Dunes and Kasbahs of Southern Morocco

A private 12 - day private tour including one night camping in the Sahara

Explore the historic kasbahs (fortresses) and natural alpine beauty of southern Morocco's mighty High Atlas Mountains on this 11 day tour to Casablanca, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Tamegroute, Zagora, Erfoud, Tinerhir, Merzouga and Berber villages at the edge of the Sahara Desert.

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DAY 1 - JFK - Daily-Year Round
Board Air France or Royal Air Maroc non stop at JFK International Airport . Overnight across the Atlantic. Dinner is served on board. For Air France flights Same rate applies from Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington DC (subject to the availability of Air France flights), we keep the right to use any International air carriers).Add-on air fare is available from major US cities . When you handle your air fare , please deduct $ 600 from any of the listed rates

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Day 2 - CASABLANCA
When flying on Air France connection is via Paris, or via London when its British Airways, clear passport & customs formalities, onward to Casablanca . Welcome to Morocco! We escort you to your hotel. Dinner is included & served at your hotel.

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Day 3 - MARRAKECH (BLD)
This morning we tour the Great Mosque of Hassan II, before we fly south to Marrakech . Lunch at your hotel. Welcome to Marrakech! We escort you to your hotel. In the late afternoon we tour the city by "caleche,"; the traditional horse-drawn carriage: a romantic first look at this fabled metropolis. Dinner at a Moroccan restaurant.

DAY 4 - MARRAKECH (BD)
This morning we take a closer look at Marrakech's most important historic and architectural wonders: the Koutoubia Mosque, the Saadian Tombs and the Bahia Palace. The afternoon at leisure. Sunset camel ride (Marrakech Palm grove).

DAY 5 - OURZAZATE (BLD)
After breakfast , we hit the road, climbing through striking alpine scenery into the High Atlas Mountains, crossing to the southeastern side of the range via the Tizi N'Tichka Pass (7415 feet). We descend to the Draa Valley, dotted with ancient kasbahs (fortified palaces), to the caravan-town of Ouarzazate at the edge of the mighty Sahara Desert.

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DAY 6 - ZAGORA & TAMEGROUTE (BLD)
Starting bright and early, we traverse the Draa Valley with its six palm forests forming grand ribbons of greenery across the flat valley floor. Thanks to the proximity of the river, cereals, henna, vegetables, fruit and date palms are cultivated, either on the floor of the valley or on stepped terraces. We arrive in Zagora around noontime. After lunch, we embark on an excursion to Tamegroute to view the illuminated Korans, with holy verses inscribed on gazelle-skin parchment, the oldest dating from the 13th century. We'll also visit the Potters' Yard and huge Tinfou Dune before returning to Zagora and our hotel.

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DAY 7 - RISSANI & MERZOUGA (BLD)
Today it's off to Erfoud through a dramatic landscape of "regs" (rocky tables), small mountains and oases, each with its small Berber village. In the early afternoon we arrive in Rissani, the cradle of Morocco's royal Alaouite dynasty, to admire the exterior architecture of the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, and to take a tour of the Abou Aam Ksar (fortified village). In the late afternoon we head out by chauffeured four-wheel-drive vehicle to watch the sunset over the pastel-colored Saharan dunes, returning to our tented camp for the night , dinner around eh campfire.

DAY 8 - ERFOUD (B)
We drive before sunrise to the Golden Dunes. Watch the sun as it rises above the horizon & the Sahara. Champaign breakfast is served, before we head back to Erfoud. After we check - in at our comfortable hotel, we let you explore on your own this oases or just relax for eh afternoon.

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DAY 9 - TINERHIR, TODRA GORGE & OUARZAZATE (BLD)
We start the day with a drive through the beautiful Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs to Tinerhir. A former military outpost built on terraces above a magnificent palm grove, Tinerhir stands at the entrance to the Todra Gorge, framed by awesome thousand-foot-high cliffs which make you think that you're "at the ends of the Earth." From Tinerhir we proceed past a series of great kasbahs to Boumalne du Dades, a large town at the foot of the gorge to Skoura. Beyond Skoura, the desert palms give way to orchards and irrigated gardens. Roses are the specialty of El Kelaa des Mgouna. The rose oil is sent to Paris to be made into perfume by Yves Saint-Laurent. Do some "rose" shopping here--rose water, body milk, dried rose petals before returning to our hotel in Ouarzazate for the evening.

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DAY 10 - MARRAKECH (B)
We drive back to Marrakech over the High Atlas, admiring the majesty of towering Djebel Toubkal (13,665 feet). Remainder of the day at leisure.

DAY 11 - MARRAKECH (BLD)
Today we discover Marrakech's teeming, labyrinthine souks (bazaars) with their hundreds of tiny little shops, and Djemaa El Fna square with its medieval circus atmosphere. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the evening we have a special treat: a Moroccan "fantasia" dinner served in tents, with a traditional folklore show.

