DAY 1 Depart From your Destination.
Fly from DESTINATION to Ouarzazate via Casablanca and transfer to our overnight hotel.
(5 Minutes’ Drive)
DAY 2 Ouarzazate to Rass Nkhil.
The bus picks us up after breakfast and takes us south east towards the Algerian border until the road finally runs out on the edge of the dunes. We meet our local team, load up the camels and start walking towards our first camp. We spend our first night out in the desert, sleeping either in our Berber tents or just under the stars.
(5 Hours’ Drive, 2- 3 Hours Walk around 10 km)
DAY 3 Rass Nkhil to Sidi Naji.
After breakfast we boot up and head out across the vast plateau, interspersed with dunes, snaking across dried river beds. After a stop for lunch we reach our night stop at the ancient Maribout (or tomb) of Sidi Naji, sitting poignantly alone in the vast expanse of desert.
(7 ½ Hours Walk, 22 km)
DAY 4 Sidi Naji to Erg Zeher.
We leave Sidi Naji in the morning and have a slightly easier day walking through the sand to the great 700m high Erg Ezzahar, or “The Screaming Dune”. We reach it in time for lunch, then that afternoon we climb to the top to watch the sun set over the golden sands.
(Around 7 Hours Walk, 22 Km)
DAY 5 Erg Zeher to Erg Sedrate.
We start by climbing the dunes to reach a plateau which overlooks the Drâa Valley, walking amid the tamarisk and acacia trees before we reach our lunch spot at the ancient nomadic settlement of Essemar. After lunch we continue to Erg Sedrate where we will find our camp prepared for us amongst the dunes.
(Around 7 Hours Walk, 22 Km)
DAY 6 Erg Sedrate to Erg Chegaga
We continue through the sand, through undulating dunes and over wind-carved ridges. We stop for lunch on one of these ridges before proceeding to Erg Chegaga. It is the highest dune in the southern desert and our ultimate goal on this expedition. The climb through the sand in the heat will be hard but worth every step. We finally reach its summit in time to marvel at another hypnotic sunset.
(Around 7 Hours Walk, 21 Km)
DAY 7 Erg Chegaga to Erg Lghoul.
After breakfast we descend Erg Chegaga and find the Chegaga River. From a distance it bears the hallmarks of a verdant river valley but on arrival, we find a riverbed devoid of water. The walk along the bed amid the tamarisk and acacia trees provides welcome shade and a wonderful change of scene.
(7 Hours Walk, 22 Km)
DAY 8: Erg Lghoul – Iriki to Erg Elmhazil.
Today is our day of mirages and flat saltpans. We firstly walk across several kilometers of small dunes with dunes lying to the south. Gradually the acacia trees vanish and we are left in a spectacularly flat open saltpan. Once again distances are impossible to gauge and the views shimmer in the heat. There is no cover for lunch so we put one of the tents up to give us shade. The last few are completed crossing this remote and desolate place. Our last night is spent in the dune of Erg Elmhazil.
(6-7 Hours Walk, 21 Km)
DAY 9: Erg Lmhazil – Foum Zguid – Ouarzazate.
We load into the lorry and drive the last bumpy section across the desert piste to the tarmac road. On arriving at the tarmac road, we transfer to our bus and cross the stunning High Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate, where we will celebrate in style! Night hotel.
(3 Hours Walk around 10 Km, 5 Hours’ Drive)
DAY 10: Transfer to the Airport back to your DESTINATION.