Through Canyons and Kasbahs to the Sahara

Day 1 of our Sahara Excursion featured a drive through southern Morocco’s beautiful gorges

Way back when Covid first broke out, we were booked to go to Morocco during my spring break. Of course, the trip was canceled. Now that we were headed back, though, we decided to extend our time there by adding a three day Sahara excursion, with two nights in a desert camp. We read through various tour offerings and decided to go with Excursion Désert Maroc tours.

Having our private car and driver, though expensive, made the trip so much more scenic and fulfilling

As part of the tour, which other than the flight was the most expensive portion of the trip, we had a private vehicle with driver/guide at our service for three days. All excursions and most meals were included. We even upgraded to the “Luxury Camp” which had the shower and toilet in our “tent” because neither of us are really big campers. “Glamping” in the Sahara it would be! Our guide Brahim (who asked to be called “Brian”) picked us up promptly from our hotel in Ouarzazate at 8:30am. We then began our long day of driving and sightseeing. Brahim assured us that we could stop anytime we wanted to take pictures. Perhaps he didn’t realize the extent to which we both like taking photos, but this aspect of the tour alone made it worthwhile. On many excursions and day trips, I have seen great views and regretted that I couldn’t simply tell the driver to pull over every time I wanted. For the next three days, I could do exactly that!

Kasbah Amridil was the first of many incredibly cool historic buildings we would see that first day

Our first stop was in part of the Skoura Oasis. One thing that I was really looking forward to seeing in the southern part of Morocco were the “Kasbahs.” Think of these as the Moroccan version of local noble’s castle. Usually made of mud brick rather than stone, they formed a central citadel part of the town which would grow up around them. Our first stop on that day was at Kasbah Amridil, founded in the 1600s. It was also our introduction to the fact that it had been raining in the south of Morocco…a lot! A fast-running creek separated us from the kasbah, so we would have to be content with pictures rather than a visit inside. No problem, I thought! I switched to my telephoto lens and got some nice shots of the decorated mud brick towers of the Kasbah. Apparently, Kasbah Amridil also has a Hollywood connection, as it appeared in the 1962 version of Lawrence of Arabia. To this day, the original family still lives in part of the kasbah, maintaining the rest as a museum.

I was never sure what it was, but this hilltop boulder formation had Berber symbols on it

Our next stop was our first random photography pullover. We’d noticed some unusual boulder formations atop a hill, and Brahim found a parking lot very close by. We scrambled up to find it was actually a monument or religious site of some sort. There were Berber symbols painted on the rocks, and a painted blue and white rock staircase leading to a cave atop the hill. Brahim didn’t know much about it, so after taking a few pictures we hopped back in the car and continued on our way.

All along our way, we would see tiny towns each with their own historic Kasbah

We passed through a shallow gorge with a small river running through it. Settlements seemed to cluster all around the gorge. Some had their own kasbahs, as well. Brahim chose a cafe in one of the villages for our first bathroom break, probably sensing we wanted time for more photos, too! It was interesting to see how some of the villages were located down in the river valley and others perched on the cliffs above. There were also scattered modern houses here and there that were not part of the village clusters. I took a break from pictures to buy a Moroccan citrus soda and enjoy the panorama of the countryside on this crisp, cloudy morning.

The buildings mirrored the reddish brown earth all throughout the Dades Gorge

The main part of our itinerary today would be passing through two deep gorges. The first up was the Dades Gorge. To get there, we crossed through the Valley of the Roses. Here, along the Dades River, roses bloom in incredible profusion in the spring. There is a yearly festival in celebration and many local businesses are involved in the production of products made with local roses. Brahim asked us if we wanted to visit a rose oil factory. These are the types of things that tours love to schedule, but travelers like me prefer to avoid. You are typically given a quick spiel on how the product is made, shown sample wares, and then pressured to buy products. I imagine in most cases, tour companies get a kickback from purchases. Luckily, ours was a private tour and we could simply bypass the entire rose oil factory stop with a “No thanks, Brian!”

