Gisela_O, apr. 2022
This tour is so so so worth it! And it truly is worth more than the amount you pay for it. I was a woman travelling solo, so I was a bit afraid about not having anyone to talk to - completely wrong, our group was absolutely amazing!
Our driver was Aziz - he was absolutely amazing, a great driver, always very attentive to us, tried to help us as much as possible whenever we asked for help.
The first day it's very tiring - you spend a total of 8 hours in the van + stops. About halfway through you stop at Aït Ben Haddou - there we had a tour guide, Abdul - absolutely amazing! He is one of the familes that still lives in the old town, and was so kind as to receive us in his home, give us tea, and show us how an old house works. He was very enthusiastic and told us about the movies that have been shot there, how he's even been an extra, etc. Later he also took us to a store in case we wanted to buy scarves for the Sahara. He was a tiny bit pushy but honestly right - you really do need them! Afterwards, another 4 hours in the car and we got to Tinghir, were we just checked in and had dinner. That hotel is pretty big and you get huge rooms, but the dinner was so-so (breakfast was much better) and the bed was a tiny bit uncomfortable.
The second day, we first went on the van to the Tondra Gorges and got another tour guide for the area! We saw how they make the rugs, a couple of us even got to try working the wool, and they were all so nice! No big push to buy if you didn't want to, but the quality was truly amazing and prices were pretty reasonable! After about 4 hours + stops we got to Merzouga. Here you need to make a bag for one night (the one camping out in the Desert), so be prepared! Then we got on the dromedaries (it says camels but only for touristic reasons - there really aren't any camels in Morocco, only dromedaries!) and rode into the Sahara to watch the sunset before going to the camp. Absolutely crazy amazing experience!! Halfway through the ride we stopped and got down, got to practice sandboarding with a sand that the camp provided, and sat down on the dunes to watch the sunset. Afterwards, after riding to the camp, we got settled in huge huge tents with amazing beds. I think we all were prepared mentally to sleep in one huge tent all together, and rather there were like 10-12 tents for between 3 and 4 people each, with huge double or single beds even with duvets. Super comfortable! Note: since it's a camp in the Sahara, our particular camp didn't have showers, just two toilets and a sink to wash up in, so don't always expect the showers! Then we ate - the food the guides prepared was really really nice! And then they lit up the campfire and pulled out instruments :) After playing, singing, and dancing for a while, we went out to the dunes right outside the camp to watch the stars for a bit - even caught a glimpse of shooting stars! One of our group wanted to try out astrophotography and she actually got some pretty good shots!
The next day we woke up early (they wake you up at like 5 AM) to watch the sunrise. You need to leave your bag with them so they take it back to the camp in Merzouga, and on the dromedary you go. Same as the day before, we rode them into the Sahara a bit, then stopped to watch the sunrise, and then came back to Merzouga. Here we couldn't take showers either, just got on the vans/taxis to go back to Marrakech (10 hours drive, be prepared) or Fes (7 hours).
The whole experience was absolutely surreal. It was absolutely amazing. Our driver Aziz was incredible, and the La Source Camp was really attentive and truly made everything magic. This is seriously underpriced! I wouldn't doubt one more second to go on a tour like this again.