Trip of a lifetime to Morocco
Morocco
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Jun 9 - Jun 29, 2022
We, like so many people, had a lot of wanderlust built up from the pandemic years. We also had a few family milestones come up this year. So we wanted a really special trip and we let our graduating high school senior pick the destination -- Morocco. That was the full extent of our ability to plan. We didn't want to be on a big all-inclusive tour, but neither could we manage a fully independently-planned itinerary.
Kimkim came to the rescue!
Our local specialist team planned a fantastic and varied itinerary (Sea, Rif Mountains, Imperial Cities, Sahara, Atlas Mountains) for us, complete with private van transportation between places. I so appreciated that they took the initiative to mock up a plan, including accommodations, based on some initial feedback about our traveling style and objectives, and then were able to adjust and fine tune (that's too fancy! not enough time here, too much history/serious stuff, more camels! etc.) to craft us a trip that everybody was excited about (we have 4 boys 11-19) and which made good use of our time there to see a little bit of everything. It was so nice to be able to just relax into the rhythm of the trip once we got on the plane, vs scrambling to arrange the next place, transportation, etc.
Mike Tyson famously said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." The plan was fantastic. Our punch in the mouth came when a member of our group became ill in Fes one week into our trip. With four boys in tow and myself being the only person who could communicate in a language other than English, we would have been completely overwhelmed had we not had the amazing support from Abdellah and his local team. They rearranged the remainder of our trip, helped secure medical care, made sure the boys were still amused during our extended stay in one of our stops, in short, did all the heavy lifting needed so that we could continue on safely and with a minimum of stress, and maintained all the must-keeps (camels, camels and camels) from our itinerary despite the changes.
Abdellah and his team made us feel truly cared for and the guides they arranged, especially in Chefchaouen and Essaouira, seemed personally invested in showcasing the best and most interesting parts of their cities.
We went to Morocco knowing that it would be the trip of a lifetime but assuming that we would keep exploring new places after that; we now know there is so much more to explore there and plan to return!
Hotel Reviews
This hotel on the edge of the Sahara desert was a totally magical experience. We'd had a long day on the road to get there and arrived in the early evening. The temperature was around 110. The boys rolled out of the car and the hotel staff, knowing exactly what they needed, showed them directly to the pool. The pool deck was supervised by a very charismatic sheepdog whom the boys immediately fell in love with. Everything about the hotel is beautiful and the dinner was excellent.
The accommodations were beautiful and the hotel was very conveniently located. But our stay was made especially memorable because of the really fantastic hotel manager. He and his staff made us feel really cared for.
