Morocco Tour 2023
We had a wonderful time on our 13 day tour around Morocco, beginning of March 2023, with The Adventurous Ewe. We were a small group of six ladies and connected immediately. The women embraced every minute of our experience.
We started in Casablanca with a welcome dinner at a local restaurant to introduce us to the local fare. The next morning we departed for our long drive to Chefchaouen, the Blue City, in the Rif mountains, north west of Morocco. Our beautiful Riad was a welcome sight at the end of the day and we settled down to some champagne at the poolside and watched the sun go down.
The next morning we joined our guide for a tour around the medina, stopping to watch how bread is made in the local bakery, followed by a Nous Nous. This quickly became our favourite coffee on the tour. Nous nous means half-half, equal parts of coffee and steamed milk.
Later that morning we departed for Fes and stayed at a Riad in the medina. Fes is the oldest of the four imperial cities in Morocco and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That night we had dinner at a private home. Chicken Pastilla, a traditional dish, was on the menu. It is shredded chicken with aromatic spices wrapped in crisp pastry layers, slightly sweet. The next day was spent exploring the alleyways in the medina with a local guide. You will get lost in the medina and only the local guides, most of them having grown up there, know their way around. We stopped at the tannery, the smell is quite pungent, but the leather goods are well worth the visit.
Another long day on the road to Merzouga at the edge of the Sahara desert, where our camels were waiting for us to mount and ride into the desert to our luxury desert camp for the night. We stopped along the way and had a picnic with champagne surrounded by dunes as far as the eye could see. That night after supper we sat outside gazing at the stars and listened to the staff playing the drums. This was probably the experience the ladies enjoyed the most.
Heading towards Marrakech the next day, we stopped and explored Ait Ben Haddou, a historic ksar built out of earthen clay and is now a UNESCO World Hertitage site. We stopped at a women’s carpet making co-operative, where some of the ladies bought beautiful colourful rugs for home. The money goes towards supporting their families.
A change of scenery as we navigated the Atlas mountains and spent the night in a small mountain village of Imlil. We, and a donkey with our luggage, had a 45 minute walk up the mountain to the hiking lodge run by the local villagers. It was freezing that night, but the ladies say it was the best tagine they had on the tour.
At last warmer weather making our way down to Marrakech. That night we dressed up and dined at La Mamounia Palace hotel. It was nice to pretend for one evening that we were part of the opulence of Marrakech. The next morning was spent exploring the noisy, colourful souk and shopping up a storm. That afternoon we had a cooking class on a farm outside Marrakech and learnt about the spices to make different tagines and the correct way to cook couscous. We dined on what we cooked.
Next we headed for Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast, stopping along the way at a women’s co-operative for argan oil. Our suitcases were full of face, hair and body products. Hopefully they helped. The Moroccan women have beautiful skin and swear by argan oil. That night we ate at a seafood restaurant overlooking the sea and were entertained by a band.
Finally returning to Marrakech and departing for Casablanca by road. Our farewell lunch was booked at the iconic Rick’s Café where we toasted to an amazing trip with new found friends.
The ladies most memorable experiences, as per the ladies, was the desert camp, Imlil and La Mamounia Palace hotel. The most popular purchases on this trip were carpets, argan oil products and silver jewellery.
Morocco 2024 here we come!
“I was the last one to get into the tour group to Morocco and it was worth every second spent on getting my e-visa to go! What an adventure!
We travelled from the famous, romantic Casablanca to snowcapped mountains and sunny villages. Local rustic to glamorous Marrakesh, Fes and surroundings. Our tour guide Abdoul and Mandy from Adventurous Ewe made it so easy and comfy, you would wonder why not travel that way every time?
We made firm friends with other women who had the time and inclination to travel to places yet unbeknown to us.Morocco showcased its fine spices and vibrant colours in abundance. A MUST see from every aspect.”
Nancy Blomerus - Morocco March 2023
“Women-only travel is the way to go, ladies! Where else would professionals and working women be able to find time or friends/travel companions able to go exploring with them? Maybe your husband hates to travel - this way, you can slot into a tour group of like-minded women and feel included, safe and live your best life; immersed in new and exciting cultures, sights, sounds and food.
