber men gather to choose their brides. The Imilchil Marriage festival takes place in the Middle Atlas Mountain regions in September annually and is also referred to as the “September Marriage Festival.”  The Berbers also carry on this tradition of peace that Morocco upholds through their gracious hospitality, love and genuine kindness for each other as a community and foreigners, Moroccan travelers who visit them.

While Morocco’s population is approximately 85% Berber, the main language spoken and taught in schools is Arabic with the recent addition of French as a second language and in some cities English is offered as a third language. Since the reign of King Mohamed VI, who is often referred to as “the peoples King,” recognition and respect for Berber culture, their traditions and the Berber language has heightened significantly. Mohamed VI is seen as one of Morocco’s most progressive King’s who has modernized Morocco’s Imperial Cities and Morocco’s countryside. Mohamed VI of has lead the Kingdom of Morocco into further development on the world stage and is a modest King who is deeply loved and respected by the entire population of Morocco, as well as international leaders, world wide.

The Berbers are still considered a minority in Morocco however this is rapidly changing. The Berber language is now being taught in schools and there 2010 marked the launch of a Berber “Tamazight” television station dedicated to broadcasting in Tamazight, the language of the country’s Amazigh, or Berber, people.

Amazigh TV Logo

Officially launched the first week in January 2010 by Morocco’s state-owned TV and Radio Company, “Tamazight Channel is the latest effort to boost Amazigh culture and language by a government keen to avoid political clashes along ethno-linguistic lines,” claims The National. Tamazight Channel’s director, Mohamed Mamad, is adamant that his team “serves to consolidate the unity of the country”. While 30 percent of the Tamazight Channel’s programs will be in Arabic, the bulk of its 70 percent will air – with Arabic subtitles – in Tamazight.

Tamazight Channel Director Mohamed Mamad

There are three main Berber dialects spoken in Morocco: Tamazight- Middle Atlas Mountain region, Tarafit in Northern Morocco and Tashelhit in the Souss- Agadir Region. When traveling on a Berber Tour to the Ouarzazate and Zagora region it is best to use a Ouarzazate Travel Agency and make sure that your driver speaks fluent Berber which will enable you as a Moroccan traveler to have the best travel experience on your Berber Village Discovery Tour.

BERBER TOURS TO MOROCCO: 7 Day  Berber Village Tour

DAY 1:  OUARZAZATE

►Arrive in Ouarzazate, a French developed area that became a garrison town and is now the administrative centre of the Zagora region. Relax at your hotel and visit the souks. Enjoy dinner at the Berber Palace Hotel at their luxurious Moroccan Palace restaurant.

“See Ouarzazate and die” are feelings often expressed by Moroccans with regards to this magical city that is the door to the Sahara desert. Located just four hours from Marrakech, Ouarzazate is the main Berber city in the south known for its spectacular sunsets and dramatic mountain and desert scenery. Surrounded by breathtaking valley, Ouarzazate was once crossing point for African traders seeking to reach northern cities in Morocco and Europe.

DAY 2: OUARZAZATE – ATLAS FILM STUDIO –  AIT BENHADDOU – OASIS OF FINT

►Fill up on a savory breakfast of baguette, fresh fruit, jams and a café cassis (Moroccan cappuccino) at a local pâtisserie and then begin your one-day excursion to Atlas Film Studios, Aït Benhaddou and the Oasis of Fint.

►Start your morning by touring the Atlas Film Studios. David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia at The Atlas Film Studios in the early 1960’s. Since then many famous directors have followed in his footsteps to exploit the magnificent scenery. International blockbusters shot here in recent years include: the French version of Cleopatra, Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, Scorsese’s Kundun, Gillies MacKannon’s Hideous Kinky, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Black Hawke Down, Oliver Stone’s Alexander The Great, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, and Penelope Cruz’s Sahara.

►After visiting the Atlas Film Studio, we will take the road by pise to the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draa on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

►Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddouand enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4×4 and head to the village of Tamadaght.

►After lunch, we will depart Aït Benhaddou and take the pise (windy road) towards the Oasis of Fint passing the “Plateau de pierres”. On this road you will find a shining Oasis of palms. Visit this Oasis of Fint that hovers under the Atlas Mountains. Journey on a one-hour walk inside the Oasis where you will have a cup of tea with the headmaster’s family Azziz Ouaziz and tour the surrounding area where date palm oases and dramatic desert scenery are king.

