The first two days are slow. You arrive in Imlil, settle into a mountain guesthouse and meet the group that evening for the opening circle: ceremonial cacao, a short meditation and setting intentions for the week. Day two is spent on foot around Imlil, walking through Amazigh (Berber) villages, terraced fields and walnut groves with the Atlas peaks above you. That day has a Vinyasa class and a Yin class. If you arrive a day early, the team can arrange an extra night and a gentle village walk.

Day three is a long drive. After an early Vinyasa class and breakfast, you cross the High Atlas and drop down into the Draa Valley, a long stretch of palm groves, mud-brick kasbahs and oasis villages, before stopping for the night in Zagora. Yoga that evening depends on what time you get in. On day four you drive on to M'Hamid, where the road effectively ends. There you meet the desert team, load the camels and walk out into the Sahara. You watch your first desert sunset that evening, followed by dinner at camp and a Yin session.

Days five and six are the core of the trip. Each morning starts with Vinyasa in the sand. Then you walk with the camels and guides through changing desert terrain, stopping for meals the team prepares on the spot. Evenings are spent around camp under a very full sky, and there's Yin before bed. The guides are from the area, so you get a real sense of how nomadic families have lived and moved through this landscape. The third night is the last one out there, and the group usually spends it talking over the week.

On day seven you say goodbye to the desert team and drive west to Tata, through remote oasis country that very few tourists see. Day eight stops at Ait Kine to see its agadir, a fortified communal granary where villages stored grain and valuables. It's sometimes described as an early form of community banking. You then continue to Taroudant for the closing circle and cacao ceremony. On the last morning a local guide walks you around Taroudant's ramparts and souks. After that you can either make your own way to Agadir airport or ride back to Marrakech with the group.

The main difference from a typical Morocco yoga trip is the route. Most go Marrakech to Merzouga and back along the busy tourist road. This one goes south via Zagora and M'Hamid, spends three full nights in the desert instead of one, and comes out through Tata and Taroudant. That makes it more of a trek than a tour, with more time walking and less time in a minibus.

Nella Retreats runs the trip and says it donates 10% of proceeds to children's projects in Africa, India and South America. Instruction is available in English, German and Spanish. The schedule is described as a plan rather than a promise: weather, road conditions and desert logistics can shift the order of days or the accommodation, and yoga timings move with the travel.

What's included

- 8 nights accommodation (2 Imlil, 1 Zagora, 3 Sahara desert camp, 1 Tata, 1 Taroudant) - Breakfast and dinner daily (half board) - One yoga session daily (Vinyasa or Yin) - Daily meditation and breathing practice - Opening circle and cacao ceremony in Imlil - Closing circle and cacao ceremony in Taroudant - Three-day camel trek with local desert guides - Guided walks through Amazigh villages around Imlil - Visit to the agadir (communal granary) at Ait Kine - Guided city tour of Taroudant - Ground transport along the route - Airport transfer from Marrakech Menara (RAK) - Optional return ride from Taroudant to Marrakech - Cooking experience

What's not included

- International flights - Travel insurance - Lunches outside the desert trek - Transfer from Taroudant to Agadir Airport - Extra accommodation in Marrakech after the retreat - Airport transfer in Marrakech at the end of the trip - Extra early-arrival night in Imlil (available on request) - Personal expenses and tips - Drinks not served with included meals

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