Day 5: Meknes - Midelt - Ziz Valley - Erfoud - Merzouga - night in the hotel

This is a long driving day, where we will meet different facettes of the kingdom by leaving the old Moroccan city of Meknes. On the way we will pass through the most modern and clean city in the country Ifrane. This Berber name of Ifrane means caves and it is nicknamed in Morocco as a little Switzerland since it is a very green town and is a ski resort in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco, due to its high altitude at 1665 meters. Ifrane is very known as well by The Brotherhood private university, established in 1997 by The king of Morocco Hassan II and the king of Saudi Arabia Fahd. All classes are taught in English, it is an international university. Lunch will be scheduled in a Berber village called Midelt which is situated on the foothills of the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains. From this vast plateau we start crossing up those tough mountains which are still settled by a big Berber community. The landscapes here includes palm tree oases at Jbel Ayachi (at 3747 m) before driving down the curves and join the pre-Saharan zone passing first by Errachidia and Erfoud, which is famous for its pottery and the interesting fossil quarries. Fossils are a major industry in Erfoud, some 350 million years ago the region around Erfoud was a part of the huge ocean. Heading up to the red colored sand sea dunes of Erg Chebbi at Merzouga via Rissani, the hometown of the Alaouy dynasty, where Moulay Ali sheriff started to unify Morocco under his red flag in the beginning of the 17th century. From a vast plateau you will get impressed by the huge sand dune of Merzouga appearing from the horizon. Dinner and overnight in the hotel.