6 Days Morocco Desert Tour from Marrakech

Day 5

Boumalne Dades to Merzouga via Todra Gorge

Begin the morning in the Dades Gorges where the iconic "Monkey Fingers" rock formations — pale limestone towers sculpted by differential water erosion into extraordinary organic finger-like pillars, some reaching 20 metres — rise above a valley of walnut and almond trees and ancient mud-brick kasbahs in varying states of preservation. The earthen walls of these kasbahs blend so perfectly with the canyon strata that they seem to have grown from the cliffs. Drive east to Todra Gorge: one of the most dramatic slot canyons in North Africa, where 300-metre limestone walls close around a clear, cool river flowing from High Atlas snowmelt — the walls sometimes narrowing to barely 10 metres apart, the temperature dropping noticeably in the deep shade. The gorge is a world-class rock climbing destination first explored by European alpinists in the 1960s, with over 150 established routes. Walk the full length of the canyon floor and feel the scale of the towering walls above. Continue east through Erfoud's fossil marble workshops — Devonian trilobites and ammonites embedded in black limestone, polished into decorative objects — and Rissani's ancient covered souk, birthplace of Morocco's Alaouite royal dynasty whose founder Moulay Ali Sherif is buried here. Arrive in Merzouga and mount your camel in the late afternoon for a sunset trek across the golden Erg Chebbi dunes — some reaching 150 metres above the desert floor — to your luxury Berber camp, with a traditional tagine dinner and live campfire music.