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DAY 1:
Casablanca: Arrival
in Casablanca airport, transfer
to the hotel in a private car,
Later in the evening watch a
traditional show with dinner.
Day 2:
Casablanca, Rabat, Voulibilis
& Meknes: After
breakfast, Drive to Rabat, the
capital of Morocco and the residence
of the present king Mohammed
VI. Enjoy a tour of Rabat, including
Mohamed V Mausoleum, Hassan
mosque the Necropolis of Chellah,
the archaeological Museum and
Oudayas Kasbah. Stop for lunch
then continue to Voulibilis,
the most impressive site of
Roman ruins dating to the 2nd
and 3rd centuries A.D., and
also declared as world heritage
since 1994. Dinner and overnight
at your hotel in Meknes.
Day 3:
Meknes, Fez: After
breakfast, start a tour of the
fourth Imperial City of Meknes,
founded in 17th century city
whose medina has been classed
by UNESCO as a World Heritage
Site since 1994. See sites:
Sultan's Stables, Tomb of Moulay
Ismael, Dar El Makhzen, and
the majestic Bab Mansour. Have
lunch in a local restaurant
then drive to Fez. Dinner and
overnight at your hotel in Fez.
Day 4:
Fez: Breakfast at
your hotel then set out for
a city tour of Fez, the spiritual
and intellectual capital of
ancient Morocco. Fez was the
first Imperial City, founded
in the 9th century. Among the
sites you will see the impressive
medina with its different gates,
mosques, tanneries, Attarine
Medrassa, Nejjarine fountain
and Foundouq, the latter is
housing a museum devoted to
wood crafts in a beautifully
restored 18th century building
. Lunch in a typical Moroccan
restaurant. In the Afternoon,
visit the Dar Batha Museum,
the mellah, or Jewish Quarter,
the king's palace (from outside),
Bab Boujloud. Dinner and overnight
at your hotel in Fez.
Day 5:
Fez, Merzouga: After
breakfast drive to Erfoud, crossing
the impressive cedar forest
of the middle Atlas Mountains
stop en route for lunch in Midelt.
Upon arrival to Erfoud a 4 W.D
vehicle will pick up you to
the Desert of Merzouga, the
site of the Merzouga Dunes,
highest in Africa and one of
the filming sites for Lawrence
of Arabia. Take an optional
camel trek to admire the sunset
at the dunes. Enjoy dinner at
your encampment and, later,
the breathtaking sight of stars
in the desert sky. Dinner and
overnight in a nomad tent.
Day 6:
Merzouga, Todra Gorge, Ouarzazate:
Get up in the early
morning for seeing sunrise behind
the dunes, then come back to
your tent for breakfast. Depart
to Ourzazate, on the way stop
at Erfoud for visiting the fossil
factories where 500 million
year-old fossils are extracted
and exported around the globe,
afterwards continue to Todra
Gorge. The Gorge is a dramatic
geological 3,200 ft. canyon
in the mountains where the massive
walls of the gorge rise steeply,
and cut off sunlight from the
gravel riverbed. Mountain goats
and eagles are sometimes seen
on the high cliffs. Have Lunch
at Todra, later on drive to
Ouarzazate crossing the vallies
of Tafilalet and Dades valley.
Dinner and overnight at your
hotel in Ouarzazate.
Day 7:
Ouarzazate, Marrakesh:
Arise early and leave after
breakfast for Marrakech. En
route, visit the Kasbah of Ait
Benhaddou, an exceptionally
well-preserved site which was
declared a World Heritage Site
in 1987 by UNESCO. Ouarzazate
is also the administrative operations
base for film companies where
many famous films were made,
among them: The Gladiator; The
Four Feathers, Romancing the
Stone, Cleopatra, Sheltering
Sky, Jewel of the Nile and Lawrence
of Arabia, Spy Game
lunch at
Ai Benhaddou then depart for
your return to Marrakech crossing
the High Atlas Mountains with
their beautiful landscapes and
admire the Berber architecture
of Taddart (Berber villages).
Dinner and overnight at your
Riad in Marrakesh.
Day 8:
Marrakesh: Enjoy a
leisurely breakfast, and start
the tour of the Red Pearl of
Morocco. Sites include the Koutoubia
Mosque, Madrassa Ben Youssef,
the private museum, crossing
the medina with its colourful
markets; the tour finishes in
Jamaa El Fna. After lunch visit
the Koutoubia Mosque, Saādiens'
Tombs and Bahia Palace. Dinner
and overnight at your Riad in
Marrakesh.
Day 9:
Marrakesh, Ourika Valley, Marrakesh:
Enjoy a leisurely
breakfast, then begin an excursion
to Ourika valley ,a Berber Village
located on the foot of the High
Atlas mountains inhabited by
the Berber of the area, admire
the architecture of the houses
called Taddart and visit a Berber
family to share with them some
enjoyable moment and assist
to a Tea ceremony.
Day 10:
Marrakesh, Essaouria:
After Breakfast drive to Essaouira
called “El Mogador,”
or the lookout, Essaouira sits
on the Atlantic coast and may
be the loveliest Moroccan coastal
town. It has long attracted
artists from all over the globe.
In 1952 Orson Wells chose it
as the location for his film
Othello, and in the 1960's it
attracted rock musicians as
Jimmy Hendrix and Cat Stevens,
among others. Overlooking a
scattering of wave-ravaged offshore
islands, Essaouira was founded
in 1760 on the site of a 7th
century B.C. Phoenician settlement.
The old town and port, encircled
by 18th century battlements,
offers a sandy beach stretching
for miles to the south, while
richly forested hills extend
to the east. Inside the Kasbah,
ancient and narrow alleys wind
through the medina and among
the souks. In 2001 the medina
at Essaouira was declared a
World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Essaouira boasts a comfortable
climate due to coastal winds,
making it a popular location
for international surfing contests,
such as the World Cup Fly Surf
Pro in 1999. Known worldwide
for its elegant marquetry, woodwork
inlaid with mother-of-pearl
and other materials. Artists,
fishermen, farmers, craftsman
and tourists live peacefully
in this enchanted coastal city.
Dinner and overnight at your
Riad/hotel in Essaouira.
Day 11:
Essaouria, El Jadida, Casablanca:
Check out after breakfast,
and then drive to Casablanca.
En route, see Safi, a fishing
city, where the Portuguese influence
is seen in the ruins of the
Ksar El Bahr fortress. In 1969,
adventurer Thor Heyerdahl launched
a papyrus-built boat, Ra I,
in an effort to prove that Egyptians
could have reached and colonized
the Americas. On his second
effort in 1970, Heyerdahl reached
Barbados, proving his point.
After lunch visit El Jadida,
once the main Portuguese port
in North Africa, and the center
of all Portuguese operations
in the Atlantic. Mazagan, as
it was called by the Portuguese,
was under their control until
the 19th century when Morocco
re-conquered and renamed it
El Jadida. The influence of
the Portuguese remains, especially
in a cistern which could hold
enough water for 5,000 people
for two months. Dinner and overnight
at your hotel in Casablanca.
Day 12:
Casablanca: After breakfast
city tour of Casablanca and
then transfer to the airport
for your flight to India.
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