We will be in Marrakesh for 6 full days in Nov 2018 ( plus 2 half-days for arriving/ departing. We want to take a trip to the dessert. A 4 day 3 night trip was recommended going to Ourzazatte then to oasis of Skoura (Alt Ben Haddoy) and back to Marrakesh. That leaves us with 2 full days in Marrakech! We leave Marrakech for two days in Essaouira before flying for a 1/2 day in Cassablanca then home.
Is this too aggressive a timeline? Are there other options?
Any recommendations for guides? Tours/
Does this actually get you out to the real desert? Ait Benhaddou is great, otherworldly, but it is not really in the deep desert (at least not the desert you're picturing, with huge, endless, rolling dunes). Neither is Ourzazatte, for that matter. If you want the real "Sahara" experience, you need to get to one of the Grand Ergs - the "sand seas" - in the south. Don't get me wrong, Ait Benhaddou is worth the trip - and BTW, you don't need a guided tour for that - I just rented a car in Marrakech and drove (once you get out of Marrakech, an easy drive, up over the High Atlas mountains, not particularly challenging). But if you want to see and be on the big, rolling sand dunes - out of Lawrence of Arabia - you need to get beyond Ourzazatte. Check with the tour group and confirm that you're really getting to one of the Grand Ergs in the deep south (assuming you want to "big dunes, endless sand" experience).
The only thing worth seeing in Casablanca is the huge mosque.
Thanks! Thats what I heard. Is visiting Rick’s cafe of any value — or just a gimmic?
We went to Rick's Cafe and loved it. Of course, it is filled with other tourists, but who cares .... it is beautiful and the food is excellent. The American woman who owned it died recently, so you won't see her standing at the bar, which she apparently did every night. The fig and goat cheese salad I started my meal with was divine and I recommend it. And what the heck, there is not a lot else to do in Casablanca, so you may as well have a good meal.
I just got back from Morocco, on a guided tour. We did a day-trip from Marrakech to Essaouira - loved it. We spent 2 nights in Erfoud, spent the full day in-between seeing places in the Merzouga desert, ending with a camel ride to the top of a dune in the Erg Chebbi dunes to watch the sunset. No one was impressed by the sunset, the dunes are as described above - not the endless sands you expect. The camel ride - about 20 minutes up and again down - was kind of fun, though one camel got rowdy and bucked its rider to the ground, who then had to walk the rest of the way down, bruised and scratched. Luckily she had the presence of mind to roll quickly away from the beast to keep from getting kicked or trampled.
