Marrakech to Zagora: 2 Day Desert Camel Trek & Ait Ben Haddou

4.94

(134 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Someone hands me a glass of mint tea before we even leave Marrakech—sweet and hot, with that little cloud of steam curling up into the bus. Our driver, Youssef, grins as he calls out names. I’m still half-awake when we start winding up into the Atlas Mountains. The road gets tight and twisty near Tizi n’Tichka pass; you can see tiny villages clinging to the hillsides, goats picking their way along terraces. The air smells like dust and something green—maybe wild thyme? We stop for photos but mostly just stand there squinting at the view, trying to take it in.

Ait Ben Haddou is even more sun-baked than I expected. Our guide (I think his name was Hassan?) tells us about movies filmed here—I only recognize Gladiator—and then leads us through these narrow alleys between clay walls that feel cool against your hand. Lunch is tagine with a view of the ksar; I probably eat too much bread but it’s hard not to when it’s warm from the oven. After that it’s hours of driving through the Draa Valley—palms everywhere, flashes of adobe towns—and then suddenly we’re swapping sneakers for sandals and climbing onto camels as the light starts to go gold.

The camel trek is…well, wobbly at first. My camel’s called Momo and he keeps turning around like he wants to check if I’m still there (I am). The desert isn’t endless dunes here—more flat stretches with low sandy hills—but when the sun drops everything goes quiet except for our guide singing softly behind us. Dinner at camp is loud by comparison: drums, laughter, someone passing around dates. I wake up early without an alarm—there’s this hush over the sand at sunrise that feels private somehow. Hard to explain.

On the way back to Marrakech we stop for coffee somewhere along the Draa Valley; I forget the name but remember how everyone sat outside blinking in the sun like we weren’t quite ready to leave yet. By late afternoon we’re dropped off back where we started—dustier than before, maybe a little quieter too. Still thinking about that sunrise.