Rissani was the heart of the Tafilalt oasis and, as Sijilmassa, one of the great caravan cities of Africa. With a local guide we visit its lively souk with its famous ‘donkey parking’, the ruins of Sijilmassa, a khettara underground water channel, the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif and the Ksar Oulad Abdelhalim. On the way back, Gnawa music in the village of Khamlia.
Rissani is about 35 km from Merzouga. The souk is held on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Market days are subject to change, especially around holidays and Ramadan; we confirm the day with you before the trip.
Pickup from your camp or hotel in Merzouga · Drop-off back in Merzouga
Around 9:00 AM
An easy day with short drives. Combine it with a desert night before or after.
We pick you up at your camp or hotel in Merzouga at 9:00 and drive about 35 km north to Rissani, the old heart of the Tafilalt oasis.
If it is Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday, Rissani’s souk is in full swing: covered lanes full of spices, dates, dried fruit and crafts, and the famous donkey parking, where farmers leave their donkeys while they shop. You walk through it with your guide and try the local dates.
Just outside town lie the ruins of Sijilmassa, once one of the great caravan cities on the gold and salt routes between the Mediterranean and West Africa. With a local guide you then walk into a khettara, an underground water channel dug by hand to bring water to the palm groves, and learn how the oasis survived for centuries.
Lunch in Rissani (not included): this is the place to try medfouna, a large flatbread stuffed with meat, onions and spices and baked in a clay oven, a speciality of the town.
In the afternoon we visit the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, founder of the Alaouite dynasty that still reigns in Morocco, and the restored palace-ksar of Oulad Abdelhalim with its high earthen walls.
On the way back we stop in Khamlia, a village whose families are descended from people brought across the Sahara centuries ago, to listen to Gnawa music over a glass of tea.
We drop you back in Merzouga around 17:00, in time to climb a dune for sunset.
