Desert Hikes in Morocco

Our Morocco tour was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. Every destination offered breathtaking scenery and unique cultural experiences. The imperial cities were rich in history, while the bustling souks were full of beautiful handmade products. The Sahara Desert became the highlight of the trip, with an incredible camel ride, peaceful desert camp, and traditional entertainment around the fire. The guide's professionalism and hospitality made the entire journey even more enjoyable.

I got down to Marrakesh with a rival company also doing Spain and Portugal along the way. But the area this Intrepid tour went, was the Morocco I always wanted to see. I mention this as the Sahara and southern Morocco is very different to the top half of the country. The highlight was riding camels (that looked to be well taken care of unlike horses you see in Marrakesh, donkeys and mules in other parts). We only had five people in total on this tour, but everyone got along really well. Surprisingly all but Essaouira had air-conditioning, granted not all worked, but I wasn't anticipating it much. It is very hot in Marrakesh and the camp in the Sahara. Some of the accommodation wasn't great and I didn't see what the point of wasting a day travelling to Tata was, since there was nothing there. There's a lot of long travel days in the chartered bus (and public bus to Marrakesh at the end). Day 2 (well 3 since they ridiculously count the meet anytime day where you do nothing as a day), we drove through places in the desert where Star Wars and other movies were filmed but the guide never said, if you look out the window on your right, that's Tatooine, or anything like that. So that was disappointing as it was the main reason I did this trip over the 3 day one. I mean we saw the places but never knew it at the time. We did visit the site of Gladiator and saw the set prop from Game of Thrones left behind at Benhaddou, which was an interesting town, although we drove by plenty more buildings that looked like that towns' in the days that followed. The hike from Imil to Arournd was just walking up a dirt road, we could have just driven all the way, there since we were being constantly passed by vehicles including ones the same size as the bus. Seemed to be more of a gimmick so mules could take our backpacks to the hostel like place. Tieta Tagmoute started off witnessing an old guy have an argument with our local guide and take out his anger by beating a donkey. The place turned out to be interesting with the keymaster bank, but was actually better because another old guy basically bullied keymaster and our guide to see his place on the way. I guess to get a cut of the money. But his place had a lot of cool photo opportunities. Best local guide was in Tafraoute, who was entertaining and told us a lot about culture and everything else. Even joined in the performance at the lunch at the local Berber house there. As did our Intrepid guide, Oulaid by the way who was a very nice guy and good guide by the way. He listened to our feedback along the way and would adjust future stuff such as having a picnic at the beach rather than a terrible cafe the day before. Overall it was a great tour, just needed a few improvements. Not enough time in a few places, and way too much time others. It did seem to die off a little once we got to Essaouira where too much free time made it seem like the tour finished a few days before it did since you do very little with the guide. Local bus where you sit next to locals and don't all sit together doesn't help with that feeling either.

Last May, we had the chance to explore the Sahara Desert after a friend recommended Mustafa and Escorted Morocco Tours. We joined a 5-day Morocco Sahara tour, which took us through the breathtaking Erg Chebbi dunes. We were so lucky to have Mustafa as our guide, we truly cannot praise him enough. He is one of the most amazing and special people we have ever met: warm, genuine, incredibly smart, and deeply knowledgeable. His insights went far beyond Morocco and his Berber roots, and our scenic drives to the desert were filled with engaging, meaningful conversations on many different topics. The accommodations were equally memorable and full of character, especially Dar Blues in the Dades Gorges. The Tiziri Camp in the Sahara was simply exceptional, a perfect blend of authenticity and comfort. We spent two nights there, and we honestly did not want to leave. Thank you, Mustafa, for showing us the true Moroccan experience and for opening our minds to new perspectives that have touched our lives in such a positive way.