Our Moroccan tour with the Adventurous Ewe has to rate as one of my best trips - ever. We saw this magnificent (and very benign) country from every angle and it was done in style. Mandy Salonika worked tirelessly to package and present a tour for our group of women and managed to pitch it at exactly the right level: graceful luxury and the sense of being cosseted and treated, all the while feeling you’re in the middle of an exotic adventure.
Our perfect English speaker guide was a local and could arrange anything at the drop of a hat: dinner at a private home; a table, cushions and snacks on a desert dune; or freshly-shucked oysters at the Fish Market to be slurped standing up. No moment was wasted, though there was ample downtime to recharge batteries. Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can sleep when you’re dead,”?
Well, this applies to the Morocco tour - you don’t want to miss a thing. We travelled around the country in a comfortable tourist bus, which was small enough to allow for great flexibility: stopping for a street-food lunch or coffee or a toilet-break by mutual agreement beats an ocean-liner tourist bus with a massive crowd of people on it, hands down.
If this is not already in your Bucket List, you are missing out.
Nives Schabort - Morocco Tour March 2023
“Amazing trip from beginning to end – an adventure filled with an explosion of color, surprises, diverse intertwined cultures and exceptional food and hospitality. The trip was well organized and the tour guide was knowledgeable and very accommodating of the group’s needs. He also spoke fluent English and ensured we had the full experience of Morocco in true Moroccan style. We stayed at a range of different riads and visited several local co-ops – all of whom were willing to share how their products were made.
We also visited Merzouga in the Sahara Desert, where we rode on a camel to the luxury camp where we were staying for the night. Half-way there we stopped to climb up a sand dune and watch the sun set, sipping on wine to celebrate the sheer beauty and the unique experience of being alive in this quiet, mysterious part of this huge desert. The luxury tents offered superb accommodation to lay down our weary heads and listen to the lone jackals call in the night.
We couldn’t leave Marrakech without having sundowners and dinner at the luxury La Mamounia hotel and the experience was the highlight of the trip – sheer opulence and elegance rolled up in one. Back in Casablanca we ended the wonderful tour experience reminiscing over lunch at the famous Rick’s Cafe.
Special memories were made, and the tour with The Adventurous Ewe is an absolute must for anybody interested in Morocco and everything this interesting country has to offer. It comes highly recommended!”
Beve Victor - Morocco March 2023
“Morocco was always a dream destination for the romantic in me. My visit with The Adventurous Ewe in spring (March) did not disappoint.
Morocco was the absolute cultural experience for this traveller – the explosion of colour, the varied geographical landscapes that at times could be found in one panoramic picture, the kindness, hospitality, creativity of the Moroccans, the cacophony of sounds in the city and medinas made this one of my best travel experiences ever.
Thanks to Adventurous Ewe (Mandy) for putting together such an amazing itinerary – from mountains, “primitive” villages and desert to ultimate 5-star luxury in the cities.
To top all of this we also had an amazing and experienced local guide and my fellow travellers were a group of amazing and wonderful women. Big thanks Mandy for always making sure this duckling never got left behind as she got lost in the thrills of Morocco.”
Beverley Europa - Morocco March 2023
“Experiencing Morocco with "The Adventurous Ewe" is the only way to go if you want to really see this wonderful, vibrant, colourful, beautiful country and its people. A bespoke tour, meeting and making new friends is what was offered and this is exactly what we received. Top tour guides and bus driver, who were extremely knowledgeable in the history of each place we visited.
They went the extra mile and made the journey, sometimes long hours in the bus interesting and informative with facts and history of Morocco. You need to be walking fit, as you do a lot of that as you wander along the alleys and souks experiencing everyday Moroccan life.
I cannot recommend this trip enough with Mandy, who is calm and collected in what she does . The Adventurous Ewe, I can’t wait for the next adventure.”
Annelee Murray - Morocco Tour March 2023
