Cities of the Kings Ride
Riding tours in Morocco

A unique horse riding experience that will lead you through a rich and beautiful country to the very historic heart of Morocco, a heart that is still very much alive and beating. You will see the roman ruins of Volubilis, Meknes, the town of the great king Moulay Ismail and Fez, the Islamic centre of culture, handcraft and religion. This experience is also the discovery of a Morocco that is very unusual, fertile, green, a Morocco with a rich soil where fruit and olive trees are growing everywhere. You will even see the Dead Valley, dry and deserted. To ride here is to enter a new and yet unexplored world.

PG-MRT8 
All incl. from Rabat, lodging and meals, 3 nights in hotels, 4 nights in tents, 6 riding days 
8 Days/7 Nights $ 1,575   Single: + $ 125
-- based on € 1,095 / € 90
2008 Dates: 
04/13-04/20    05/04-05/11    05/25-06/01
06/08-06/15    09/07-09/14    09/28-10/05
  availability & reservation

Meeting: Rabat
Airport: Casablanca
Transfer: train connection to Rabat (not incl.) 
Level:     Strong Intermediate
Tack:       English 
Horses:   Arab and Berb 
Pace: Fast with many trots and canters, 5 riding hours per day
Min/Max Riders: 4-8 
- Small group supplement is:
$225 (€ 150) if only 3 riders sign up
$395 (€ 275) if only 2 riders sign up

Itinerary
Day 1 Arrival at the airport of Casablanca. Going by train to Rabat (not included) which will give you a first impression of the rich diversity of the Moroccan country (1h30 / 2h). If you have the time, you can visit Rabat to get a first impression of the Eastern lifestyle. You can take a walk in the Medina, the garden of Oudaiya. We will meet at the hotel with the guide and we will spend the night there.
Day 2  A private car will take you early in the morning to the city of Meknes. There your horse will await you. They are Berber-Arab, small but very strong and with a lot of stamina. A first trip will take us to the foot of the mountain range of Zerhound. The road will wind through many small villages with clay houses and olive trees, sunflowers and cornfields. We will follow the direction of a small river with beautiful flowers just up to the village of Sainte de Sidi Ali. From here we will have a splendid view of Meknes and the surroundings. Lots of sandy fields will offer many chances to canter before we meet Volubilis, an ancient Roman city with houses like the ones found in Pompei, with ancient temples, bathing houses and a palace. Beautiful mosaics will give you a picture of what life was like in those days. We will eat and sleep  close to the Roman ruins, beside a small River.
Day 3 Today, the road will take us to Moulay, across olive tree forests, up to the peak of the Zegota. We will have a magnificent view of the Rif mountains up to the sources of Dezala Des Ben Ammar. The rocky ground does not allow many crops to grow here here : only a few olive trees can grow on a rare open space. Before we will arrive at the sources we will travel through a country that it is so devoid of human life and completely deserted, that it is hard to believe. A few human beings can be found around a water well where animals will drink. These places are very important to talk and discuss rumors. We will sleep in tents.
Day 4  Today, we will ride across the white mountain range of the Rif. Here and there you see a small village at the very bottom of a valley or small houses made out of clay. Agriculture is here done in the old fashioned way, that is with bare hands and we will see many women doing hard work on the fields. After the picnic, we will descend towards the oued Mikkes. You will follow this stream with many small windy roads and cross many Arab villages. After this we will reach our place for tonight and we will sleep here at the border of the stream in a olive tree forest.
Day 5 Today we will enter the 'Death Valley' which got its name because there is a river here that is so salty that it can not water the fields or refresh animals or human beings. To get water in this area, the local people are forced to go fetch water at places that are up to three hours away from here. The land here in the 'Death Valley' is completely sterile and the color is changing between yellow, white and beige. The road will take us through many small Berber villages via sandy fields from Moulay Yakoud up to Fes. The horse will wait at the gates of the city and a car will take us to Fez, to our hotel. In the afternoon we will visit Fez, the Medina, the University, the Souk with its small shops. We will sleep at a hotel in the city.
Day 6  We will leave the royal city today and continue our path through a very different countryside than you saw at the beginning of the trip. It's very flat but offers many interesting sights and is still very varied. A little curvy stream passes close by. We will see many turtles here and there that dive under water to escape from the horse feet. We will have picnic at the top of a hill, amongst the figs. A little bit farther away, a source provides water for animals and human beings and is also a popular washing place. From here you can see the entire Fez region and even the mountains of the Atlas. In the afternoon, we ride close to th beginning of the Atlas mountains. we cross over little creeks stony hills and arrive on a bigger plane where we can canter. Our camp is on a hill with a beautiful few untill Fes. On this hill is an old French farm which is now a government agriculture place.
Day 7 The ride will continue from hill to hill occasionally through a small village. Once a while we will have the opportunity to race in a long gallop by the side of the fields where they are growing grapes and melons. finally a lonely valley brings us back to the riding stables by noon.   After an emotional goodbye with our horses, a private car will  take you to the Medina of Meknes where you will have a short time to go through the souks. Afterwards the car brings you back to Rabat where you will spend the night in the hotel.
Day 8 Return by train to Casablanca and then the flight home.

(Note: you can also go directly from Casablanca to Rabat by plane)