
Paul Bowles describing Morocco’s Sahara Desert
The tours will start from Marrakech and take-in the Atlas Mountains, Draa Valley and southern deserts. The 11 day and 10 night tours will include 1 night in a desert camp with good facilities, where a 4x4 oasis day trip will provide a mini-adventure within our birding safari. The tours are designed to be relaxed and do not include early mornings and late nights!! Both the routes and sites have been carefully selected to give maximum opportunities for observing the ‘special’ birds of this region of Morocco.
Price details Tour 10 nights/11 days:
Tour Description

We will stay in the Golden Tulip Hotel. The hotel is located in the residential district Hivernage, few minutes walk from Jemaa el Fna square, this hotel offers calm and luxury in intimate and friendly atmosphere. Built in a charming Moorish style, El Andalous hotel evokes the golden age of Arab-Andalusian culture, exotically and romantically rich. Opens onto a landscaped garden of 7000m², this distinguished hotel offers you an heated swimming pool, a traditional Moroccan Spa and a conference room up to 600 persons. El Andalous hotel is a haven of freshness, scents and colours, ideal for meditation in the shade of a palm tree or dream under a starry night. Climate: Normally warm and balmy. Can be cool at night.
Day Two



The temperature here is quite a few more degrees higher than our previous day and a walk along the river should prove worthwhile and provide for a stretch of the old limbs! Continuing along the Draa Valley, we will go off road into the wadis hoping to find such species as Laughing Dove and an array of spring migrants.
We end our day in Zagora where we will stay in Kasbah Sirocco - 2 nights (days 3 & 5)
The Kasbah Sirocco is both charming and comfortable. Set amidst the palmery of nearby Zagora, the Kasbah provides us with a perfect base from which to travel and explore further south along the Draa valley. The bar area provides for a great place to meet and discuss details of the tour so far, or just to relax.

Zagora is set around the midway point of the Draa Valley and is perfectly located for us to explore the sandy deserts of the Sahara which are some 50kms further south. Here you will be able to experience some of the famous Berber culture.
Climate: Much warmer than our previous two days and normally enjoys comfortable and balmy evenings. Provided there are no strong winds, we will be able to enjoy our meals outdoors. The pool water is normally cold!!
Day Four

We will arrive at our Bedouin camp in plenty of time to enjoy mint teas whilst watching desert sparrows and other specialty birds! An early night is recommended here in preparation for the next day. Having said that, the night's entertainment will probably keep us up until later and the night sky can be fantastic if the clouds stay away. The stars can appear so close, you feel you can reach-out and touch them! The isolation of the camp produces a peace and tranquil experience and the surrounding desert constantly changes its appearance with the different lights each time of day produces. We rarely see other people in this area and only the occasional camel train! With only a single night here, we hope you enjoy it.

Climate: The Sahara has one of the harshest climates in the world. The desiccating and dust-laden winds are sometimes felt north and south of the desert, where they are variously known as sirocco, khamsin, simoom, and harmattan. During the summer: daytime temperatures are high, with records reaching 45°C to 50 °C. During the winter: warm during the day however freezing temperatures are not uncommon at night from December to February. Rainfall is sparse, with an average annual total of less than 5 in. (12.7cm); rainfall is usually torrential when it occurs, often after long dry periods that sometimes last for years. Sandstorms may happen throughout the year, and if you are lucky enough to experience the " Ajaj " (fierce sand carrying winds) you will never forget it.
Day Five


Day Six


Climate: Set in the Sahara the temperatures here can vary in the springtime. It can be very hot, but we have experienced warm days to balmy evenings on previous visits. Of course it can also become windy and produce memorable sandstorms!
Day Seven

For the next two days there are choices for our fellow travellers. Those wishing to stay in the grounds of the hotel and spend a relaxing day can do so for one or both of our two days here.
For those who are willing, the surrounding desert offers some real treasures. Here we will explore the famous Erg Chebbi dunes, visit the Merzouga area and also hope water is present in the Dayet Srji a local lake where it had been dry for many years prior to 2007. If we are fortunate enough to find water here, then a real mixture of water birds will be on display.
Today we will first visit the Dayet Srji and hope to find water there.

After lunch we will explore the desert area close to the Erg Chebbi and close to our hotel. We hope to find Cream-coloured Courser, Hoopoe Lark and sandgrouse species.
Last day in Kasbah Auberge Derkaoua.
Today we will be accompanied by our local guide for the morning. Our target bird for the day will be Houbara Bustard and with the aid of our guide we hope to be succesfull. In the desert surrounding of our hotel we will also search for Fulvous Babbler, a notoriously difficult bird some years. Other birds we might find here are Desert Warbler and Spectacled Warbler and if we are lucky we might find a Tristram's Warbler among many migrant species. The approach road to the hotel can be a good place to find various Sandgrouse and in particular Pin-tailed and Spotted Sandgrouse.
Later and after lunch at our hotel we can relax for awhile before those willing take another look at the Dayet Srji. Who knows what we will find?
In the evening, sat near to the pool (with a glass of something in your hand) we will sit back and hope an Egyptian Nightjar comes cruising into the gardens searching for night flying insects.
Whether early in the morning before breakfast or last thing in the day, the hotel grounds are always worth exploring. Because the gardens are matured and the trees well grown, the area is an oasis in its own right and attracts many passing migrant birds.

Boumalne de Dades is built around the Oued Dades and has extensive palmeries. The area around de wadis are fertile and striking north of the town is the famous Gorges du Dades
Again we will be able to enjoy a relaxing evening and also allow the opportunity for the more adventurous to again search the Tagdilt Track for sandgrouse species and the elusive Thick-billed Lark.

We stay the night in hotel The Xaluca Dades. Xaluca Dades is situated at 1612 m2, surrounded by the mountains of the Atlas and offers views of the Dades valley. The hotel has recently been renovated with all areas designed to offer a relaxed environment.
The hotel overlooks the Dades valley and great views can had here of the river valley and town. Boumalne town is only 5 minutes away and the Tagdilt Track also close to the accommodation.
Climate: Highly variable and dependent on local conditions.Can be very cold in the day and nigh(2008) to warm in the day and cool in the night (2007).

difficult Cream-Coloured Courser and the rare Mourning Wheatear. We will explore various tracks to find these species, but will need some luck, especially to find Mourning Wheatear. Time should allow for spending time at the reservoir near to Ouarzazate, here we could expect migrants and aquatics. Marbled Teal and Red-knobbed Coot are some of the species to look for and migrants could include raptors. We will explore both sides of the reservoir in order to get full value from this large expanse of water, for many birds it is their first sight of water after the Sahara. The area surrounding Ouarzazate and Tiffoultoute is stone desert and foothills. The deserts are noticeably more covered with scrub and help provide cover for small migrants. We need to watch for Barbary and Lanner Falcons here, but from experience, the Lanners tend to be seen more frequently nearer to the towns. Hopefully we will be able to spend time around Ouarzazate and find time to explore localmarkets and retail outlets. We can then head for our hotel next to the river in Ouarzazate.
Hotel Riad-Salam A chance to enjoy a return visit to our hotel for a second night of the tour.
Day Eleven

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Scheduled Tour-map of our Moroccan Bird Safari