Mini Sahara Excursion | Morocco 2025 (3/8)

Who hasn’t been intrigued by the vast Sahara desert at some point in their life? We wanted to see at least a part of this desert that stretches over most of northern Africa. Agadir is just outside the western edge of Sahara and it only covers the southernmost tip of Morocco. Sahara stretches all the way to Egypt and Sudan and covers a large part of countries such as Mauritania, Algeria, and Lybia along the way. We found a standardized Mini Sahara excursion from Agadir that we wanted to join. Yes, it did not reach the real Sahara further south. But it gave us some insights into life in this part of the world.

Booking the Excursion

The night before we had gone to one of the many tour agencies in Agadir. One of the agencies close to our hotel offered an acceptable price for the three of us at 350 Dirhams per person (ca 35 Euros). It would probably have been possible to save 50-100 Dirhams by haggling, but we just didn’t have the energy for that. These tour bookings are an easy option. You pay a deposit of a few hundred Dirhams and get a piece of paper that acts as a ticket. Then you pay the remaining part upon pickup.

Hotel Pick-Up

A 4WD Mitsubishi picked us up at our hotel on time at 8:30 am. The car had space for six passengers and the driver. For this trip, there were three of us and a Romanian family of three. We were soon on our way out of Agadir. Our first short stop of the day was at the Sous River.

A Pottery Surprise

Our second stop was just south of the town of Sidi Bibi. It is one of those standard tourist stops at a handicraft workspace. However, it came as a surprise. Our earlier experience is that Little A doesn’t appreciate these kinds of stops. When arriving at this small pottery factory Little A seemed to confirm our expectation that it was of no interest to her. That all changed when we went inside. To our surprise, she was mesmerized by the man making the pottery by hand. Well, she was mesmerized by the handicraft. She would have loved to get to try it herself. She kept talking about pottery for many days after the visit. And of course, she wanted to buy a small souvenir from the large gift shops.

Towards the Sand Dunes

We continued towards the coast and soon went off-road. We were driving in an area where the Dakar Rally has had stages in the past. Here we almost got stuck with our car in a dune when our driver tried to find a good spot for pictures. The landscape with the dunes and the intense sunshine creates an amazing experience. The scenery is beautiful and for Little A this was a huge sandbox. We did several shorter stops along the dunes and the coast. It was not only the dunes that created wonderful scenery here. The cliffs towards the Atlantic Ocean also played their part in the experience.

The adventure continued with some unexpected events on our way further south. Just a short distance from the Massa River we encountered another tour group. Their car had broken down here in the middle of nowhere. So we ended up with a car in tow for quite some time. We had a nice stop together at the Massa River before we continued and eventually left our followers at a car repair shop in the town of Massa.

A Traditional Lunch in Talaainte Oufella

We were soon on our way to our lunch stop at the small settlement of Talaainte Oufella. Here we got to sit on pillows directly on the floor with a table just a few decimeters high. We were served a delicious tagine with chicken, some bread and couscous. It tasted really good after the long drive and it was quite an interesting place for lunch. It wasn’t a restaurant in the traditional sense. Instead, it was more like a home converted into a restaurant business. There were maybe three or four more tables in the room and soon after other tour groups arrived for the same lunch experience. Outside were just a few buildings and the valley towards the Massa River with the community’s small banana plantations.

Mini Sahara Tourist Spot

The lunch was followed by a short drive to the Mini Sahara experience. We drove out to a few dunes where a small tourist attraction had been established. Here a few men had set up contemporary shops of traditional tourist souvenirs and offered the possibility to ride on the dromedaries. Everyone, tourists and locals alike, called them camels. Yes, we know that a dromedary is a type of camel. But usually, you associate a camel with the two-humped Bactria Camel of Central Asia. The Dromedary is also known as an Arabian Camel and has been domesticated for around 2000 years.

For us, this stop meant that we had another chance to take photos. We didn’t want to ride and just wanted to enjoy the scenery. Morocco does have one thing in common with northern Sweden. In Morocco, you have beautiful deserts, whereas in Sweden, you have forests and mountains in the north. In Morocco you have domesticated dromedary and in Sweden domesticated reindeer. When you spot a dromedary or a reindeer in this beautiful surroundings, you can be sure that there will be plenty of flies everywhere. It doesn’t matter if it is in Morocco or Sweden, both dromedary and reindeer seem to be magnets for flies.

A Last Stop Before Heading Back to Agadir

We soon left the beautiful dunes with their dromedaries and flies and drove a short distance to our last stop, the huge Youssef Ben Tachfin Reservoir at the Massa River. From a high cliff, we got an amazing view of the reservoir, its barrier, and the valley below. The barrier, which is 85 meters high, is the main source of drinking water for the area around the city of Tiznit. We had plenty of time to enjoy the view before it was time to drive back to Agadir.

Mini Sahara, Morocco, Youssef Ben Tachfin Reservoir, Massa River

A Relaxing Evening at the Hotel?

Back in Agadir Little A was more than happy to be back at the hotel in time to swim in the pool before it closed for the evening. While Susann and Aava enjoyed a swim, I took a walk into the city center. I needed to go back to the ATM to get a few more Dirhams for the upcoming days. I decided to take the chance to stretch my legs. Once back it was time for a dinner with a nice view of the pool and the sunset as we planned our next day in Agadir.