Morocco Imperial Cities & Sahara Desert Tour Review
Dear Alecia,
To say we had “a” highlight of our
Morocco vacation does not do justice to the great time we had everywhere.
Travel Exploration’s “on the ground” knowledge of the country highlighted the differences between North and South and gave us a very good idea of the history, art and culture of Morocco. Our Morocco trip was “perfect” and I could have never done it on my own.
Morocco is a country that makes it easy to forget things “back home” and live in a dream world of history, romance and intrigue. The architecture, the clothing and traditions lend themselves to this. We loved the Riads, the traditional décor and could have stayed much longer. The landscapes outside the cities, the rolling hills and earth toned colored villages were a beautiful contrast to Morocco’s palmeries. It is an agriculturally rich country. Fresh, locally grown, produce such as tomatoes and olives along with figs and prunes surrounded us, which we never eat at home.
The artisan visits in
Fes were definitely a wonderful experience. We also loved our stay in
Zagora where we visited the market, arranged for a bike trip and a walking tour through the Palmary. There were so many more great experiences like lunch at Chez Jacob and the Bivouac on the edge of the
M’hamid Sahara Desert. Fes was our favorite city. We love that it has been able to maintain originality and tradition while making it easy and comfortable to access. The fact that we could view the city from the rooftop of our Riad in the middle of the medina at sunset and see the lights of the city on the hills surrounding us was amazing. The ability to get around the whole city and the highlights of the medina was greatly enhanced by Hossaine Amiri, our driver and the convenience of being in a 4x4.
Our historical guide Asdine in Fez was very informative and we wish we had the “cliff notes” of the story behind Fez and it’s people. Our accommodations were really good. Staff was cordial and friendly, especially the young kids at Riad Dar Chamaa. Our favorite Riad was Riad La Roussa in Fez that boasts tasteful Morocco interiors, narrow stairs, secret hallways and a beautiful center garden. In a country where the food is not that diverse, their kitchen is a focus and the meals there were great. They even invited us to go shopping at the souk market for dinner, which is a must! We really liked the “African” influence of Riad Lamane in Zagora on our way to the Sahara Desert. We were particularly happy with the bivouac in M’hamid. He gave us a tour of his village and the ecological aspects of what they are doing to preserve the desert. The service was simply great everywhere. We really enjoyed our time with driver and Hossaine Amiri. We particularly liked the fact that our historical guides were willing to engage in dialog on religion and tradition. The schedule of our Travel Exploration tour was well paced. The Imperial Cities tour was very well laid out and we tried to absorb all of the information from the guides.
It was very interesting to see Morocco, its people and their culture changing with the landscape as our route took us south and over the mountains closer to the desert. Ultimately, the nights became a focus for their quiet and brightly lit huge starry skies. We have never seen the Milky Way that bright. We would have loved to linger longer and explore “off the path” but home duties called. I guess the huge number of pictures we took will have to suffice for a while.?