Tours from Fes to the desert and back are now in increasing demand. So Desert Majesty has created this special Fes to Erg Chebbi desert trip to achieve exactly that. By embarking on this 3 day desert tour from Fes to the majestic dunes of Erg Chebbi in Merzouga, you will visit the desert and get a full view of how amazing Morocco’s diversity is.
First you cross the amazing Middle Atlas Mountains, stopping by the cedar forest in Azrou to watch Barbary apes. You will pass many traditional Berber villages where you can interact with local inhabitants. At the famous Toudgha Gorges, set within these amazing mountains, you can take a walk along the river or even go for a short hike with a local guide. At the edge of the valley or in the gorges themselves, you will spend the night in a beautiful authentic guesthouse.
The desert tour’s highlight is undoubtedly riding camels to the summit of the Erg Chebbi dunes. And walking barefoot in the wind-blown sand dunes and taking photos of yourselves in blue nomadic turbans with a spectacular sunset in the background just adds to the experience. Mint tea and an authentic Moroccan dinner under a starlit sky are perfect ways to start the exotic evening. Sharing an evening of Berber music round the camp fire further enhances desert delights. Your own private and very comfortable tent in a luxury desert camp near the big dunes completes this unforgettable day.
Returning to Fes you will observe the vast numbers of date palms grown in the Ziz Valley, famous for its date festival. The incredible and awe-inspiring fossil finds on display in Erfoud bear witness as to just how ancient this part of the country.
Desert Tour 3 days Departure from Fes
Start this Fes to Merzouga desert tour with a morning departure at 08.00, when your driver/guide will pick you up in a comfortable 4×4 air-conditioned car, passing through Ifrane, nicknamed the Switzerland of Morocco owing to the houses having sloping roofs, unusual in Morocco.
Our desert trip from Fes continues crossing the Middle Atlas Mountains and the cedar forest near Azrou. Here there will be opportunities to see the antics of Barbary apes. Driving further south, we pass many Berber villages to arrive in Midelt, known as “the apple capital”, which will be the venue for lunch.
Further south along the main road at Er Rich, our Fes desert trip takes us deeper into the mountains to enjoy breath-taking landscapes and beautiful Berber villages. By the end of the afternoon, we arrive at Toudgha Gorge, which will be the venue for dinner and the night’s rest. (Please be advised that, occasionally in winter, this stretch may not be passable due to snow-fall.)
fter breakfast, there will be opportunities to walk along the river bank or to go for a hike around the gorges. Later on, our desert trip passes through many Berber villages, which will give you a close look into the daily lives of the local inhabitants of the region.
Our Fes desert trip to Erg Chebbi continues via Tinjdad. Along this road you may well wonder at the mounds of earth following the route. These are the openings to the “khettarat” used for the catchment of underground water via a system of wells all closely placed to each other in underground galleries. They make use of the slopes in the terrain, which then later emerge at the surface of the soil to irrigate the fields. You can actually descend into them for a better understanding of this clever system.
In the afternoon, after a welcoming glass of tea, a one hour to an hour and a half sunset camel ride leads to the summit of Erg Chebbi dunes (250m), where the spectacle of the sunset and the expansive, wind-blown dunes are an awesome sight. In the evening, dinner is served under a star-lit sky followed by music round a campfire.
The night is spent in a luxury desert camp with a private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings, and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
If you get up early in the morning, you will be reward by an amazing spectacle when the sunset and the play of the sand dunes shadows are an awesome sight. After breakfast, there will the opportunity to go for a second camel ride and to walk the wind-blown dunes of Erg Chebbi.
Shortly afterwards, you leave for Rissani and Erfoud, where you will stop to visit the local exhibits of the locally found fossils and to see how they are worked into interesting artifacts and furniture. From here, our Res desert trip continues to Errachidia and along the Ziz Valley, remarkable for its huge palm groves and famous for its date festival in November.
Crossing the Middle Atlas Mountains, we arrive in Midelt, which will be the venue for lunch again. You continue a wonderful drive over the Ayachi Mountain and through the cedar forests. We arrive back at Fes by the end of the afternoon. Your Fes Sahara desert tour ends as your driver escort you to your riad.