►After visiting the Oasis of Fint we will take the road to Kasbah Tifoultoute which stands majestically on the banks of Oued Tifoultoute. From a distance this old Kasbah is impressive with its castle-like architecture. In the 1960’s the Kasbah was converted into a hotel for the cast of Lawrence of Arabia. Tour the Kasbah and have lunch at its restaurant which is known for delicious mint and herb teas. See panoramic views from the rooftop.

DAY 3:  OUARZAZATE– SKOURA – EL KELLAT DES MGOUNA– BOULMANE DADES

►After breakfast at your hotel, we will depart Ouarzazate, taking the “Road of One Thousand Kasbahs” and passing by the large lake of Ouarzazate to drive to Skoura.

►Skoura is a fertile oasis lined with immense palm groves that provide great views of the Atlas Mountains alongside deserted landscapes. It is renowned for the cultivation of roses. The palm groves were laid out in the 12th century by the Almohad sultan Yacoub el-Mansour and named after its original inhabitants, the Berbers of the Haskourene tribe. The most beautiful Kasbahs in southern Morocco can be found here. Many of them are still partially inhabited.

►The small, sleepy town of Skoura has a big market Souk every Monday and a small group of administrative buildings. Most impressive in Skoura are the many Kasbahs that ripple through its dry rocky oasis. Skoura is referred to as the “Valley of OneThousand Kasbahs.” You will visit the 17th Century old Ben Morro Kasbah, which has been converted into a guesthouse and see the most imposing of the Kasbahs in this area, Amerhidil Kasbah. This fortified residence once belonged to the most powerful family responsible for protecting the village and its lands called the Glaoui. Today it is owned by the Sheikh of Amerhidil.

►We will visit the Kasbahs of Aït Abou, built in the 1800’s and the oldest Kasbah in the palm grove, is six stories and walls 25 m high. Its outside buildings have been turned into a garden filled with pomegranate,apple, pear, fig, quince and olive trees that provide the necessary shading for growing crops.

►Pass by Skoura, drive north heading towards the Amagoun Mountains and Berber villages standing among splendid landscapes and the Valley of Roses.

►Your driver will stop for you to view the Capp et Florale distillation factories laid out in El Kelaa Des Mgouna, a small Kasbah town that manufactures the entire nation’s products of eau de rose. The rose water and other products such as hand and body soaps, oil, crème perfume and dried flowers are for sale and also popular among Moroccans. The factories produce 3000-4000 petals a year. With ten tons of petals required to produce a few liters of precious oil, the harvest is understandably a labor of love and the culminating Festivities of the annual Rose Festival are all the livelier for it.

►Once in the Valley of Roses, you will immediately notice that the fresh mountain air in this part of southern Morocco has a hint of fresh roses which makes it a particular nice place to go for walks, short hikes and a long drive through the Hdida Valley to the plateau of Imi-n-Louh. Your driver will stop along the way so you can meet the friendly locals, many who are nomads and spend their winters in the nearby caves. There are many photo opportunities in this Dadès Valley town of ancient kasbahs.

►For lunch, we will relax on a petite terrace at Kasbah Itran, a local auberge that overlooks two large abandoned crenulated Jewish Kasbahs and a river.

►After lunch drive to the Boulmane Dades and spend the night in a local hotel amidst the gorge.

DAY 4: TODRA GORGE – N’KOB

►After a hearty Moroccan breakfast head for the adventure of a lifetime to experience the Todra Gorge in the High Atlas Mountains. The drive is scenic as with the new roads built, you will drive past the hotels at the mouth of the Gorge and up to the villages of Aït Hani, Tamtatouchte, and Imilchil. The Gorge extends from the village of Tamtatoucheto Tinerhir.

►The Todra, with cliffs rising dramatically up to 300m on each side of a narrow corridor, make up some of the most impressive cliffs and are by far, the highest in Morocco. The Todra Gorge is a spectacle with its gigantic rock walls changing color to create magical effects with the sunlight. In the morning, when the sun permeates through the bottom of the gorge, the rock changes from pink rose to deep ochre gradually throughout the rest of the day.

