15 Days Morocco Private Photography Tour

Morocco Planet LLC will meet you at the Casablanca airport to begin your Morocco Private Photography Tour. Then, continue along the Atlantic coast, stopping in Azemmour for a stroll. Arrive at El Jadida and leave your stuff at the hotel. Later, take a stroll through the Portuguese old neighborhood and past the water cistern where scenes from Welles' 'Othello' were filmed. Dinner and lodging in a historic, restored church.

Continue down the Atlantic coast, stopping at the Bird Habitats between Sid Moussa and Cap Beddouza. Lunch is served at La Sultana in Oualidia lagoon. Later, visit Safi and view the pottery workshops; Safi is known as the birthplace of Moroccan ceramics. Arrive in the afternoon in Essaouira. Spend the afternoon at the woodworker's souk then return to the ramparts till sunset for the ideal photography light. Accommodation and dinner in a riad in the Medina with a view of the sea.

Spend the morning exploring the whitewashed medina, complete with art galleries, bustling cafes, music in the air, and a farniente feel. Spend the day viewing and shooting port life after lunch. Accommodation is the same as the previous night.

Drop your stuff off at the hotel and freshen up. In the evening, take a caleche ride around the city walls of the 16th century or go treasure hunting in the souks. Dinner and lodging at a riad within the Medina.

If wanted, spend additional time at the dock or depart for Marrakech after breakfast. Take note of the goats among the argan trees as you leave Essaouira. You've arrived in Marrakech. If you have time, stop by Majorelle Gardens before it closes at 5 p.m. Drop your stuff to the riad and go for a walk. After midnight, Jemaa El Fna is the epitome of Marrakech: food stalls, storytellers, witch doctors, street hawkers, and charlatans aplenty merge and coalesce into a perpetual uproar. Your driver will go. Dinner and lodging at a riad within the Medina.

A private English-speaking guide will show you around Marrakech and its wonders. The Bahia Palace and the destroyed Badi Palace are the ideal places to start. The towering marble columns of the golden dynasty, the Saadis, adorn the mausoleums next door. The modest but lavishly decorated Douiria is a wonderful example of two-century-old crafts and architecture. Late in the afternoon, drink tea at the famed La Mamounia and meander through Marrakech's most charming gardens. Accommodation is the same as the previous night.

At 9 a.m., your driver will meet you at your riad. Cross the hamlet of Asni before ascending the High Atlas Mountains. Visit the Tinmel Mosque, which dates from the 13th century. Reach the mountain pass at 2000 meters after numerous twists and turns. The vast panorama of the South opens from there. Descend onto the Taroudant plain. Drop your stuff off at the hotel and freshen up. In the evening, take a caleche ride around the city walls of the 16th century or go treasure hunting in the souks. Dinner and lodging at a riad within the Medina.

Leave Taroudant and head for the Anti Atlas Mountains. Stop in Frejia along the trip to admire the local kasbah. Later, go to 1800 meters and visit a magnificent granary where people used to store their grains. Arrive in Tafraoute in the late afternoon. Tour the Ameln Valley for breathtaking photography. Explore the Painted Rocks and Napoleon's hat. Dinner and overnight stay in a hotel with the best view.

Head south to enter one of Morocco's most picturesque valleys, with mountains and elevations reminiscent of Utah or Arizona. Stop in Smougen for a cup of tea and to view the palm groves carved into the mesas. Later, pay a visit to a nomad family. Visit a women's cooperative and look at the local crafts. Arrive late in the afternoon in Icht. Dinner and motel accommodations in the middle of nowhere.

Visit one of the two granaries that loom over the settlement of Amtoudi. Then, with a local guide, explore the breathtaking gorges and walk alongside natural lakes and flinty hollows. In the evening, return to Icht. Dinner and lodging will be provided as before.

After breakfast, visit Akka's palm grove and observe the stunted century-old mosque, which was apparently left there by the Saadi dynasty during the gold trade. Stop in Ait Kine before heading to Tata to see the granary and the surrounding medersa, both of which bear witness to the area's historical significance. Later, after passing Tata, turn left to see a renovated ksar in Akka Ighrem, where the people have reinvested in their old homes. Arrive late in the afternoon in Foum Zguid. Dinner and lodging in a nearby hotel.

Have breakfast and then venture off into the Sahara Desert. Cobblestones, gravel, sand, and shingles alternate until arriving at the beautiful Erg Chigaga dunes. Pick up fossils along the way. Meet your camel man and go by camel to the camp. Dinner and overnight stay in a luxurious tent at a luxury desert camp.

Spend the majority of the morning exploring the dunes. Return to the 4x4 and stop along the way for tea with the nomads or to view a desert well. After a few hours of traveling, you'll arrive at M'hamid and the tarmac. Continue along the Draa Valley palm forest to Tamegroute, where the century-old medersa and library are accented by green glazed pottery and ovens. Later in the afternoon, arrive in Zagora. (Stop at Amezrou for silver jewelry). Dinner and lodging in a nearby lodge.

The Kasbah of Tamnougalt, not far from Zagora, commands the environs with its tall walls and citadel, having been a significant stop for caravans traveling to Marrakech for generations. As the sunlight moves, biblical villages appear one after the other, with varying shades of ochre. Later, leave the palm grove and reach the gorges. Cross Ouarzazate and make a photo stop at Ait Benhaddou before sunset. Afterwards continue to Tamedaght to reach the tranquil village of Tamedaght, where the small kasbah was utilized as a setting in 'Gladiator'. Dinner and lodging in a nearby Kasbah.

Early morning visit to Ait Ben Haddou for optimum photography light and exploration of the kasbah, then return to hotel for breakfast. Then, travel through the Ounila valley, with its abandoned kasbahs and terraced farms, to Telouet and visit the kasbah. After lunch in the settlement, travel the high Atlas Mountains to the famed Tizi N'tichka pass at 2260m. Arrive at Marrakech late in the afternoon. Dinner and lodging at a riad within the Medina.

Depending on your flight, your driver will meet you at the Casablanca airport. You should arrive two hours prior to your flight. Your Morocco Private Photography Tour has come to an end.