From Casablanca Through the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains
Travelers who enjoy fossils, stones, desert scenery, and Moroccan culture will love this 16-day journey. The tour begins in Casablanca and travels through oases, deserts, palm valleys, and the Atlas Mountains. Along with taking in the local cuisine, scenery, and small towns, you will visit numerous well-known fossil and mineral sites.
Casablanca (Google Map)
Pick up from Mohammed V Airport or your hotel. Visit the Hassan II Mosque and enjoy a walk by the ocean. Overnight in Casablanca.
After breakfast, drive about 3 hours to Marraesh. Check in at your hotel and enjoy free time in the medina, Jemaa el-Fna square, and local markets.
Drive through the High Atlas Mountains. Stop at Sidi Rahal to find quartz, agate, and amethyst. Lunch with a local miner. Continue across the mountains to Ouarzazate. Overnight.
Travel through the Draa Valley with palm trees and kasbahs. Stop at Beni Zoli to see large trilobite pieces. Picnic on-site. Continue to Serradrar to collect black Orthoceras fossils. Overnight in Alnif.
Visit the Cambrian trilobite site for large yellow trilobites. Rest in a desert oasis. Continue to Jbel Tiskaouine to collect Ordovician fossils. Return to Alnif.
Visit Isoumour for Devonian trilobites. Picnic at the site. Visit Atchana and then Lakrabis to collect red ammonites. Drive to the oasis of M’harch. Overnight.
Stop at Mecessi and Jbel Mdawar to collect trilobites and goniatites. Picnic in the desert. Continue to the Erg Chebbi dunes. Overnight in Merzouga.
Visit Kemkem near Taouz for dinosaur bones and fish fossils. Stop at Boutariyt for echinoderms. Picnic at Filon 12 mine and pass the old Mifis mine. Overnight.
Collect goniatites at Azourz, trilobites at Tisket, and visit a working baryte mine. Lunch in a sacred oasis. Collect sand roses and bone pieces. Return to Merzouga.
Visit Hamarlaghdad fossil area. Watch crinoid fossil extraction. Visit a fossil factory in Erfoud. Overnight.
Drive through the mountains and valleys. Stop at Oued Zem phosphate area to find shark teeth. Overnight in Midelt.
Visit Mibladen, Ahouli, and Sidi Ayad to collect azurite and malachite. Picnic in the valley. Return to Midelt.
Drive through the Middle Atlas forests and small towns. Enjoy scenic stops and photos. Overnight near Beni Mellal.
Drive to Casablanca. Visit the Hassan II Mosque and walk along the Corniche.
Evening stop at Rick’s Café. Overnight in Casablanca.
Free time to explore the city, shop, or relax by the sea.
After breakfast, transfer to Casablanca airport for your flight home. End of the tour.