►A day at the Todra offers the option of extreme climbing or light hiking and sightseeing. A more strenuous hike would involve a three hour loop used by donkeys and mules heading north of the main gorge to Tizgui, home of palmeries and ancient kasbahs. For a lighter hike, try the Petit Gorge entering at the mouth of the gorge. The mouth is an enclosed section with overhanging cliffs and is the most dramatic scenery in the gorge. Climbing in the Todra Gorge is an unforgettable experience

►It is possible to have lunch inside the Todra Gorge or at one of the restaurants beneath the overhanging cliffs with a panoramic view. After lunch you can continue by road or hike by foot, or horseback to explore the surrounding area and its Berber villages. Sometimes you can find the Nomad women with children from the Atlas Mountains visiting the Gorge to carry water by donkey to their village. Your driver will give you the option to visit the picturesque village of Tamtattouchte, whose red toned earth houses are located at the other end of the gorge.

►End your day with a drive to the village of N’kob for an overnight stay at a beautiful Maison de Charme in a riad style, built with the materials of the Moroccan tradition such as taddelakt and zellig. Ksar Jenna has wide open spaces, 7 rooms with every comfort, with large bathrooms and large common spaces, plunged in an oasis of quiet, in the heart of a luxuriant garden, with lots of palm trees, bougainvilleas, rose bushes, jasmines.

DAY 5:   N’KOB– DISCOVER THE BERBER VILLAGE OF AIT OUZZINE

►Enjoy breakfast at your Riad and then walk to the village of Ait Ouzzine for a traditional Berber experience.

►Just 5 kilometers after N’kob is Aït Ouzzine (the nice village). Aït Ouzzine is a Berber village inhabited by over 300 families who live in beautifully painted crenulated kasbahs, with their own henna fields, water wells, livestock and gardens. This peaceful village is tucked away along an impressive desert route connecting the Draa Valley (Tansikht) and Rissani.

►Meet a local Berber family, partake in a cooking lesson of how to make traditional bread and a tajine. Then explore and tour the village by foot. Walk in the green fields and see how the traditional Berbers live with their gardens of herbs, live stock, and henna plants.

►Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert. After lunch, you can have your hands and feet painted with henna by a local village artist and relax. End the afternoon with mint tea and almonds. Then rest at your hotel before having a traditional dinner with the Berber family of couscous and sheep’s stomach that is grilled by fire. This is similar to an American barbecue. After dinner spend the night with a Berber, Moroccan family in their traditional Kasbah.

DAY 6:  N’KOB –  ZAGORA – OUARZAZATE

►Fill up on a savory breakfast of baguette, fresh fruit, jams and a café cassis (Moroccan cappuccino) at a local pâtisserie and then begin your excursion to Zagora. Zagora is a Saharan desert town in the southern Drâa Valley.

►Zagora is favored by travelers for its desert dunes, palms, 45 varieties of dates and its Hollywood sunset mountain backdrops. Take the road by pise (windy road) to discover the land where caravans once transported sugar, tea, dates and other dry goods to Ouarzazate.

►Walk the palmery and hamlet set amid lemon, almond and olive trees, and gardens of the village of Amazrou. Visit the former Mellah (Jewish quarter), where a mosque now stands. Amazrou is inhabited by Arabs, Haratines and Berbers who continue the Jewish tradition of silver making.

►Later enjoy a camel excursion across the Dunes of Tinfo and visit the old Kasbah Ait Lkaid in the village of Tamegroute. At the end of the main road you will find the famous road sign to Timbuktu that reads “52 jours” – 52 hours by camel.

►Enjoy lunch at a local kasbah hotel restaurant in the town of Zagora. The Dunes of Tinfo (as well as many other sand dunes in Morocco) are famous for their healing qualities for rheumatoid arthritis. Ask your guide to bury you in the sand from head to toe for this a 20 minute spa-like experience.

►Upon return to Ouarzazate we will take the road to visit Zagora’s unique, beautifully glazed forest green pottery at the local cooperative in the desert town of Tamagroute and pass by the Koranic library.

►Take the road back to Ouarzazate, check in at your hotel, have dinner and relax for the evening.

DAY 7:  OUARZAZATE

►Rise early for your departure to the airport in Ouarzazate. This ends your Berber Tour and Morocco Travel experience with Travel Exploration, a Ouarzazate Travel Agency.

