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Experience the real Morocco with expert guides
Top-Rated On Tripadvisor Trips for All Budgets Experience the real Morocco with expert guides
Unknown to many even in Morocco and certainly across the world, south Morocco has innumerable ancient and fascinating rock carvings; even more than we are able to include. on this 7-day trip.
During this desert Rock Carvings tour, you will get a glimpse into the important aspects of prehistoric human life at many sculpture sites and rock carving locations; in the villages of Ait Ouazik near Tazzarine, in Oum La Leg, Oued Mestakou, Tiggane and Akka near Tata as well as at Imouan.
Rock Carvings in these sites immortalise carvings of warriors, weapons, scenes of fighting and hunting, and engravings of animals including elephant, rhino, lion, gazelle, horses, and camels; many of these species no longer exist here. These sites will take you deep into the world of ancient Africa and the movement of peoples across the continent.
The rock art sites at Oum La Leg, Oued Mestakou, Tiggane and Imaoun on the far side of the Erg Chegaga dunes and Tata form the highlights of this unique trip. Few people know about these sites or ever visit them, so they form an exciting part of any trip to Morocco.
On the return to Marrakesh across the High Atlas Mountains, a visit to the ancient, disused and very beautiful Tinmal mosque made of brick is scheduled. It is situated near the famous Tizi-n-Test pass and is one of only two mosques non-Moslems are allowed to enter.
| No Days | Meals |
|---|---|
| All-inclusive | |
| Total price | |
| 2 Persons |
|---|
| 925 €* |
| 1850 €* |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 895 €* |
| 2685 €* |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 865 €* |
| 3460 €* |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 825 €* |
| 4125 €* |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 825 €* |
| 4950 €* |
Morning departure from your hotel/riad in Marrakesh at 8 o’clock and driving across the High Atlas Mountains. At panoramic viewpoints, there will be opportunities to stop and take photos. The first scheduled stop is at the Kasbah of Telouet, which served as a palatial residence and the headquarters of the powerful Glaoui tribe.
Regrettably, the entire Kasbah is now closed because of the harm from the earthquake in Morocco in September 2023. However, it’s well worthwhile looking at the outside with a local guide to learn about its interesting history.
Here you will stop for lunch. Then the route crosses the Ounila Valley and leads along the stunning road to the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, the oldest and most famous Kasbah in Morocco and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In Ouarzazate, you spend the night in a riad.
After breakfast, you continue south down towards Agdez at the head of the Dra’a Valley, once the longest river in Morocco. Here nearby, you can visit the oldest Kasbah in the valley, Kasbah Tamnougalte, which is well worth a visit. Parts of it are still inhabited whilst others, especially the Mellah, the Jewish quarter, is slowly crumbling after the last person emigrated in the early ‘60s.
We go off-road along the ancient caravan route between the mountains and the river, passing many villages and gardens so that you can gain a better idea of the way of life along the oases.
Just before you reach the gendarmerie check-point in Tansikht, you can see dinosaur footprints in the rock right next to the road. Before Tazzarine, the road turns south and then westwards again to the village of Ait Ouazik The carvings here are remarkable for their deep incisions with simple, accurate and highly appealing outlines of animals. This site is estimated to be at least 5000 years old. We continue to Zagora to spend the night there.
After breakfast, you continue south to M’hamid, the end of the paved road and the dunes of Erg Lihoudi. In the afternoon, there is the departure for the Erg Chagaga dunes (300m) with 60km of off-road. This route passes different features of the desert; “erg”, ‘hammada’, oases. These dunes are far away from civilization, in the desert proper …… and the silence and the expanse of the sand are overwhelming.
You spend the night in a luxury desert camp with private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
After breakfast we drive another 90 km across the Sahara over the stony desert, “reg” and “hammada” and across the now dried-up Lake Iriqui. In the middle of this lake, we can search for fossils. At the edge of the desert at Foum Zguid, we turn west along the edge of the desert along the asphalted road to Tata which few people visit.
This is the old Algeria to Zagora caravan route and passes oases and the Jebel Bani Mountains, which later give way to the Anti Atlas. In Tata it is worth visiting the Kasbah and the small museum!
The whole day is spent exploring the rock art sites at Oum La Leg, Oued Mestakou and at Tiggane. All three of these sites are situated quite near to each other in the Oued (river) Tata valley).
In the afternoon we shall drive south-west towards Akka, where there are many artefacts at a Neolithic site there. These special engravings are all to be found close together along a spectacular ridge. We return to Tata for the night.
From Tata, we continue to Imaoun where carvings can be found side by side on the outcrops of rock. The site is situated at a break in the ridge rising up from the river plain. From here you head north following the Tata river and passing through Tiata Tagmoute, a small Berber town, to join the Tilouine to Tafraoute road, which you do at Ighrem.
From here we continue to travel north to Taroudant for lunch. Taroudant is called “the little Marrakesh” and is worth exploring for the afternoon before spending the night there.
After breakfast, we climb back up the High Atlas Mountains across the famous Tizi-n-Test pass, stopping at the Tinmal mosque, which may be visited by non-Moslems. Lunch will be in a mountain restaurant with superb views.
The road continues through the mountains to Asni and Tahanoute, which is one of the most beautiful roads in Morocco, with amazing views of the High Atlas mountains and Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and a favourite trekking destination. We reach Marrakech in the late afternoon / early evening.
