Morocco Travel (with mom)

Morocco | Dec 15 - Dec 23, 2018

My mom and I did a custom 9-day tour of Morocco in December of 2018. Booking the tour, I communicated back and forth with Larbi - he was always very timely in his response and very professional.
Said, was our driver and guide for 6 days (no guide in Marrakesh) and he was wonderful! My mom and I had the best time. Said did above and beyond what he was supposed to do - even took us to some local places to eat and took me to Starbucks in Marrakech. "Thank you, Said. You are the best!"
Tour started in Casablanca (Day 1) - we did not really spend a lot of time there since our flight arrived pretty late but we were able to see the mosque the next morning.
Day 2 - Chefchaouen - we loved this place - it was charming! Great place for those eye-catching Instagram photos.
Day 3 - On the way to Fes but stopped off in Meknes - a smaller version of Fes. The shopkeepers were a little more forceful about selling so I did not enjoy this place as much. Volubilis - saw Roman ruins - nice place for photos as well. Arrived in Fes at night.
Day 4 - Fes all day with a different guide. Our guide was El Hadi - he was great too! Explained the different things we were seeing. Guided us through the medina (which was confusing). Got some awesome deals on Argan oil, some scarves and pottery. Opted out of the tanneries - I knew my nose would not be able to hack it. Went to different sights as well - old city, new city, viewpoints from old watchtowers, where you can see great views of the city.
Day 5 - En route to the Desert - stopped by Erfoud (where our guide Said - a resident of the city) - took us where we could purchase trilobites for my brother. Middle Atlas mountain - we stopped by and saw Barbary monkeys on the road - fed them peanuts and gave some stray dogs some of our leftovers from breakfast. At the end of this day - we arrived in the Sahara desert - took a camel ride for an hour (our guide was Mustafa) to our camp. Great place to watch the stars. It was really cold!!! But I would rather be cold than hot, so just be prepared if you are planning on going in the winter.
Day 6 - Breakfast in the camp. Cold morning but got up early to watch the sunrise, then another hour camel ride back to meet our guide Said. Saved some of the apples from dinner and fed it to our camels. We stopped by a local market (Rissani) then went to see Todra Gorge - were able to take nice photos here. We slept in Ouarzazate (nice sleepy town).
Day 7 - Hiked up Ait Benhaddou - great scenery. Stopped off in a few places as well while en route to Marrakech. Arrived in Marrakech late afternoon.
Day 8 and 9 - My mom and I did want we do best - SHOP. We also enjoyed watching the exciting shows in the Jemaa el Fna Square.
We met Larbi in Marrakech - "Thank you for meeting with us, Larbi!"
All in all, it was an awesome "once in a lifetime experience!" - Will we do it again? YES!!! Totally worth it.