Combined tour of the Erg Chebbi Desert and the Atlas Mountains, discovering southern Morocco.

Just 70 km from where you'll be staying, this small town is home to millions of fossils dating back 380 million years (when this area was covered by a prehistoric sea). Many of the black marble lamps, tables, and sinks you'll see in Moroccan luxury hotels (even in the Kasbah Xaluca itself!) are made from this marble, which is rich in fossilized orthoceratites and trilobites.

Erfoud is not only the "Gateway to the Desert," but it also marks the point where the Erg Chebbi dunes begin to rise to heights of up to 150 meters. Imagine, after your overnight journey, watching the sun illuminate these reddish dunes at dawn, dunes that have served as the backdrop for films like "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Gladiator"!

When the sand is very dry and hot (especially in summer and autumn), as the dunes slide down the slopes they emit a deep, resonant sound similar to a distant airplane or an organ. The Berbers call it "the roar of the desert," and it only occurs in six or seven ergs around the world. If you're lucky and there's a bit of wind, you might hear it this afternoon as you walk down a dune after sunset!

The Great Dune of Merzouga (locally called Lalla Merzouga or the Big Dune) reaches a height of 160-170 meters from its base (equivalent to a 50-55 story building). It is the tallest dune in the country and one of the tallest accessible by camel in the entire Sahara. From its summit, on clear days, you can see as far as Algeria, more than 40 km away… and many luxury bivouacs (including the most famous ones) are located right at its base, so you can have it as a backdrop when you leave your tent in the morning!

The inhabitants of Khamlia, descendants of sub-Saharan slaves brought from Sudan and Mali centuries ago, use their dances and hypnotic rhythms (accompanied by the guembri, a three-stringed bass) not only for entertainment but also to "cure" ailments such as scorpion stings or stress. It's an ancestral ritual that induces trance and transmits "baraka" (divine blessing), and while you sip mint tea, you'll be at the heart of a UNESCO tradition that blends African laments with Moroccan spirituality!

At the Rissani market (open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays), nomads tether hundreds of donkeys in a vast open area—the only unfenced animal "parking lot" in the entire city!—where they are haggled over and inspected as if they were luxury cars. It is the last bastion of the Berber Silk Road, supplying tribes since the 14th century with spices, goats, and medfouna (the Berber "pizza" you'll try at Des Dunes).

The walls of the Todra Gorge reach a vertical height of 300 meters while being only 10 meters wide at its narrowest point. Since the 1970s, it has been a world-renowned climbing mecca: there are over 400 established routes, some of them 8c+, and some of the most famous climbers (Chris Sharma, Dani Andrada, etc.) have left legendary routes here. As you stroll peacefully along the bottom, you are literally standing beneath the walls where climbing history is being written!

At 1,612 meters, the Dades Valley is one of the last refuges in the High Atlas Mountains where golden eagles, griffon vultures, and Barbary falcons can still be seen soaring. Berber shepherds consider these birds of prey sacred and never disturb them; therefore, from the viewpoint where you'll have afternoon tea, it's quite common to see them gliding right at eye level… a stunning photo guaranteed!

In the Amskar region and the M'Goun Valley, families of the Ait Atta tribe still spend the summer inside cool, natural caves (some over 200 meters deep). The herds enter at night to protect them from the heat and predators; it's the exact same system their ancestors used 1,000 years ago. May-June and September-October are the best times to see them inhabited!

At nearly 30 km long, the M'Goun Gorges are longer than the famous Todra and Dades Gorges combined. In spring and early summer, the river runs so high that the trek is done in the water (up to your waist!), which is why locals call it "the river you walk." The section you'll hike is one of the most spectacular and least crowded in the Atlas Mountains.

This famous kasbah (a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987) is just 30 km northwest of the airport. On clear days, sitting on the left side of the plane (facing forward), just 3-5 minutes after takeoff, it appears perfectly silhouetted against the High Atlas Mountains.

Just northeast of Ouarzazate lies the Noor solar plant (over 6,000 hectares of mirrors), the largest concentrated solar power plant on the planet. On clear days, it's perfectly visible from the air as a lake of shimmering light. It produces enough energy for more than 2 million Moroccans and is so vast that astronauts use it as a reference point from space.