{"id":668,"date":"2013-11-03T01:24:07","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T01:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/?p=668"},"modified":"2015-08-08T16:54:33","modified_gmt":"2015-08-08T16:54:33","slug":"boumalne-dades-morocco-11-3-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/?p=668","title":{"rendered":"Boumalne Dades, Morocco 11.3.2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

We normally rent a car or use public transportation when we explore a new country. However I had many activities planned and a lot of ground to cover during our week in Morocco, so I arranged a private 4 day, 3 night\u00a0tour with Tenere Tours<\/a>. Our\u00a0driver Sayid and guide Rachid picked us up\u00a0bright and early\u00a0from our riad. The four of us set out in their\u00a0Land Cruiser\u00a0on the way to Boumalne Dades, a drive of about 300 kilometers.<\/p>\n

After we left Marrakech we headed to the High Atlas, a mountain range that stretches between Marrakech and the Sahara desert. I was surprised to see snow in the mountains since I’ve always pictured hot desert when I thought of Morocco. Rachid said they even have snow skiing. We saw gorgeous Berber villages in the mountains – villages that still use donkeys for transportation and have had electricity for only five years.<\/p>\n

Before lunch we went to Ait Benhaddou ksar, a fortified city. Ait Benhaddou\u00a0was an important point of protection for caravans that traveled the\u00a0route between Timbuktu\u00a0in present day Mali and the\u00a0Atlantic coast of Morocco. The ksar was named as a UNESCO\u00a0Heritage site in 1987 and most families have moved to\u00a0the new city across the\u00a0river, but eight\u00a0families still live\u00a0within the old walls. Many films and TV shows have been filmed in the old city including Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Jewel of the Nile, Lawrence of Arabia, and Game of Thrones. Rachid arranged for a private walking tour with a resident of the old city, who had been an extra in Gladiator.<\/p>\n

Then we drove through the Dades Valley and the Valley of Roses, lush green valleys full of palm trees and alfalfa. I absolutely love our hotel tonight – Xaluca Dades<\/a>. We were greeted by local singers and drummers. The\u00a0hotel is gorgeous – the pool, restaurant, and bar are amazing.<\/p>\n

\"Berber<\/a>

Berber Village in High Atlas Mountains<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Berber<\/a>

Berber village in High Atlas Mountains<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ait<\/a>

Ait Benhaddou<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dades<\/a>

Dades Valley and High Atlas Mountains<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Hotel<\/a>

Hotel Xaluca Dades<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Hotel<\/a>

Hotel Xaluca Dades<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We normally rent a car or use public transportation when we explore a new country. However I had many activities planned and a lot of ground to cover during our week in Morocco, so I arranged a private 4 day, 3 night\u00a0tour with Tenere Tours. Our\u00a0driver Sayid and guide Rachid picked us up\u00a0bright and early\u00a0from … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bos_mb_destination":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-morocco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=668"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaladventurestravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}