Ait-Ouzzine-Berber-Tours-Henna-Hands

BERBER TOURS TO MOROCCO: A One Day Excursion to a Berber Village From Ouarzazate

►Enjoy breakfast at your Riad in Ouarzazate. Then take the road through the Draa Valley to Discover the Berber Village Ait Ouzzine. Arrive in Ait Ouzzine in early afternoon.

►Just 5 kilometers after N’kob is Aït Ouzzine (the nice village). Aït Ouzzine is a Berber village inhabited by over 300 families who live in beautifully painted crenulated kasbahs, with their own henna fields, water wells, livestock and gardens. This peaceful village is tucked away along an impressive desert route connecting the Draa Valley (Tansikht) and Rissani.

►Meet a local Berber family, partake in a cooking lesson of how to make traditional bread and a tajine. Then explore and tour the village by foot. Walk in the green fields and see how the traditional Berbers live with their gardens of herbs, live stock, and henna plants.

►Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert. After lunch, you can have your hands and feet painted with henna by a local village artist and relax. End the afternoon with mint tea and almonds. Then rest at your hotel before having a traditional dinner with the Berber family of couscous and sheep’s stomach that is grilled by fire. This is similar to an American barbecue. After dinner spend the night with a Berber, Moroccan family in their traditional Kasbah.

►After visiting a Berber Village on a one-day excursion, Berber Tour from Ouarzazate, take the road and return to Ouarzazate. En route to your return, stop to visit the Berber Village & Ait Benhaddou Kasbah. Explore Ait Benhaddou by foot and then have tea in a lovely auberge that overlooks Ait Benhaddou. End the day watching the sunset in Ait Benhaddou and then return to your Riad in Ouarzazate.

For more information on Berber Tours To Morocco

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

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Sahara Desert Tours & Camel Treks from Marrakech, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Traveling Morocco’s Sahara Desert for a Morocco vacation is a once in a lifetime magical experience. When considering a Sahara Tour & Camel Trek from Marrakech there are several Sahara Tour options. Travel Exploration Morocco is an Ouarzazate Travel Agency based in New York City & Ouarzazate that offers three different Sahara Tour & Camel Trek itineraries from Marrakech. 4×4 Travel to Morocco’s Sahara through Travel Exploration Morocco guarantees an authentic Moroccan Sahara journey.

Morocco’s Sahara Desert accounts for over 9,000,000 square kilometers (3,500,000 square miles) and stretches across a vast and luminous piece of land. The rolling Dunes in Morocco’s Sahara Desert give way to a unique Sahara experience through their golden waves of sand. Morocco’s Sahara also has a  variety of flora and fauna that is indigenous to desert terrain. Each part of the Moroccan Sahara guarantees a completely unique desert experience.

Erg-Chebbi-Merzouga-Sahara-Golden- Dunes

When traveling to Morocco’s Sahara the three options are:

The Erg Chebbi Dunes of Merzouga

The Erg Chegaga Dunes in M’hamid

The Dunes of Tinfo in Zagora

The Erg Chebbi Dunes of Merzouga can be reached by beginning your Sahara Tour in Marrakech and then driving through Ouarzazate, to Rissani with a final destination of Merzouga. Merzouga is a small village 35 kilometers southeast of Rissani, 45 kilometers from Erfoud and 25 kilometers from the border of Algeria. Merzouga is famous for the Erg Chebbi dunes and boasts the largest body of water in Morocco.

The Erg Chegaga Dunes in M’hamid are another option when planning a Sahara trek from Marrakech. M’hamid is the furthest point of the Moroccan Sahara and is often referred to as the more “authentic Sahara desert.” European and British foreigners have shown more interest in the last century in Sahara treks to M’hamid while American foreigners tend to prefer Merzouga.

Visiting the Dunes of Tinfo in Zagora just an hour before M’hamid offers a Sahara trek option within the Saharan Desert town. When planning a camel trek to Zagora this also leaves an opportunity to discover the region’s Draa Valley, the Tamagroute Pottery Cooperative and ancient Zaouia Spiritual Site.

Whichever Sahara Desert Tour & Camel Trek from Marrakech you choose, the Moroccan Sahara guarantees a majestic and intimate experience.

Family-Sahara-Desert-Trek-Tour

4×4 SAHARA TOUR FROM MARRAKECH TO MERZOUGA’S ERG CHEBBI DUNES

DAY 1: MARRAKECH – MERZOUGA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Marrakech at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Sahara in a 4×4.

