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El Kelaa Des Mgouna/ Valley of Roses

One Day Tour El Kelaa Des Mgouna (Valley of Roses)
Duration: 9:00am - 5:00pm 
Inclusion: Luxury Toyota 4x4
English, French Speaking Driver, Guide
Starting & Finishing Point: Your Hotel In Ouarzazate

MORNING DEPARTURE:

Breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice, baguette, fresh fruit, jams and a café cassis (Moroccoan cappuccino) at a local pâtisserie and then take the road for a sweet smelling and scenic experience you will never forget. Drive 140km away from Ouarzazate towards the perfumed Valley of Roses, just north of El Kelaa Des Mgouna. On the way to the Valley of Roses, your driver will stop for you to view the Capp et Florale distillation factories laid out in the small kasbah town that manufacture the entire nations products of eau de rose. The rose water and other products such as hand and body soaps, oil, crème perfume and dried flowers are for sale and also popular among Moroccans. The factories produce 3000-4000 petals a year. With ten tons of petals required to produce a few liters of precious oil, the harvest is understandably a labor of love and the culminating festivities of the annual Rose Festival are all the livelier for it.

In the Valley of Roses will find miles of pink, small Persian roses-cultivated as hedgerows dividing the plots of land. In spring, you can buy a garland of fragrant roses from one of the Berber children who line the route. If you are traveling in May then your guide will recommend you attend the annual Rose Festival held in the village to celebrate the New Year’s crops.

The Rose Festival is attended by local villagers and celebrated with traditional Berber music, food and dance. The Festival features a an exhibition of local crafts and a street-parade with bright colorful floats made out of faux roses whereby the Ms. Roses of El Kelaa Des Mgouna is chosen. The parade is an opportunity to view the famous Berber dance tradition of male drummers and female dancers who perform alongside the festivities.

Once in the Valley of Roses, your tour will be a relaxed one exploring the streets of El Kelaa Des Mgouna’s shops and the local souk. The fresh mountain air in this part of southern Morocco has a hint of fresh roses which makes it a particular nice place to go for walks, short hikes and a long drive through the Hdida Valley to the plateau of Imi-n-Louh. Your driver will stop along the way so you can meet the friendly locals, many who are nomads and spend their winters in the nearby caves. There are many photo opportunities in this Dadès Valley town of ancient kasbahs.

MID-DAY:

Lunch options are dining on a petite terrace at Kasbah Itran, a local auberge that overlooks two large abandoned crenulated Jewish kasbahs and a river or at an outside café within the Berber village of Bou Thaghrar set within Mount Mgoun. After lunch by foot or 4x4 you can explore nearby ruined kasbahs and learn about the history of the Valley of Roses. Next, go for a breathtaking mountain tour by pise and visit local villages and pastures of roses.

On the return to Ouarzazate, as you retrace the tracks of your rose perfumed journey, you will be reminded of the history of the Valley of Roses whereby 10th century pilgrims who emigrated back to Morocco from Mecca brought Rosa Damascena to the south.