Sahara Expedition
Duration 7 Days / 6 Nights
This will be a once in a lifetime experience for many people, a unique opportunity to venture into one of the most beautiful and least spoilt wildernesses on earth. You will be guided on this adventure by one of Europe’s top wildlife and survival experts as well as local desert Berber nomads.
Marrakech - High Atlas - Drâa Valley - Sahara - Tamagroute - Zagora - Ouarzazate - Marrakech
Summary
Starting at Marrakech, we traverse the High Atlas on spectacular roads and then drop south along the mighty Drâa Valley with its ancient Kasbahs. Following this road as it winds through ancient villages, gorges and then on down through the great date palm oases, we arrive at M’Hamid el Ghizlane, where all roads south end at the edge of the magnificent Sahara Desert.
This is where we will be based at the beautiful Dar Sidi Bounou lodge, where you will become immersed in the unique landscapes and rich culture as this adventure begins.
The Program
Day 1: Marrakech Arrival
Arrival at Marrakech. Meet and Greet. Transfer to your accommodation in a beautiful and traditional Riad, Chez Momo. Dinner will be taken at the Riad.
Day 2: Marrakech - High Atlas - Agdz - Tamnougalt -Zagora - Dar Sidi Bounou
Depart after a relaxed breakfast for the High Atlas Mountains and the Draa Valley. We will travel south along the old caravan route to the Sahara Desert where the next few days will be spent. En route we will pass through many traditional Berber villages where they will be plenty of stops to rest, eat and visit craft shops.
Just after the sun sets we will arrive at M´hamid el Ghizlane and the beautiful Dar Sidi Bounou, which will be our desert accommodation and main location for the course. Here we will have dinner and orientation, including an introduction to deserts and their ecology.
The accommodation choices at Dar Sidi Bounou are all beautiful and you can choose from rooms in the lodge, traditionally made n´walla huts or Berber nomad tents in the adjacent dunes.
Day 3: Breakfast taken at Dar Sidi Bounou lodge
After a traditional breakfast including homemade Berber flatbreads we will make our basecamp for the course.
Morning Session
Learning how to construct a shelter; to provide both shade and comfort for our basecamp. Like many traditional people the Berber do not merely survive in these harsh environments; rather they thrive in them. So we will not only make something functional, we will be crafting a truly beautiful space too.
Lunch cooked over a fire in the dunes
Afternoon Session
Now we have our base camp assembled we will begin to learn the basics of desert survival
- How to pack for desert travel, personal rucksack and 4x4’s
- Setting priorities for desert survival
- How to light a fire using both modern survival tools and materials found in nature
Trek on foot back to Dar Sidi Bounou lodge for an evening meal and afterwards listen to traditional Ganawa Sufi music under the desert stars around a campfire.
Day 4: Breakfast taken at Dar Sidi Bounou lodge
Morning Session
After breakfast we will trek back to our basecamp. Please note that these treks will include following trails of desert animals, identifying them, learning how to move comfortably over the sands and collecting useful items for our basecamp.
- We will learn edible, poisonous and medicinal plants in the first session.
- This will be followed by learning how to source water and conserve it.
- We will investigate how to navigate in the desert using compass (including making our own compass), the sun and the patterns of the dunes.
Lunch cooked over a fire
Afternoon Session
- Learn various signalling strategies to attract attention in an emergency.
- We will introduce you to the likely medical emergencies you will encounter in the desert and what to do about them, this will include a section on how to prepare a desert first aid kit.
- Introducing full desert survival strategies to deal with various scenarios.
Return to Dar Sidi Bounou for the evening meal. Afterwards we will relax around the campfire and listen to Idir, a Berber storyteller, who will regale us with desert tales and fables.
Day 5: Breakfast taken at Dar Sidi Bounou lodge
Full day in the desert with 4x4
After breakfast we will be picked up with 4x4’s for a trip into the deep desert and to visit the giant barchan dunes of Chegaga.
Picknick Lunch in the desert
After this special lunch we will embark on an off road tour to an Oasis and then a journey across the fearsome stony Reg into the dunes themselves.
Returning to Dar Sidi Bounou for the evening meal. After this we will set out for a midnight walk across the dunes to see if we can spot the amazing desert nocturnal wildlife of Fennec Fox, Golden Jackal, Spotted Hyena and the many smaller mammals like Jerboa and Gerbil.
Day 6: Breakfast taken at Dar Sidi Bounou lodge
We will split this day into two sections. The morning will be spent undertaking your desert survival strategy and the afternoon will be a trek across the desert through an area strewn with ancient archaeology, fossils and semi-precious stones to an atmospheric ancient Berber watch tower.
Morning Session:
This is where we bring together all that you have learnt on the course. You will be presented with a survival challenge. You will need to devise and then enact your own strategy to complete the task.
Lunch: Cooked over the fire along with a demonstration on how to make delicious traditional sand bread.
Afternoon Session:
Fortified with lunch we will venture out with Idir a local guide and expert of the history and archaeology of the region. Crossing the empty Drâa River will enter the vastness of the stony Hamada desert around Sidi Boushak. Here we have the opportunity to hunt for the remains of our ancestors. The ground is strewn with artefacts from the Stone Age onwards; including arrow heads, semi-precious beads, pottery and fossils. We then crest more dunes to where we arrive at the mysterious and ghostly remains of an ancient Berber watch tower, at its feet the strewn bones of a long forgotten graveyard. Here we will watch the sunset in its magnificence before we trek back under the desert stars.
Day 7:
Depart for Ouarzazate and back over the High Atlas to Marrakech. Once again there will be opportunity for stops en route to eat and purchase local handicrafts.
There are planes out of Marrakech that evening, but should you wish to stay on we can arrange additional days for you with accommodation.
Price: € 900 per person
Price Includes: All accommodation, transport and/or petrol from Marrakech, meals, as well as the course itself.
Not included: Flights and ferries to Morocco, personal insurance, dinner in Marrakech first night, guided Medina tour, last night in Marrakech if you wish to stay longer.
If your arrival times allow for a Medina tour, we will organise it, likewise if you would like to stay more days in Marrakech, we will reserve your accommodation.
Please advise us of any special dietary requirements at the time of booking.
Deposit € 99 to reserve your place.
Book here