►Departure from Marrakech to Merzouga Sahara Desert. 

►En route from Marrakech to Merzouga, stop to visit the Argan Cooperative where women make Argan Oil, Argan butter and cosmetics. Have a complimentary tasting and sample the products.

►Stop for Lunch in the Tizzin Tichka Pass, which boasts breathtaking views of

the Tichka region as you continue your journey to the Sahara Desert.

▶ Arrive in Merzouga, then go by dromedary camel trek for 2 hours at sunset into the Erg Chebbi Dunes to camp overnight in a Berber Biouvac tent at an oasis. Your Tuareg guide will share some of the Sahara Deserts’ secrets. As you glide across humpback on these silent, mystical dunes there will be countless opportunities to photograph the endless rolling dunes.

▶Have dinner by an Oasis in the Erg Chebbi Dunes of Merzouga. Spend the night at a bivouac near the Oasis in the Erg Chebbi Dunes in a bivouac tent under the stars.

DAY 2: MERZOUGA – OUARZAZATE

►Rise, have tea and bread. Then take a sunrise camel trek from the Erg Chebbi Dunes in the Sahara Desert to Merzouga center. Breakfast in Merzouga Sahara Desert.

►Discover Merzouga by piste (windy road) and the flora and fauna of the

Sahara Desert. Take the road from Merzouga to Erfoud through Tinerghir and Rissani (old Saharian Desert Town).

►Visit the Rissani souk, which is one of the most famous in the area and surrounded by donkeys, mules, sheep and goats enclosed in corrals. After a tour of Rissani, we are off to Alnif. Alnif is known for its rocks, fossils and minerals found in shops along the roadside Trilobites are the areas main export.

►Continue the road from Merzouga’s Sahara Desert through Rissani, until you reach the Berber Village of Ait Ouzzine nestled in the High Atlas Mountains just 5 kilometers from N’kob.

►Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine, Morocco by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert. Explore the Berber Village. Watch them make bread. Have your feet and hands with henna and see how the traditional and original people of Morocco live.

►Have your hands and feet painted with henna in Ait Ouzzine, Morocco by a Moroccan woman who specializes in the tradition of henna and experience the Berbers making of Berber perfume.

►Tea and Almonds for an afternoon snack. Then continue the road to Ouarzazate. Arrive in Ouarzazate, have dinner at your Riad.

►Spend the night at a beautiful Riad in Ouarzazate that has a terrace and views.

DAY 3: OUARZAZATE – MARRAKECH

►Rise and have breakfast at your Riad in Ouarzazate. Visit Spices Maria a spice souk nearby and option for a rose or almond oil massage prior to your departure to Marrakech.

►Take the road by piste to visit the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

► Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou and enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4×4 and head to the village of Tamadaght.

►After lunch, we will depart Aït Benhaddou and take the road to Marrakech.

►Arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to Merzouga in Morocco’s Sahara Desert

Mhamid-Sahara-Desert

4×4 SAHARA TOUR FROM MARRAKECH TO M’HAMID’S ERG CHEGAGA DUNES

DAY 1: MARRAKECH – SKOURA – ZAGORA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Marrakech at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Sahara in a 4×4.

►Departure from Marrakech to M’hamid Sahara Desert. 

►En route from Marrakech to Merzouga, stop to visit the Argan Cooperative where women make Argan Oil, Argan butter and cosmetics. Have a complimentary tasting and sample the products.

►Stop for Lunch in the Tizzin Tichka Pass which boasts breathtaking views of

the Tichka region as you continue your journey to the Sahara Desert.

▶Stop in the Skoura Palmary to visit the Amirdhil Kasbah.

▶Take the road by piste through the Draa Valley to discover the old road of Moroccan caravans.

►Then continue the road through the Draa Valley to the town of Zagora, the door of the Sahara. Arrive in Zagora and you have the option to spend the night in either a bivouac tent in the Sahara or in a Riad Hotel within a beautiful palmery.

DAY 2: ZAGORA – M’HAMID

►Rise, have breakfast in your Riad in Zagora, then take the road to visit Tamagroute.

►Visit the village of Tamergroute in the Sahara Desert known for it’s a potter’s cooperative (making forest green, glazed pottery) ksars and kasbahs as well as the prestigious Zaouia Nacri. The Zaouia Nacri is a 17th century Islamic academic center was built by Mohammed Bou Nasri and made Tamergroute the most important settlement in the Draâ Valley.

