We began our Moroccan journey on September 4 and ended on September 19, 2021. Debra and I arrived in Casablanca on September 5 and hired a local guide to tour the local sites, including a walk by Rick’s Cafe.
The next day our new Mercedes Benz van arrived with our driver and guide, Abdou. Our exotic journey through Morocco began for 6 lucky travelers in a van that could accommodate 12. We stopped in Fes and toured their medina and dinner in a fabulous Moroccan restaurant overlooking Fes. Next day onto Meknes…famous for its ancient medina and grain warehouse. In Marrakesh, we stayed several days at a nice hotel, well located. We enjoyed a medina walk in Marrakesh including a spice shop and leather factory. The next day our tour included visits to souks, Bahia Palace, and the Saadian tombs. We then drove further into Morocco to visit the ancient Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, where I bought a carpet. Ait Ben Haddou is the site of many films including Ben Hur and Game of Thrones. We traveled on to the Sahara desert in a 4×4 for an overnight in the Sahara at a comfortable well-appointed tent camp The sunset and sunrise in the Sahara desert were gorgeous. We even rode camels in the desert.
Further, travel to Morocco to visit the Ait Mansour Gorge that had a desert oasis! We did a lot of driving to see different areas of Morocco but were so comfortable in our 12 passenger van (w only 6 travelers). On the drive to Essaouira (a lovely coastal town with good surfing), we saw a tree with goats in it! Morocco is famous for its hair oil derived from goats. Moroccan artisans are very talented and work with wood, jewelry, leather, pottery. Morocco has a trove of spices that we enjoyed and bought. We ate a lot of tangines!
Back to Marrakesh for our final 2 days. We visited Yves St Laurent’s Jardin Majorelle…I bought a lovely silver & sapphire ring. I was able to get us a site inspection and lunch at Sir Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot in the Atlas Mountains outside of Marrakesh. Fabulous!
Well, our journey ends with our flights home. Abdou did an outstanding job as our guide. He is a Berber and explained the Berber culture and its Moroccan history. This was a delightful trip In this blog I have mainly spoken about the highlights…we visited many other sites…off the beaten path, all worth seeing, but this would be an even more lengthy blog. I would like to add that this was during the COVID pandemic, but Morocco was over 75% vaccinated and took many precautions…we were safe! A truly memorable journey!
Andiamo Travel 