The Sahara Kasbah Extension:

Overview

I’m so excited to welcome you to our spellbinding adventure, and the special people who will be hosting our Southern Moroccan stay, including our Saharan nomad experience. This is not the typical tourist circuit that many operators provide, but a very local, unique, specially curated one. 

After our week of yoga at luxurious Azaren, exploring Marrakech, and Atlas Mountain villages by hiking, we’ll head out on a road trip over one of the world’s great passes: the Tizi n’Tichka. Several hours of spectacular views, with photo stops, lunch and insight from Abdellah, our host-guide who will accompany the journey.

We’ll be based in the living palm oasis of the Drâa River Valley in gorgeously restored, traditional Kasbah Kissane. The traditional kasbah is made of tamped earth, with luxurious interior, generous hospitality, and fantastic food. Our village here has a long history of caravanning, as a stopover along the route from Tangier to Timbuktu.

Our hosts will also be leading our camel-accompanied safari for two nights into the dunes, in a remote area beyond M’Hamid – the place where the pavement ends. We will experience the desert in the most authentic way possible (given just two nights!), to feel the real desert. There will be five people taking great care of us, cooking and housekeeping, baking bread in the sand, tending the camp, walking in silence with us and the camels, and music and dance around the fire before bedding down in the Berber tent or under the dome of stars.

On the way back from the dunes, we’ll stop to explore the ancient town of Tamegroute with its traditional potteries operating for a thousand years, and its Koranic library, a repository of wisdom since the early middle ages. On our last full day in the oasis, we venture off the beaten path by mountain bike (easy), through the palm grove, to explore the ancient ksar of Tamnougalte (which happens to be where Bertolucci filmed Under the Sheltering Sky), with lunch in the middle of the palmeraie.

The Saharan Nomad Adventure

Itinerary

Day one : A Spectacular Journey Into Morocco’s Most Bewitching Landscape.
Depart Azaren in the morning (10am) by private mini-bus, accompanied by Abdellah our desert host, to cross the Atlas. Enjoy panoramas, photo stops and lunch on the fantastic Tichka Pass road. Arrive at our beautiful Kasbah around 5pm. An accompanied walk in the palm-grove oasis to stretch legs. Dinner and night at the Kasbah. 

Day two: Into the Sahara
Morning yoga with sunrise. Then breakfast/brunch. Depart the Kasbah around 11am, with Abdellah (who is the desert organizer), Drive to M’hamid, where the pavement ends… arriving around 3:30pm.

Hussein the camel driver (friend of Abdellah for more than 30 years) will welcome us with the camels and we leave “civilization” behind, walking or riding for 1.5 - 2 hours. Welcome with tea at the camp, lost in middle of dunes, private and wild. Yoga session with sunset, dinner and night under the tents or under the stars… warm nights in October.

Day 3: Nomadic Immersion
One entire day in the desert. Yoga session, silent walk with Abdellah, Hussein and camels, lunch at the camp, the fresh bread cooked in sand, fire, dinner, music and songs, night under tent or stars…

 Day four: Ancient Artistry and Oases.
Leave our Sahara camp after yoga and breakfast, walking (or ride camel) to M’hamid. On the drive back to the Kasbah, we’ll visit Tamegroute and its ancient potteries, time-permitting we’ll stop in a wonderful place in Zagora with swimming pool to have lunch and back at the Kasbah around 5pm. Dinner and night at the Kasbah.

Day five: Exploring an Ancient Ksar, Oasis Life.
Morning rest. After brunch, an excursion deeper into the Drâa palmeraie oasis by mountain bike (or alt.), to the extremely picturesque ancient Ksar of Tamnougalt. Lunch in the oasis. A pause on a terrace in the middle of our village for a coffee or just to stay and look around… dinner and night at the Kasbah.

Day six: From the Kasbah to Marrakech: Yoga with sunrise. Breakfast. Group transfer back to Marrakech to the airport or to your address in town.

What’s Included

• Five nights accommodations: Including three nights in a luxurious private Kasbah booked exclusively for us and two nights on private Sahara safari.

• Daily yoga with Julia

• All delicious freshly prepared meals daily, at the Kasbah, in the desert, and lunches out, including purified water, tea, herbal tea, coffee.

• Guide-accompanied road trip over the Tichka Pass from Marrakech to the Kasbah in the Drâa River Valley oasis, at Agdz village.

• All group land-transfers for the retreat, including group return transfer to Marrakech.

• Private two-night Saharan nomadic desert adventure with five people taking care of us, plus camels, and all equipment.

• Guided visit to Tamegroute, its ancient potteries and Koranic Library.

• Guided day excursion by mountain bike (easy) to explore the palm-grove oasis en route to ancient Tamnougalt, a spectacular fortified Ksar.

• Expertly guided, hosted, and curated with great skill, care, ancestral local knowledge, and style. We offer you the luxury of taking time to live, breathe, contemplate and let go of the reins.

What’s Extra

• Drinks besides purified water, teas/herbal teas, coffee.

• Tips for Kasbah staff and Sahara guides.

• Half-day Bike rental

• Travel outside of group activities/transfers

Pricing per person

Kasbah Suite with ensuite bath: Sharing: $2200.

Kasbah Room with ensuite bath: Sharing: $2000. Single: $2200.

How to Register

The Kasbah Sahara Retreat extension has a max of 9 guests.

If you have already let me know you intend to join the extension, all you have to do to confirm is send half fee as downpayment per person by Zelle, Venmo, or Wise – at your earliest convenience, so I can reserve your spot!

The Kasbah extension is currently fully booked. Please contact me to waitlist as opportunities do arise.

Any questions, or just to communicate adventure-excitement -get in touch!

a little more about the Kasbah – a heritage love story of the Berber soul.

Restored over 10 years by its local family, owners Véronique and Abdellah with master craftsmen using ancestral techniques, Kasbah Kissane is a masterpiece of tradition and hospitality. The feeling is like stepping into a harmonious and spacious rammed-earth home filled with warmth and beauty and an incredible sense of belonging. A labor of love and perseverance, the Kasbah was refurbished following a dream, and thanks to ancestral knowledge. It subtly mixes ancient charm and optimum comfort, set in astonishing scenery.

The views from the terraces are so mesmerizing they leave you spellbound. The rooms are gorgeous, each one a unique and exquisite space, each with a luxuriously appointed bathroom. Envisioned with an artist’s eye, the interiors perfectly blend Moroccan craftsmanship including tadelakt and zellij refinements with art and unique pieces from around the world. The cuisine is delicious, fresh and creatively inspired. Meals are a celebratory highlight at the Kasbah. I can’t wait for our convivial gatherings around the beautifully set tables!