►Visit the Zaouia’s library where you can see illuminated Korans, animal hides, 12th century works on mathematics, medicine and history. Then take the road to Visit the Sahara Desert’s Dunes of Tinfo and see the old sign where the caravans took the road to Timbuktu.

►Explore the town of Zagora and the Amazrou village. Walk through the desert gardens that lead to the old Jewish kasbah, La Kasbah des Juifs. Visit workshops of the local Muslim Berbers who have continued the Jewish tradition of silver jewelry making, after the exodus of the Jews.

►Take the road by piste to visit the Sahara Desert’s Dunes of Tinfo.

►Enjoy lunch in Zagora.

►Arrive in M’hamid and take a sunset camel trek from the city to the M’hamid Erg Chegaga Dunes.

►Dinner in M’hamid. Spend the night in Erg Chegaga Dunes.

DAY 3: December 30th – M’HAMID – AIT OUZZINE- OUARZAZATE

►Rise, have tea and bread. Then take a sunrise camel trek across the Erg Chegaga Dunes to M’hamid center.

► Spend the day exploring M’hamid and enjoying the Sahara’s flora and fauna.

►Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine, Morocco by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert. Explore the Berber Village. Watch them make bread. Have your feet and hands with henna and see how the traditional and original people of Morocco live.

►Have your hands and feet painted with henna in Ait Ouzzine, Morocco by a Moroccan woman who specializes in the tradition of henna and experience the Berbers making of Berber perfume.

►Tea and Almonds for an afternoon snack. Then continue the road to Ouarzazate. Arrive in Ouarzazate, have dinner at your Riad.

DAY 4: OUARZAZATE – MARRAKECH

►Rise and have breakfast at your Riad in Ouarzazate. Visit Spices Maria a spice souk nearby and option for a rose or almond oil massage prior to your departure to Marrakech.

►Take the road by piste to visit the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss- Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

► Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou and enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4×4 and head to the village of Tamadaght.

►After lunch, we will depart Aït Benhaddou and take the road to Marrakech.

►Arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to M’hamid in Morocco’s Sahara Desert.

Dunes-of-Tinfo-Camel-Sahara-Experience

4×4 SAHARA TOUR FROM MARRAKECH TO ZAGORA’S DUNES OF TINFO

DAY 1: MARRAKECH – SKOURA – ZAGORA

►Your Driver will pick you up at your Riad/ Hotel in Marrakech at 9:00am to travel to Morocco’s Sahara in a 4×4.

►Departure from Marrakech to M’hamid Sahara Desert. 

►En route from Marrakech to Merzouga, stop to visit the Argan Cooperative where women make Argan Oil, Argan butter and cosmetics. Have a complimentary tasting and sample the products.

►Stop for Lunch in the Tizzin Tichka Pass which boasts breathtaking views of

the Tichka region as you continue your journey to the Sahara Desert.

▶Stop in the Skoura Palmary to visit the Amirdhil Kasbah.

▶Take the road by piste through the Draa Valley to discover the old road of Moroccan caravans.

►Then continue the road through the Draa Valley to the town of Zagora, the door of the Sahara. Arrive in Zagora and you have the option to spend the night in either a bivouac tent in the Sahara or in a Riad Hotel within a beautiful palmary.

DAY 2: ZAGORA

►Rise, have breakfast in your Riad in Zagora, then take the road to visit Tamagroute.

►Visit the village of Tamergroute in the Sahara Desert known for it’s a potter’s cooperative (making forest green, glazed pottery) ksars and kasbahs as well as the prestigious Zaouia Nacri. The Zaouia Nacri is a 17th century Islamic academic center was built by Mohammed Bou Nasri and made Tamergroute the most important settlement in the Draâ Valley.

►Visit the Zaouia’s library where you can see illuminated Korans, animal hides, 12th century works on mathematics, medicine and history. Then take the road to Visit the Sahara Desert’s Dunes of Tinfo and see the old sign where the caravans took the road to Timbuktu.

►Enjoy lunch in Zagora.

►Explore the town of Zagora and the Amazrou village. Walk through the desert gardens that lead to the old Jewish kasbah, La Kasbah des Juifs. Visit workshops of the local Muslim Berbers who have continued the Jewish tradition of silver jewelry making, after the exodus of the Jews.

