Merzouga Morocco Desert Camps

I think ours was called Africa Luxury Camp, but really we just went where our tour took us. We went with Morocco Fabulous Travels, and highly recommend them. Our camp included a camel ride in (about 2 hours); welcome tea; nice tent with big bed and separate bathroom/shower; dinner and breakfast; Berber music around the fire; and option to camel or 4x4 out. If you are choosing one directly, from what I could see, they were all pretty similar.

Darren, thanks for your response! I think you mentioned in an earlier post you went overland from Fez to Marrakesh via Merzouga with Morocco Fabulous Travel? How was the overland route? Were the stops worth going overland? What was the max time on the road each day? I was considering flying to avoid 8 hrs jostling around each way in a minivan or SUV but if the trip is not too bad, perhaps we should consider an overland 'tour' to get from Fez to Marrakesh?

The overland tour was ABSOLUTELY worth it. The days were long (about 8 hours) but well paced, and with lots of breaks.

Day one, our driver picked us up at our riad in Fez. We drove up the Middle Atlas to Ifrane, a French alpine style town built by the French colonial administrators to avoid the heat. Then to a national park in the Middle Atlas where there were barbary macaques (but not as well kept as the ones in Gibraltar). Then Midelt, which is famous for apples, of all things in the desert. Then lunch in Er-Rich. Drove through Errachidia where the Algerian border is close and the Moroccan army is based (our driver told us all about the conflicts between the two countries). Then a long drive to Merzouga, where we traded our jeep for camels and a 1-2 hour camel ride to the camp.

Day two, we drove to the Dades Gorge, the Grand Canyon of Morocco and stayed there in a nice hotel.

I get the days mixed up, but we stopped at two very interesting places: womens' cooperatives, one for rose oil, and one for argan oil, where we saw how production was done and met the women who run the places.

Day three was Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou, and over the High Atlas to Morocco. The only bad stop on the whole trip was the Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate - a cheap money grab, not really a tour of an operating movie studio.

Three days with one driver gave us lots of time to get to know him, his Berber culture, and the interplay between Arabs and Berbers in Morocco. I felt he picked stops that were appropriate for us. We learned so much about Morocco, it really made me love the place much more than as a mere sun and photo spot. The people are amazing!

I highly recommend a tour as your means of transportation.

I should add we did the Private Tour. We booked a Small Group Tour because we liked the idea of meeting other travellers, but not enough other people signed up, so they gave us the option to go ahead with the Private Tour, or cancel. I'm really glad we went with the Private Tour as it gave us unlimited access to the driver/guide for questions, conversations, getting to know him.

Darren, Thanks for the detailed response! Your trip sounds pretty excellent. We may opt for an extra day in Merzouga to chill in the desert longer, and I'm not too excited about the Atlas Studios 'tour' but the rest sounds pretty cool.