July 11, 2008
Tea in the Sahara
Travel in style and luxury in a “safe-to-travel” country full of magic and mystery and unimagined beauty. Stay in some of Morocco’s finest, most unique hotels and travel in your own private car with driver. Sip sweet, fresh mint tea among the romantic sands of the Sahara.
This is a private tour: No buses. No waiting. No annoying strangers. And no umbrellas to follow. Travel at your own pace and, with the help of your guide, follow your passions.
For prices starting at $1760 per person (based on four or more passengers, low season), you will have your own private guide/driver – and ours are the very best in Morocco – at your disposal. With the expception of Marrakech (where walking and taxis are more than adequate) you will travel in your own comfortable car with someone else doing the driving.
Tea in the Sahara is a ten-day private tour of unusual quality and depth for prices that are discounted. A perfect tour for the first-time visitor as well as those returning for another taste of Moroccan hospitality. Your private guide will meet you on arrival in Casablanca and lead you through the markets of Fes, the dunes of the Sahara, the Kasbahs of the Dades Valley to the main square of Marrakech.
Call Heritage Tours at 1 800 378 4555.
Arrive in Casablanca where your Heritage Tours-qualified expert guide will greet you. Start your day with a visit to the grand Mosque Hassan II, dramatically sited at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
Tour the highlights of Casablanca before you head to Rabat to check into your five-star hotel to refresh and relax.
Rabat, the current political capital of Morocco, and neighboring Sale were once notorious as haven to the feared Barbary pirates.
After you refresh at your hotel, your guide awaits to show you the necropolis of Chellah, the picturesque Kasbah des Oudaias and the majestic Hassan Tower. Check in at the recently renovated Sofitel Diwan (5*).
You may wish to upgrade to our deluxe hotel package including Rabat's finest hotel, the Tour Hassan (5*).
Overnight: Rabat.
DAY 2: VOLUBULIS-MEKNES-FES
Breakfast at your hotel.
Spend a leisurely day on an excursion inland to Fes, Morocco's spiritual capital.
Drive east to the extensive Roman ruins at Volubulis and tour the capital of the ancient Roman province of Mauritania.
After completing your tour of the ruins, drive to nearby Moulay Idriss: the holiest Muslim site in Morocco. At its center lies the tomb of the man who brought Islam to Morocco twelve centuries ago.
Visit Imperial Meknes: its monumental City Gates are among the finest in the Arab world.
Continue to Fes and check in at the quaint Riad Mabrouka, located at the edge of the ancient medina. This intimate seven-room riad (converted home or palace; riad means 'garden' in Arabic) offers genuine Andalusian style. If you prefer a full-service 5* hotel, we will arrange a stay at the Hotel Le Merinides.
You may wish to upgrade to our deluxe hotel package including the historic Palais Jamaï - the grand hotel of Fes, surrounded by lovely Andalusian gardens and located adjacent to the massive city walls. As part of our deluxe package, we can also offer you the boutique La Maison Bleue: a historic mansion built by a celebrated judge and astrologer at the entrance to the ancient medina.
Overnight: Fes.
DAY 3: FES
Breakfast at your hotel.
Step back six centuries into the medieval world of Fes el-Bali, whose narrow and cobbled streets are filled with ancient mosques and towering green-glazed minarets. In Fes, veiled women hurry through the winding streets, donkeys - laden with their wares - take their time, and proud artisans craft objects much as their forefathers did centuries ago.
Highlights of your visit include the Medersa (koranic university) Attarine, Foundouk Nejjarine, the shrine of Moulay Idriss II, countless souks and the famous tanneries.
Visit the Dar Batha Museum, with a particularly impressive pottery collection, dating to the 16th century. (closed Tuesday).
If you like, stop at the recently restored Ibn Danan synagogue - the oldest extant synagogue in Fes. Its restoration was part of a comprehensive UNESCO project to preserve the monuments and fabric of medieval Fes.
See the stunning gates of the Royal Palace and explore the alleys of Fes el-Jdid.
Overnight: Fes.
DAY 4: SAHARA
Breakfast at your hotel.
Today, you will leave the scenic Middle Atlas Mountains and continue south along the Ziz River until it finally dies out in the Sahara desert and you arrive at the Tafilet oasis.
As the last paved road ends at the edge of the oasis town of Erfoud, you leave the world behind as you continue on to a small oasis in the desert. Here you will find the Auberge Kasbah Derkaoua - a unique inn filled with ambiance and personality, built by an expatriate Frenchman who abandoned France to live in the Sahara.
After you settle in, the Auberge's inn-keeper will serve Moroccan tea with fresh desert mint on a silver tray...Tea in the Sahara...
Dinner at the Auberge.
Overnight: Auberge Kasbah Derkaoua.
DAY 5: SAHARA AND OASES
Very early wake up as your 4x4 will be waiting for you as you continue your adventure by heading towards the legendary dunes of Erg Chebbi - considered by desert aficionados to be perhaps the largest dunes in the Sahara.
Witness the sun rising from the east over the desert dunes: one of the greatest sights of Morocco. Maghreb, the Arabic name for Morocco, means the West; Morocco was at the very edge not only of the Islamic world, but of the known world.
After the sun has risen, you will be driven back to the desert inn for breakfast.
