The sign says, “Timbuctu, 52 days by camel,” evoking an age when traders and travelers crossed the great Sahara in huddled caravans, their beasts of burden weighted with the journeymans’ sack and fare. Although Mount Zagora appears on European maps of a much earlier time - the ruins of an Almoravid fortress can still be seen there - Zagora is only little over a century old.

Despite the town’s relative newness, it remains one the most charming of Morocco’s desert villages. Zagora is an ideal base for exploring the surrounding Draa Vallery and desert. The Tamergroute oasis contains a fantastic library (Zaouia Nasseria) of Arabic manuscripts. Nearby M’hamid, small border post at the gates of the Sahara, holds the ruins of an old caravanserai.