12 Sep 2024
This was a great tour! We were slightly unsure if we'd actually get picked up at our Riad (or nearby) the morning of, but we heard from them the night before via WhatsApp and felt good about the pickup plan. Went to the chosen location in the morning and immediately met Mustafa, who was a great driver and pseudo-guide for both days of our trip.
The drive isn't too bad, especially since we did the Private Tour so we had the car to ourselves. We weren't very interested in most of the stops along the way because we thought it'd be better to get to the desert sooner. However, the camel ride was only scheduled for 6:30pm and they take you to your campsite, so there's no point in actually rushing to get there earlier. Therefore, enjoy the stops along the way, have a leisurely lunch, etc.
The camel ride was great - you walk onto the dunes and stop to watch the sun set - and the service at the kasbah was top tier. Only thing was that dinner was really late, but it was delicious, and the campfire and songs were fun.
Downside is definitely that there isn't A/C in the tents - it was really difficult to sleep. We didn't realize there isn't any A/C until it was too late, so we suffered in the heat for the night.
We were also told to meet in the morning to watch the sunrise with a guide, but when we woke up for that there was no guide to take us out into the desert. We ended up just going out on our own to try to see it, though there is so much sand along the horizon that there isn't too much of a sunrise view.
The drive from the desert to Marrakech is incredibly windy through the Atlas Mountains and drivers take the turns at a high speed, so we were particularly happy we got the Private Tour so we could lay down and sleep through the drive (and also catch up on sleep after the early morning).
All in all, it was such a unique and fun experience, and we would certainly recommend it as long as you're game for a little adventure!