Morocco camel desert trek – On the trail of the Alchemist

We had the most wonderful Christmas in the desert, thanks to Abidim and his great planning. It was our daughters birthday on Christmas Eve when we arrived and he even organised a surprise birthday cake with candles and he and the chefs sang her Happy Birthday! The next day Christmas morning the camels arrived at the Bivouac Sous Les Etoiles and we set off. Our guide and cook Ahmed and Said were super friendly and charming as well as providing delicious meals three times a day. We all played games round the fire at night in the desert camp (out in the dunes). Then back to the Bivouac for the last night where there was live music and more delicious Tagine. Also Abidim is such an interesting guy who has a wonderful outlook on life and is most philosophical. It was interesting finding out about desert and Moroccan customs and lifestyle. Would highly recommend booking through his company. Wish we had gone to Erg Chigaga - maybe next time....

I already went on a desert tour with Abidine last february and I was absolutely amazed and stunned by the atmosphere in the desert and the insight I got in both the nature and the culture and traditions of nomad life. It was an experience so different to everything I knew that I told my friends they should go on a tour as well. The five of us returned some month later to spend a whole week in the Sahara and we all loved it. Abidine is the greatest organizer I know, he thought about everything and cared about our wellbeing. He and the guides served us traditional food and at night we were telling stories at the bonfire. We could relax and enjoy the landscape and walking. I wish for everybody to once experience this. Thank you so much Abidine!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our three day trek. Every aspect of our tour has either met or exceeded our expectations. The food and accommodation has been both traditional and enjoyable. Each person we have met has been genuinely kind and goes out of their way to be hospitable making sure our every need was met.

Dealing with the agency was very easy and the organisation exceptional.

Both our driver and guide have been more than generous with their time, energy, skills, knowledge and kindness. They have been very easy to get along with and have truly contributed to our exceptional overall experience.

We thank Private Desert Tours for the memories that will last a lifetime and would recommend highly this tour to anyone.

We had an absolutely fabulous time and would like to thank you for arranging everything for us.

The clear highlight of the trip was the days we spent in the desert. We really wanted to create an "adventure" feeling for our trip, especially for our kids (5 and 8yrs). Since we live in an Alps in France surrounded by snow for 4 months of the year, I'm sure you can imagine that a visit to the desert was something truly different - just the ticket for an adventure! With a good balance between traveling in the land cruiser and the camels, along with the good quality of the camps, it all added up to be to a great time ... and the experiences of climbing the dunes at Chegaga will stay with us for a long time!!

We'd especially like say that Abdou was fantastic and made a wonderfully positive contribution to our holiday. His rapport with our kids was just great and, whilst not surprisingly they got a bit bored from time to time looking at decoration and listening to the history of the Kasbahs, the fun they had with Abdou more than made up for that. Its rare that you meet someone who is so genuine and full of life and simply happy to be doing what he's doing. He was fantstastic!

Thanks Abidine for arranging our fantastic desert tour, and our driver Houssain was so, so lovely and really looked after us and our children. I would like to thank him especially for his care and concern of our severely vomiting daughter 🙈. The drive to M’Hamid at the edge of the Sahara from Marrakech over the Atlas Mountains was nothing short of spectacular I would thoroughly recommend it. With children I would definitely suggest a longer tour as it was a very long drive for 1 night (it took 10 hours door to door including stops and lunch etc but there were quite a few extra stops for my daughter) and then you could stop to visit sights in more detail en route. The camel ride into camp at sunset was great and the starry sky was like nothing I’ve ever seen and the guys at the camp were really lovely, I just wished that I had better French to chat with them properly. It was only us and one other person at the camp which was fine for us, but if you are wanting a busier group then it might be worth asking about numbers in advance. Abidine was very helpful on email and answered my many questions promptly and couldn’t be more obliging. If we return to Morocco we will happily use privatedeserttours again. Thanks!

Before visiting Marocco I have made some extensive research through the internet, searching for various tour guides and asking for a price offer and pictures about the accomodation and car.

I have received several answers and in the end me and my boyfriend came to the conclusion that, -at least for us- a luxury camp wouldn´t be worth the money, which in the end also was the ride decision.

What I can tell about private desert tours is that we have been happy in all regards:

Our guide was super friendly and helpful (Ismael <3 ) and willing to support us in any question or wishes

The car was very comfortable and suitable for a desert trip (4x4 which is important for desert)

Also the tour was perfect! We choose the tour "Marrakech desert trip Chigaga Dunes Riding Camel Sandboarding" and slept two nights in the desert. What is good about the tour, that it goes through Erg Chigaga (which is important, as it is the biggest desert in Marocco and includes offroad driving which is more adventurous and not included in all tours. Usually the cheaper ones are not driving through the dunes and the car is a usual mini bus that can´t do offraod driving)

Furtherone the tour included camel riding (very nice :)) and sandboarding (we weren´t really talented but probably also very nice when you now how to do it)

Finally the tour also included all meals that where suuuuper delicous (freshly prepared and better than in some luxury restaurants that we have visited in Marrakesh) and the accomodations very clean(all bed sheets fresh etc. so that even my boyfriend felt comfortable who is usually very picky in this regard :) )

As a summary I can only recommend this tour to everybody, I was definately a very remindful experience and we felt save throughout the whole trip, as our guide was a local, born in the desert and new the area very well.

The next time we would choose to spend more time the beautiful desert instead of stressful Marrakesh! :)

All the best,

Michael and Christina

Last week I had a great experience with private desert tour visiting a kasbah in the neighborhood of mhamid. Abidine guided us in this magical place walking through the sand dunes telling us the story of this old fortress kept intact by time and the fact that it's quite new to tourists. Once inside we had the chance to talk with one of its inhabitants that invited us for the traditional tea, while his wife cooked a delicious tajine and we enjoyed great conversations in the roof of his house under a blue sky and a fairytale panorama. Highly recommended if you are planning a trip in mhamid, don't hesitate to contact private desert tours. Thanks again abidine for the wonderful experience you gave us the chance to share!!!

Abidine put together a wonderful, customized tour for us. The accommodations and meals were all excellent. The guys were always helpful and in great spirits; it was fascinating to listen to stories of their nomadic past. Our driver, Abdul, always made us feel safe in the chaotic Moroccan traffic. We would definitely recommend private desert tours and would love to come back.