Raid 4x4 All the Deserts

Day 1: Arrival Marrakech.
Deadline for arrival in Marrakech to take in hand your rental 4×4 if you did not come to Morocco with your own fully equipped off-road vehicle.

Day 2: Marrakech – Merzouga – Erg Chebbi
Long day on the road to reach the official starting point of the raid in Merzouga. Contact with the Hors Circuit team and all the other participants for a first briefing aperitif, then a welcome buffet, at the foot of the ocher dunes of Erg Chebbi.

Day 3: Erg Chebbi – Kem-Kem Desert – Tizi Ahanou
Direct conditioning with the descent of a sandy wadi along the Erg Chebbi. Then, varied tracks through the Kem-Kem desert with its succession of mountains in contrasting colors and passages of soft sand that promise lots of fun! Dream wild bivouac at Tizi Ahanou.

Day 4: Tizi Ahanou – Kem-Kem Desert
Contrasting zones follow one another like the astonishing crater of Tadefna and the palm grove of Tagounite. At the end of the Drâa valley and on the edge of a new desert region, supplies and a stopover at the ksar of Ouled Driss, with its kasbahs and covered alleys. Camping accommodation under palm trees.

Day 5: Kem-Kem Desert – Erg Chegaga
A famous day for both driving and panoramas. Massive dunes, stony regs, silted wadis, dry lakes, tamarisk mounds, dune areas,…: there will be something for everyone! At the foot of majestic rocky peaks, we will establish our makeshift camp, under palm trees and stars.

Day 6: Erg Chegaga  – Djebel Bani
The itinerary of this day is totally unknown and yet reserves as many beautiful encounters for those who know how to stop and take the time in beautiful desert landscapes. It is not an erg but the deep valleys of the Jebel Bani where acacias are as rare as semi-nomads. After a nice picnic at the women’s spring, we’ll have a great time crossing this soft sand massif where the driving flexibility will be much better than going through in force!
The end of the day is pure happiness with a dive in the Tissint basins and a stroll in the gorge upstream dotted with date palms.
Lodging in nomadic camp and traditional tanjia on the menu, right in the gorge.

Day 7: Djebel Bani – Feija Plateau
Emotion and thrills guaranteed for the crossing of a secondary gorge that is hardly frequented.
The arid plateau that follows only offers interest in the imposing constructions of the old village Isarhinne, with its Agadir and kasbah still very suggestive.
The rest of the route will allow you to observe here an ancient irrigation system, there the beautiful ruins of an ancient Jewish mellah, there some stalactite caves…
Dream bivouac in a vast palm grove.

Day 8: Djebel Bani
After your restocking at the garrison town of Tata, you will be treated to a succession of sites worthy of interest that will quickly saturate the memory card of your digital camera: sandy hills, old stone villages, charming palm groves, the minaret of beautiful architecture, curious areas of erosion…
Then after Imitek, many rock engraving sites will interest both the curious and the enlightened amateurs.
You will pitch your tent in a beautiful setting, in the middle of nature, under the palm trees of Foum Akka n’Tamia.

Day 9: The Anti-Atlas – La vallée de Tamzarar
The lost valley of Tamzarar amazes by its luxuriance and the depth of its gorges.
Who will then manage to climb the rocky peak of Tadakoust to discover both the old fortified collective granary and the panorama of the palm grove?
Other rock carvings of animals that have now disappeared will gradually lead you to the evening stage of Icht which splits the challenge into two equal parts. We separate from the participants with only one week of the raid and welcome the newcomers.

Day 10: Djebel Ouarkziz
Several & very different tracks offering a great variety of landscapes follow one another to form a relatively long stage passing through the towns of Assa and Aouinet Torkoz.
We will set up our makeshift camp in the middle of the acacias, far away from civilization…

Day 11: djebel Rich
Contrary to the day before, few kilometers are on the program today, to enjoy the dune area next to Msied, which smells like the desert. The opportunity to perfect your driving skills in the sand or to soak up the Saharan atmosphere synonymous with total disconnection.
Bivouac in the dunes or under the acacias, as you wish.

Day 12: Coastal Sahara
The wind has shaped these mounds of earth forming a kind of maze of the most beautiful effect and fun to wander around in 4×4.
A few more areas of rock carvings and then we will start a long journey in the coastal Sahara. The feeling of remoteness, isolation, destitution increases. The relief becomes more rugged, curious, mineral. It is only a series of depressions (“sebkhas”) and passages on the edge of cliffs, offering a multitude of breathtaking panoramas.
New wild bivouac on the edge of an exciting tortured wadi to explore on foot…

Day 13: Coastal Sahara (continued)
After a few days of rock carvings, you are now entitled to several stages of wind sculptures: the wind, the runoff, the salt have so much shaped waterfalls, rock walls, gorges that photo stops or contemplation are multiplying, slowing the progression and breaking the rhythm, which is not to displease us… We are reconnecting with the sand and going to make this last wild bivouac in the middle of a labyrinth of barkhans, these dunes in the shape of a crescent that move with the wind.

Day 14: Coastal Sahara (continued)
The climax of this raid will probably be the ascent of the Khaoui Nam Gorge and especially the visit of its gueltas, a resurgence cascading on several levels: an extraordinary and unexpected site in such an austere region.
The afternoon could hold many surprises, good and bad … Among the latter, note the various times when we lose track of the track, the sand quickly covering everything, and then forced to make the painful off-track train snail. The good ones will be for the end when you will discover the impressive walls of the enormous sebkha of Tah. Or when you taste the famous camel tagine of the Bedouin Camp, your last stop of this raid.