►Take the road by piste to visit the Sahara Desert’s Dunes of Tinfo. Sunset camel trek across the Dunes of Tinfo.

►Dinner at the foot of the Dunes of Tinfo in Zagora, near your bivouac.

DAY 3: ZAGORA – OUARZAZATE

►Rise, have breakfast, then take the road to the village of Ait Ouzzine located in the High Atlas Mountains and in Morocco’s heart of the Draa Valley.

►Explore the village of Ait Ouzzine, N’kob Morocco and see how a traditional Berber, Moroccan family lives. Visit their gardens, wheat and henna fields, farming community and meet other members of the Moroccan village. Have an up close Morocco Sahara travel experience.

►Lunch will be served to you in Aït Ouzzine, Morocco by a traditional Berber family. The menu will include a traditional meal of fresh baked bread with spices and a chicken and vegetable tajine and fresh local fruits for desert. Explore the Berber Village. Watch them make bread. Have your feet and hands with henna and see how the traditional and original people of Morocco live.

►Have your hands and feet painted with henna in Ait Ouzzine, Morocco by a Moroccan woman who specializes in the tradition of henna and experience the Berbers making of Berber perfume.

►Tea and Almonds for an afternoon snack. Then continue the road to Ouarzazate. Arrive in Ouarzazate, have dinner at your Riad.

DAY 4: OUARZAZATE – MARRAKECH

►Rise and have breakfast at your Riad in Ouarzazate. Visit Spices Maria a spice souk nearby and option for a rose or almond oil massage prior to your departure to Marrakech.

►Take the road by piste to visit the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou located 32 km from Ouarzazate. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss- Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river.

► Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar.

Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara. Only six miles away, is the village of Tamdaght, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiator and Alexander the Great.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou and enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4×4 and head to the village of Tamadaght.

►After lunch, we will depart Aït Benhaddou and take the road to Marrakech.

►Arrive in Marrakech in the early evening. This ends your Sahara Tour & Camel Trek to Zagora’s Dunes of Tinfo Morocco’s Sahara Desert

Camel-Trekking-in- Merzouga

More information about Sahara Tours on Morocco Travel Exploration

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside ResortsSahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & WaterfallsAbsolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Sahara Desert Tours, 4×4 Sahara Tours, Sahara Tours from Marrakech to Merzouga, Sahara Tours from Marrakech to M’hamid, Sahara Tours from Marrakech to Zagora, Ouarzazate Travel Agency, Sahara Tour to Erg Chebbi Dunes, Sahara Tours to Erg Chegaga Dunes, Sahara Tours to the Dunes of Tinfo, 4×4 Sahara Tours from Marrakech, Camel Treks from Marrakech, Morocco Travel, Tours to Morocco, Morocco Vacations, Morocco Holidays

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration
Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806  or 1 (917)703-2078  and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Ouarzazate Travel Agency, Kasbahs & Kilims: Your Guide to Southern Morocco Travel & Sahara Desert Tours

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Ouarzazate Travel Agency – Kasbahs & Kilims, Your Guide to Southern Morocco Travel & Sahara Desert Tours

Traveling to Morocco’s Sahara region through a Ouarzazate Travel Agency guarantees an authentic Morocco Travel experience. When traveling to Morocco’s Zagora region of Ouarzazate, the Draa Valley and the M’hamid Sahara Desert (Erg Chegaga Dunes) it is important to also have a Ouarzazate or Saharan driver and licensed guide who speaks fluent English, Arabic & French as well as the local dialect of Berber (Tashlhiyt).

Mhamid-Sahara-Desert-Riad

Kasbahs & Kilims are two genuine reasons to consider a short break to Morocco or a tailor made Private Morocco Tour. A Ouarzazate Travel Agency will be able to organize a seamless tour that enables you to discover the gems of Southern Morocco such as its ancient Kasbahs and Kilims. Southern Morocco’s Ouarzazate region is known for its ancient Kasbahs and hand made Berber Kilims. For centuries Morocco has been a premiere travel destination for American explorers, literary writers, artists and composers such as Paul Bowles, Allen Ginsberg, Brion Gysin, Isabelle Ebrehardt, William S. Burroughs and Yves Saint Laurent.