The Monkey Fingers is a rock formation and trailhead for a scenic hike

Our next sight was the Dades gorge itself. The walls on either side of the gorge rise anywhere from 200 to 500 yards in height. Above that, rugged mountain outcrops loom over the river valley. Clusters of buildings sprout here and there out of the damp, reddish brown earth. Many of the buildings mimic the color palette of the ground in pinks, oranges, and golds. We stopped at a few places for photographs, including at the famed “Monkey Fingers” observation point near the town of Tamlalt. This is also a trailhead for a day hike, but as it was raining off an on by this point, we opted not to go for the hike. The monkey fingers part is named after a rock formation of small boulders that look somewhat like a creased monkey’s hand. A bonus for me at the stop were the friendly dogs enduring the drizzle and wagging their tails in return for a pat on the head and some kind words.

Closeup of the town of Boumalne Dades gleaming pink in the afternoon sun

After awhile, the rain thankfully went away. In fact, it timed itself perfectly. The sun broke through just when we reached an incredible scenic overlook in Boumalne Dades. This was also the largest town we’d seen so far since leaving Ouarzazate. Thick clusters of green trees grew along the banks of the Dades River, abruptly giving way to arid brown slopes and then pink rocky hilltops. The panorama ran for miles in every direction. Several towns staked out their positions on both sides of the slopes. All of them were shining brightly in the afternoon sun, with pink once again being the dominant color of walls. Our scenic overlook was essentially a long parking lot and a dozen other people had also pulled over to enjoy the view. Most seemed to be locals — not travelers. We took lots of photos, and I had fun with my telephoto lens, zooming in on various buildings, plazas, or other sections of the towns up and down the gorge.

Settlements line the Tondra Gorge, some in the river valley, others climbing the slopes above

Next, it was on to the Todra Gorge, a series of limestone river canyons. As we began our drive along it, we stopped to take pictures of a lovely kasbah surrounded by a grove of palm trees. Beyond the kasbah, the mountains rose up to the sky, which was once again clouding up. In front of the kasbah, the valley was thick with thorny scrub bushes. Once again, a number of small settlements were spaced out in each direction along the gorge. Each seemed to be staking out their individual part of this river valley. In most, you could see the slender shape of a minaret rising from the surrounding the buildings. Other towns marched in pink ranks up the rocky slopes, On the far side of the gorge, my telephoto was able to make out ancient buildings which had been carved out of the rock of the mountain itself. It reminded me a bit of Petra in Jordan, the way the crumbling buildings seemed to grow out of the cliff sides.

The road arc along one side of the gorge, diving into the valley, and then up the other

As the gorge narrowed, the road descended into the level of the valley. We soon were headed back the other direction on the opposite side of the gorge. Brahim explained he was taking us to a popular walk where the cliff sides reached out towards each other, almost joining up. He let us out and said he’d be waiting at the end. Here, the brown cliffs reared high above us, at least a football field in height. They were sheer and deeply grooved, colored here and there by freckles of tough green bushes that grew on their rocky faces. A stream ran along the gorge to our right as we walked along the road. Occasional souvenir sellers had set up their brightly-colored wares beneath the towering cliffs. I spotted a t-shirt I liked, but the vendor did not have it in my size. I mentally marked it down to hopefully find somewhere else.

Walking through the Tondra Gorge was the first place that day we saw a number of other travelers

We continued walking and taking pictures. Most of the time we had to lean back and use our widest angle lens to get the sheer height of the rock face in our picture. This was obviously a popular walk, and for the first time today we were seeing a number of other travelers doing the same thing. It was nice to get out of the car, though, and walk a bit. Even the walk was fairly short, we milked it by stopping to take numerous photos — as always!

“Wait - we are headed to the Sahara and it’s raining??

