Onward through Morocco — DAVID YARBOROUGH

One experience nearly every first-time visitor to Morocco should seek is a camel trek into the Sahara Desert. It takes considerable effort but is well worth the time and expense. There are several points in the south of Morocco to access the desert, but the best one is the town of Merzouga. This demands a long drive from either Marrakesh or Fes.

One of many breathtaking vantage points from the zigzagging drive through the mountains.

Our choice was a two-day overland drive across the High Atlas Mountains from Marrakesh. The roads are good, except when they are under construction, which they were during our visit. The scenery is often Instagram-worthy: long -views of brown mountains framing valleys highlighted with swaths of green oases. We crested the mountain pass at more than 7000 feet, still a mile lower than the highest peaks of the Atlas range.

Along our way, the almost-in-ruins kasbah (fortress), of Ait Ben Haddou, a World Heritage site, was a treat. Its photogenic beauty has been captive visitors for centuries. So popular is this part of the country with movie-makers that the nearby city of Ouarzazate is the home to a very large film studio complex, complete with sound stages, back lots, etc.—Hollywood in the desert. Many popular movies and TV shows have been made here, from Oscar-winner Lawrence of Arabia to the current HBO series Game of Thrones.

A Berber native looks over a lush green valley

The canyons—called gorges here—cut by the Dadés River, are spectacular. The scenery throughout the Dadés Valley, also known as the Valley of the Roses, was often reminiscent of that in southern Utah. Dramatic rock formations arise from desert flats against a backdrop of high mountains. Our entourage overnighted in Boumaine Dades, an austere, monochromatic kasbah of mud-brick buildings, that proved another worthwhile stop. We arranged this trek from Marrakesh to Fes via the desert privately, with a driver and guide, but travelers in smaller groups can easily find similar tours available on a shared basis.

The remoteness of Merzouga’s location is trumped by its proximity to the dramatic dunes of Erg Chebbi, and there are numerous luxury encampments in this area. The desert is vast, however, and the dunes are high (up to 1000 feet), so that each camp feels isolated. We were traveling in October, and there were no crowds to speak of anywhere.

The whole family riding camels in the Sahara

The camel rides depart in the late afternoon, providing the opportunity to view the often-spectacular sunsets over the desert.

As Americans we expected to have to go through an intensive pre-ride briefing, explaining the safety guidelines, assuring us that no camel would suffer under our weight and being required to sign the requisite liability waivers. Au contraire, mes amis. In fact, I can repeat the entire introduction to camel-riding into the Sahara here verbatim: “Hold on!” In fact, these were practically the only English words our guides seemed to know.

In our case, we ventured into the desert in a wind-storm, necessitating quick lessons in turban-wrapping from the locals. Visibility was limited and, while we missed the optimal sunset experience, we still saw the sands and the dunes we had come for. The blowing sand stung and the wind chilled as we slowly left behind the lights of Merzouga and scanned the desert horizon that seem to go on forever (actually a mere two thousand miles).

The two Berber camel-drivers chatted and laughed between themselves as our mounts clomped through the sand. Our outbound journey was interrupted midway when one of our fellow travelers in the caravan of nine experienced medical problems and had to dismount. After more than a half-hour wait for a desert vehicle to find us and speed the distressed person off across the dunes, we resumed our trek, eventually in total darkness. After a few wrong turns, our guides finally found our camp.

The tents were a welcome escape from the desert winds. They were plushy appointed, with shower and toilet, a large comfortable bed and numerous Moroccan rugs. After joining our group for dinner in the welcoming communal dining tent (yes, we did enjoy dessert in the desert), we skipped the star-gazing we had looked forward to in favor of climbing into the warm bed and falling into a well-earned night’s sleep to the rhythmic drumming from the campfire.

When we rose before dawn, the wind had died, and the skies had cleared affording a spectacular sunrise. Some energetic lodgers even woke up early enough to climb the dunes behind the camp and view a gorgeous sunrise with changing hues of red, orange and yellow over the golden sand. Our post-breakfast camel ride back to Merzouga was brilliant, with intense blue skies contrasting with the wind-sculpted orange dunes. However, what awaited us following our hour and a half camel ride was a very long—nearly seven-hour—drive in a van to Fes.

While the route provided diverse and often spectacular scenery, passing this entire day in our vehicle was the low-point of our stay in Morocco. Even frequent stops for a quick coffee (excellent lattes or cappuccinos for about a dollar!), our group was weary by the time we reached Fes.

Along the way we traversed the Rif mountains and passed through miles of agricultural land where crops such as citrus fruits have made Morocco a major exporter to Europe, the Middle East and even to North America. Seeing the villages in the distance as we sped by reminded me of the small towns we are accustomed to seeing in the valleys of the Carolinas, only these are marked by the minarets of village mosques rather than the steeples of town churches. At one point on this route, the road passed through a dense forest where we were able to spot barbary monkeys.

After such an exhausting day, the beautiful Riad Maison Bleue and Spa in Fez was a wonderful respite. Many of our friends had told us that Fes was their favorite stop in Morocco, but our own tour of Fes proved a little disappointing. The medina of Fes is much different from the one in Marrakesh. While Marrakesh is flat, the ancient medina of Fes is shaped like a bowl, descending in layers. It lacks the large, vibrant open-air plaza that defines the Marrakesh medina and seemed much less chaotic. Perhaps the fact that we started our Fez tour on a Friday when many stalls are closed explains that impression.

A great guide can make all the difference in how a visitor experiences a new place. In Fes, our guide fell short of great. He was very knowledgeable and spoke good English but was stubborn and inflexible. He insisted on sticking to his own itinerary and ignored our requests to shorten some stays and omit certain stops. He was particularly unwilling to pass up any opportunity where one of us might make a purchase that earn him his “secret” but obvious commission.

Leather tanneries in Fes - smelly, but beautiful!

The one such part of Fes that were happy not to have missed was the leather tanning quarter. As we entered, we were handed mint leaves and shown how to hold them in front of our faces as we breathed. The centuries-old process of softening and coloring hides by submerging them in stone vats in a mixture of pigeon poop and cattle urine before being spread out to dry in the sun, has been unchanged by modern technology. The odor was indeed pungent, but the goods produced were beautiful and were offered with absolutely no pressure to buy.

The penultimate stop on our Moroccan adventure was the blue city of Chefchaouen. My wife pronounced it a mash-up of Positano and Mykonos, not a bad analogy given the steep alleyways and blue-washed stucco walls. It was a pleasant place to stroll, take lunch and purchase a few final souvenirs. We were glad we had not planned an overnight there, but instead moved on to the coastal city of Tangiers before a final Moroccan dinner and a morning departure for Paris and home.

Morocco had proven itself more than worthy of its reputation as a safe, diverse, enthralling destination. We have had several friends express skepticism about visiting this beautiful country, citing fears of crime or unrest, inadequate sanitation, and so forth. We never experienced a single uncomfortable moment, and no one in our group experienced any digestive distress despite broadly sampling Moroccan cuisine. Morocco is a place with a colorful history, spectacular terrain, a diverse culture and a welcoming people. If you haven’t been there yet, I suggest you do so and plan your visit in the spring or fall to avoid the summer crowds and heat.