Paul-Bowles-In-Morocco

Unlike other regions of Morocco both the Ouarzazate and Zagora region offer an untouched Morocco Travel journey that will enable you to engage up close with the Berber and Tuareg people. The Berber villages within the Draa Valley and Zagora region still retain their century-old traditions that makes for an attractive Morocco Travel cultural and enlightening educational experience. These Berber Villages are home to some of the most magnificent Kasbahs and High Atlas Mountain scenery. The century old Moroccan Kasbahs that once served as fortified villages to protect the Berbers now mainly serve as homes for their immediate and extended families.

Tuareg-Man-In-Sahara-With-Camel

The Berber village experience is unlike another in Morocco. Spending a day with a Berber family in a traditional Moroccan village offers insight into how they live using ancient traditions that include baking bread by earthen oven, while using the wheat grown in locally in their fields and cooking couscous by candlelight. You can also witness how the henna plant is used to decorate the hands and feet of the Berbers in extraordinary beautiful patterns. Part of touring through a Ouarzazate Travel Agency also enables you to have your hands and feet hennaed while spending time in the village and partake in the other daily activities.

Hands-Hands-Morocco

A Kasbah is referred to as a fortified village or a medina, Islamic city fortress. Traditionally Kasbahs is where local leaders lived and a Kasbah served as a defense when the city was under attack. Kasbahs high walls that are made of mud and earth typically have no windows. Kasbahs were traditionally built on top of a hill, which made them easier to defend however some were also built near the entrances of harbors. Having a Kasbah built was once a sign of wealth however almost all Moroccan cities, especially those in the Middle and High Atlas Mountain regions of Morocco had them as a necessity of survival. Today, Kasbahs in Morocco are often restored by foreigners and made into Raids, Bed & Breakfast style hotel accommodations or lived in by families. The Kasbah is by far one of the most charming and delightful forms of ancient architecture found in Morocco.

Jewish-Fortified-Kasbah

A Kilim is a flat tapestry, woven carpet or rug. In Morocco Kilims are often referred to more generally as Berber carpets and is another great reason to travel to Morocco through an Ouarzazate Travel Agency.

Southern Morocco’s Ouarzazate and Zagora region are famous for Berber carpets and offer travelers the opportunity to see how they are made locally and purchase them directly from Berber villages or in local shops that have more reasonable prices then the big cities such as Marrakech and Fes. Berber carpets are essentially the “free trade” carpets of Morocco. Berber carpets are often used as prayer rugs as well as for covering concrete and tiled floors in Morocco today. When traveling to Morocco you can choose a Sahara region tour for a cultural trip and adventure or opt for one that allows you to Shop the Souks of Morocco!

Kilim-Berber-Carpets-In- Ouarzazate-Souk-and-Villages

Here are the Top 10 Sites & Places to Visit When Traveling With a Ouarzazate Travel Agency In The Southern Morocco Region:

#1: Ait Benhaddou Kasbah

#2: Kasbah Taouirit

#3: Kasbah Tifoutltoute

#4: Oasis of Fint

#5: Atlas Film Studios

#6: Skoura Oasis & Palmary

#7: Dunes of Tinfo (Zagora)

#8: Dades Valley

#9: Todra Gorge

#10:  Valley of Roses

For more information about a Ouarzazate Travel Agency and to discover the Ouarzazate & Zagora region

For more information about Travel and Tours to Morocco plus highlights on Moroccan culture visit Morocco’s Imperial CitiesSeaside Resorts,Sahara DesertBerber villagesA Taste of MoroccoMagical Kasbahs, Ruins & Waterfalls, Absolute Morocco, The Best of MarrakechFes, and Ouarzazate.

Ouarzazate Travel Agency, Ouarzazate Kasbahs & Kilims, Sahara Desert Tours, Kasbahs in Southern Morocco, Berber Villages, Draa Valley, Tuareg people, Travel to M’hamid, Travel to Chegaga, Ouarzazate, Travel to Morocco for a Private Tailor Made Tour to Zagora, Berber Village Travel, Ait Benhaddou Kasbah, Oasis of Fint, Skoura, Skoura Palmary and Oasis, Dades Valley Tour, Todra Gorge Tour, Valley of Roses Tour, Morocco Travel, Tours to Morocco, Morocco Vacations, Morocco Holidays

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Google on call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or 1 (917)703-2078 or (212) 661-4898-960 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.