Exploring Morocco

Morocco | Apr 30 - May 12, 2018

We had an incredible time during our 12 days in Morocco!

We usually travel quite independently, and this was a new experience for us having a private driver for the first 7 days of our trip, and a mountain guide for another 2.

Now that we are back, we wouldn't have had it any other way. We learned so much from our time with Said, about his culture, family, and other random facts and observations. I think this was the best way to really immerse yourself into Morocco, especially if it's your first time to Africa or a Muslim country.

Said was also very knowledgeable of the general area. He took us to many places we didn't know about and often stopped in small towns or the side or the road to show us a collective (fossils, roses, argan oil, ceramics), taste some dates or watermelon, or to see a small gift a local was selling (Without feeling pressured to buy). He also took us to visit a nomadic family and share tea with them in their tent, a very special experience for us. It was sad to say goodbye.

I'm not sure that we would do anything differently. We packed quite a bit into our trip, but there is so much to see: Roman ruins at Volubilis, wandering around the blue city at Chefchaouen, the busy medinas in Fes and Marrakech, and of course the desert!

The desert was probably our favorite part of the whole trip. We spend about 3 full days driving between small market towns, stopped at a fossil factory in Erfoud, saw beautiful oases hidden in the rocks and sand, and enjoyed a memorable camel ride at sunset into the dunes where we spend the night enjoying music from local Berber people, who were all very friendly. We even got to hold a baby sand fox that a local boy had on the side of the road!

Another very special part of the trip was spending 2 days hiking in the High Atlas mountains between small villages. We enjoyed 2 lunches with Berber families and spend a very crazy lightning storm in the home of another. Our mountain guide was great and very knowledgeable of the area, even when we had to change our route to avoid the river that grew from the storm.

The riads we stayed at (Fes, Marrakech) were beautifully designed, and the service was top notch. It was great to enjoy a delicious meal on the roof or in the ornate dining areas of our riad after a long day of exploring.

This trip really opened our eyes and re-prioritized our list of places we wanted to jump into next.

Shukran to Larbi & Said for this very special trip!