After Brahim picked us up, he let us know the next stop would be in the Sahara. I was really intrigued to see what our Luxury Desert Camp would look like. Even though I had been in deserts before in my life, I was pretty excited to see one as famous and historic as the Sahara. Notice I don’t say Sahara Desert. Sahara means “desert” in Arabic, and you wouldn’t say the Desert Desert, would you? We were just on the famous desert’s northern fringes, but the prospect of a sea of dunes all around was still thrilling. However, the cool weather, cloudy skies, and occasional rain showers made all of it seem slightly unreal. How could we be heading towards a desert when it has been spitting rain off and on all day long? As we drew nearer, I even spotted a rainbow gleaming against the dark gray clouds on the horizon!

Guests arrive at the Sahara camp on camelback - not in an SUV!

Once we arrived near Merzouga, the place near the Algerian border from which many Sahara excursions depart, we began to see the sand. We soon left the pavement and were slip-sliding through sand as Brahim hunted down where we would meet our ride to the camp. I hadn’t mentioned before that Brahim was driving a 4-wheel drive SUV, so his vehicle could handle driving in the sand. He wouldn’t be driving us to the camp, though. Oh no, our tour agency planned a much more cinematic arrival. We would ride into our camp on camels! I had ridden a camel once, long ago, but for many visitors, I imagine this is the first time they’ve been atop one of the grumbly, ill-tempered beasts. It took some doubling back in the SUV, phone calls, and shouted directions from other camel wranglers, but we eventually found our mounts.

Riding one of these groaning and moaning beasts is an interesting experience

The sun had set already and it was growing dark by the time my camel lurched forward and then backwards to stand upright with me on its back. There was a metal handrail protruding from the “saddle” that made it easy to hang on despite the angle you are pitched forward and back. Once In motion, the camel’s gait is interesting. You know how to flip a towel, making it ripple one way and then the other? A much more mild version of that motion is what happens to your spine once you surrender to the camel’s motion. The saddles were also set up for us to have our legs hanging down on each side like a horse, rather than folded underneath like I’ve seen other camel riders. I imagine it is to help novice riders like us keep our balance!

Imagining myself as Lawrence of Arabia as I sway through the Sahara on my trusty camel

As we began our 45 minute trek across the dunes, Brahim disappeared in the SUV to beat us to the camp and get our luggage set up in our tent. We had a guide leading our camels, which were roped together. In the distance, we saw other travelers likewise in small groups heading across the dunes in the same direction. Our camel driver let us down at one point to take some pictures of the dunes all around us. The sand dunes had the slow “S curves” just like I had seen in countless movies and pictures. Here and there, sturdy green plants grew out of the sand. You could see the hoof prints of other lines of camels as a darker orange, breaking the smooth surface of the dunes. True to their nature, the camels moaned, belched, and groaned, as if they’d eaten something for lunch that was definitely not agreeing with them. Luckily, none decided to spit on us or try to throw us off!

I have to admit that despite the rain and cold, it was fun riding a camel into camp

The romantic nature of riding across the dunes on camelback in the Sahara was only slightly lessened by the occasional drizzle of rain and chill wind that blew across the sands. Still, it was a fun experience. It was neat to see how other lines of camels would disappear from sight as they descended a dune, only to reappear as they climbed the next. It was much like looking at something while out a sea, which appears and disappears with the rise and fall of the waves. Eventually, we arrived at our cluster of tents, which would be our home for the next two nights. I wasn’t expecting the hard sell from our camel wrangler after he let us down. He pulled out various souvenirs from his pack, offering each up to us. We declined to purchase anything, and were directed to the large dining tent. We were served tea, as is tradition, and then shown to our luxury tent.

Our Luxury tent in the Sahara camp

I’d mentioned that we would be “glamping” (glamorous camping), and the tent fulfilled that definition. If you didn’t notice the cloth walls, it would seem like a hotel room. There was a separate shower (bigger than you’d find in most European hotels!), and separate toilet. The bed was king size plus, with a second single bed, as well. There was hot water, flush toilets, electricity — all the amenities of a hotel room. The only difference was the walls were made of cloth. Oh? How do they get the electricity out in the desert? Solar power! All of the camps have their own solar arrays to power their guests’ accommodations and their kitchens. After a dinner of too much food (that seems to be a common theme for Morocco!), we headed back to our tent to rest up for tomorrow’s adventure among the dunes!