Zagora The Entrance To Erg Chigaga Via The Draa Valley

Zagora is Mor’hara’s hometown, located south of Ouarzazate in the Draa Valley.

The Draa is an extraordinary natural wonder, a two hundred km long valley stretching just south of Ouarzazate to Zagora, consisting of vast date palm groves as far as your eye can see, great rivers and irrigation streams, sandcastle architecture and red earth fortified villages and Kasbahs.

Timbuktu 52 Days

Historically Zagora was a strategic trading post for the camel caravans crossing the Sahara, famously indicated by a weather-beaten sign depicting a camel and a nomad in a faded indigo turban, above which is the legendary statement ‘Timbuktu 52 Days’, on foot or by a camel that is!

Rolling Dunes

The Erg Lihoudi, beyond Zagora, are long, rolling, beautiful, rustic and earth coloured sands and although not the highest dune set in Morocco, are still large enough to make you catch your breath. These sands create surreal patterns and views of overwhelming natural beauty. The Lihoudi Dunes are an inspiring and wonderful introduction to the desert and southern region.

A desert tour to and from Zagora provides you with the opportunity to experience the Sahara and the magnificent Draa valley, even if your time is limited whilst in Morocco.

M’hamid Entrance To Erg Chigaga Via The Draa Valley

Continuing south from Zagora toward the oasis village of M’hamid will bring you literally to a halt, for M’hamid is located at the ‘end of the road’ and known as the last southerly outpost in this region, prior to entering the Sahara, beyond stretches 4,800 kilometres of desert.

A lunar rock landscape, hauntingly beautiful, lies beyond M’hamid and thereafter spectacular sands come into view, the magnificent, towering and extraordinary Erg Chigaga, only accessible by 4×4 and by camel.

Authentic & Remote Dunes

To enter the desert from M’hamid is arguably a more authentically southern and historical experience. M’hamid was once the first big oasis the historic trade caravans entered after travelling across the Sahara for months at a time.
A desert tour from M’hamid to the Chigaga Dunes provides you with the opportunity to discover and experience some of the most remote, highest and largest dune set in the Moroccan Sahara. In addition you will journey through the entire magical Draa Valley.