DAY 12- DEPARTURE (B)
We escort you to the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage

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Rates per person in US$ From JFK

	Triple	Double	Single
First Class hotels or Riads	$ 6999.00	$ 7230.00	$ 8890.00
Deluxe Hotels	$ 7599.00	$ 7790.00	$ 8990.00
Ultra Luxury	$ 9299.00	$ 9490.00	$ 10,990.00

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Your tour includes:

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• Accommodation in"Deluxe : or moderate deluxe, superior first class hotels, as shown in the table "Our Hotels;" all rooms with private bath. Except for the one night in the Sahara , where it will be a tent .
  
  
• Flights between JFK & Casablanca roundtrip as well as domestic air ticket within Morocco , al in economy class with tax included .

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• ALL Meals as indicated in the itinerary: Continental (cB) or full breakfast (B) daily; set-menu lunch (L); set-menu dinner (D)

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• Transportation throughout by private deluxe air-conditioned vehicle

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• Escorted private guided sightseeing tours by air conditioned private vehicle indicated in the itinerary, including all entry fees

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• Services of a fully-licensed English-speaking guide throughout

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• Lonely Planet guidebook to Morocco

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• Tips.
• Travel Insurance

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What others say about our service in Morocco

Lebes (Berber greeting) or sbah ikheer (Arabic for good morning)!

Spring break is about over and it's back to work tomorrow. It will be a shorter week at CAS for me because on Thursday I'll be leaving for the Optimal Match Conference (SPED and Technology) in Rabat. Last year I
attended the conference in Madrid, Spain. I'm eager to see if the teachers from Rome, Paris, and Barcelona who I met last year will be attending this year. It is great to network with other teachers and find out about their programs plus hear about new and innovative strategies. The presenters are from the US.

Paul is currently enroute between Casablanca and Amsterdam with arrival due in the US at about 5:30 tonight and then back to work for him tomorrow. We had a fantastic week of touring and seeing more of
Morocco - a truly remarkable country with beaches, mountains, deserts, and everything in between in a relatively small area. Paul will send from his email account a number of pictures which might give you an idea of
our experiences this past week.

Trekking in the Amizimiz area while seeing the Atlas Mountains with its picturesque landscapes and Berber villages was quite remarkable. Our guide Said served us Moroccan tea and a lamb tagine for lunch in his
home. As you can see from the photo they also decided to dress us up in the typical Berber attire for lunch.

We continued on with the drive through the High Atlas Mountains crossing through the Tizi N' Tichka Pass and descended down through the Draa Valley stopping to see ancient Kasbahs (fortified palaces) and to the
caravan-town of Ouarzazate (movie site of The Mummy, Black Hawk Down, Babel, Syriana, Lawrence of Arabia, etc.). Enroute we stopped to hike up Ait Benhaddou and up the sandstone hill which has been the site for
a variety of movies including Gladiator. People still live in this UNESCO World Heritage village including Uemna and her husband. She invited us in to see her cave dwelling in the side of the hill and shared delicious
home-grown almonds.

Our next two nights were spent in the desert. The first night was at Zagora and in the middle of a sandstorm. Paul thinks that I probably have never been so grouchy upon awaking in the morning after a night spent trying to breathe while attempting to sleep in our nomad Berber tent amongst a haze of blowing sand. I think that the sand is all out of our ears by now. The next night after some fun camel riding we enjoyed a night on the Merzouga Desert in a deluxe tent under the stars.
Both nights we had our own private concert with talented musicians and dancers entertaining us with traditional Gnaouan music and delicious Moroccan cuisine.

It was interesting to study the information displayed on Paul's GPS in the mountains, deserts, etc. In the photo you can see our Moroccan friend and Paul discussing the merits of such equipment. We read in one
of the tour books that it is difficult for tourists to locate their reserved auberges (lodging accommodations) or tent sites and that they are encouraged to call ahead for the GPS coordinates in order to locate the correct place in the Sahara Desert.

Riding out into the golden dunes near Merzouga on camels to see the sunset was so much fun while watching four-wheel-drive vehicles zipping up and down the sand dunes (some in preparation for the Dakar Rally).
All too soon it was time to start the travel back to Casablanca via Fez.
On one of our stops we fed peanuts to the Barbary apes near Ifrane.

Staying in the Riad Dar Al Andalous was an experience of seeing more of the history and culture of Fez. Here we had one more example of the challenges of communication in a foreign country. Paul asked if he should pay for a Coca Cola and before he knew it he was being enthusiastically escorted into the kitchen to meet the 'cook' (Coke).

Living and visiting in an international setting is truly an exciting and stimulating experience.

A week after leaving Casablanca via train we arrived back in Casa with our very informative and helpful driver Hamid. Now, we have the memories and the pictures (and a few souvenirs) to enjoy of this
adventure in another area of incredible Morocco.

Our time in Morocco is fast approaching an end with one last trip
before returning home to Minnesota. At this point we are thinking of exploring more of Spain and the Moroccan coast of the Mediterranean.

M'a ssalama (goodbye - Arabic)

Paul and Dixie

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