After breakfast, continue your 4x4 adventure in the Sahara desert. Explore the crumbling ruins of once-grand kasbahs, now half-buried by sand. These fortified outposts, including Sijilmasa, were for centuries the first signs of civilization for the trans-Saharan caravans after months of hardship on the open desert.
As your adventure winds down in the late morning, return to the town of Erfoud.
Continue west to the scenic Todgha Gorges. Explore this area of dramatic natural scenery by car and, if you choose, on foot.
Afternoon visit to the Dades Gorges, another area of wonderful scenery.
If you like, stop for tea at Kasbah Ben Moro, a recently refurbished 17th century Kasbah on the outskirts of a lush oasis. Stretch your legs on a walk through the oasis to the nearby Tomb of the Marabout and the Kasbah of Adilhil.
Check-in at the comfortable Kenzi Azghor (4*).
You may wish to upgrade to our deluxe hotel package including the Hotel Berbere Palace (5*) - the finest in the region.
Dinner at your hotel.
Overnight: Ouarzazate.
DAY 6: HIGH ATLAS MOUNTAINS - MARRAKECH
Breakfast at your hotel.
Spend the morning exploring the region around Ouarzazate. Visit the Kasbah Taouirirt and the UNESCO-restored Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou.
Head west through the High Atlas Mountains and the dramatic pass of Tizn Tichka en route to Marrakech. This hairpin road is one of only two passes through the largest mountain chain in Africa.
Arrive in Marrakech and check in at Les Jardins de la Medina. A garden oasis of calm and tranquility only a fifteen-minute walk from the Djemaa el F'naa, this newly-opened boutique hotel features lovely tropical gardens, a large pool and a traditional hammam.
You may wish to upgrade to our deluxe hotel package including the legendary La Mamounia (5*) - consistently ranked as one of the Top 100 Hotels in the World and playground for the rich and famous since the days when Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt used to roam its halls. You would be staying in a premium Park View room with a balcony or patio overlooking the extensive gardens of La Mamounia and with the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains in the distance.
Overnight: Marrakech.
DAY 7: MARRAKECH
Breakfast at your hotel.
A full day on foot to explore exotic Marrakech: sights include the towering 12th century Koutoubia minaret and the Menara Gardens with your expert guide.
Explore the colorful souk (marketplace) of Marrakech. Each trade - spices, carpets, jewelry, enamel, copper, brass and cedar - is situated in its unique quarter.
Visit the Saadien Tombs - a treasure lost within the medina until its rediscovery only in this century and the mausoleum of the dynasty, which once ruled North Africa.
In the early evening, head towards the frenetic Djemaa el Fnaa - perhaps the greatest square in all of Africa.
Overnight: Marrakech.
DAY 8: MARRAKECH
Breakfast at your hotel.
Continue your walking tour of Marrakech.
Wander through the Dar Si Said Museum of traditional crafts housed in a 19th century palace, and the nearby Maison Tiskiwin, a private collection of indigenous crafts started by a Swiss collector and now open to the public.
Visit the medieval Medersa (koranic university) ben Youssef - one of the finest Islamic monuments in North Africa. Architecture aficionados will enjoy the nearby delicate dome of the 12th century Koubba.
Near the medersa are two of the more interesting cultural showplaces in Marrakech: The Musee de Marrakech and the Dar Bellarj cultural foundation.
Visit the ruins of the vast Badi'a Palace, where an 800-year-old wooden minbar (pulpit) from the Koutoubia mosque has just been installed after a painstaking two-year restoration by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
If you wish, visit the Artisinale, where crafts are made and sold. There is a small workshop in the back where zellij (the hand-crafted Moroccan mosaic that is a hallmark of Moroccan architecture) is produced.
End your day (taxi required) at the lush Majorelle Gardens (owned by Yves St. Laurent, one of many expatriate celebrities who have taken up residence in Marrakech in recent years). You may wish to visit the small Islamic Art Museum located in Majorelle's former home.
Overnight: Marrakech.
DAY 9: MARRAKECH (ESSAOUIRA / BERBER VILLAGES)
Breakfast at your hotel.
A day at leisure to enjoy your lovely hotel or to do some last-minute shopping!
You may wish to choose one of the following optional daytrips (cost not included):
Option 1: Full-day excursion west to the Atlantic Ocean and the former Portuguese colony of Essaouira (approximately two hours each way). Wander about its enchanting streets and alleys. Once known as Mogador, Essaouira's blue and white medina was recently names a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Option 2: Full day excursion into the breathtaking High Atlas Mountains. Begin your day at one of the Berber village south of Marrakech. (there are local markets in the area on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) These markets, by no means designed for tourists, are still the mainstay of the economy in rural Morocco, where over 50% of the population still lives.
From here, you will continue to the newly restored 12th century mosque at Tinmal: from this tiny mountain outpost, a Berber warrior tribe would conquer Marrakech to found the Almohad dynasty.
You may wish to stop for tea or lunch (cost not included) at the beautiful resort of La Rosarie - a small lodge near the base of Mount Toubkal - the highest peak in North Africa. After lunch, you may wish to stroll the gardens at La Rosaraie or hire a guide for a short hike to nearby Berber villages.
Overnight: Marrakech.
DAY 10: DEPARTURE
Breakfast at your hotel.
Private transfer to the nearby Marrakech airport for your departing flight.
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