Morocco Tour 2024
The Adventurous Ewes had an unforgettable 10 night, 11 day adventure on our women only, small group tour, to Morocco end of February 2024. We were in Morocco a week earlier than the previous year and it was definitely colder. Our small group of seven ladies comprised of friends, two sisters and a 74 year old who was probably fitter than most of us. There was a lot of laughter whether on the bus, at the end of each day with sundowners, climbing on the camel and at our cooking class.
We started in Casablanca with a welcome dinner at a local restaurant to introduce us to the local fare. It was delicious and our first taste of Moroccan soup as a starter. 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, but chilly in the mountains. We settled down to dinner and a good night’s sleep.
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 beautiful 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, as the ladies found out when they chose different leather jackets, which were delivered 5 hours later at our Riad, with a perfect fit.
Another long day on the road to Merzouga at the edge of the Sahara desert. Our luxury Riad was an oasis surrounded by sand, no greenery. After a morning relaxing by the pool, we made our way in 4x4s to where our camels were waiting for us to ride into the desert to our luxury desert camp for the night. The camels are allocated according to weight and size, the most petite person got the smallest camel. Great hilarity as we got onto our camels and stayed on! We were surrounded by dunes as far as the eye could see.
Heading towards Marrakech the next day, we stopped for the night at Ait Ben Haddou and explored the historic ksar built out of earthen clay which is now a UNESCO World Heritage 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.
The following day, a change of scenery, as we navigated the high Atlas mountains on our way to Marrakech. 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 joined Samirah, our Chef, who was an absolute character, armed with baskets, to shop for our ingredients for the cooking class. In between, we stopped at a little kiosk for a bowl of Moroccan soup. The woman was delighted to serve us the soup and squeezed us into her kiosk, borrowing small plastic chairs from her neighbours. It was the most delicious soup of the whole trip. The cooking class took place on the rooftop of a beautiful Riad. The dinner, comprising of a chicken tagine, hot tomato salad and hot aubergine and pepper salad with couscous, was the best food of the tour and we had cooked it ourselves!
Saying goodbye to Marrakech we boarded the train for Casablanca. Our farewell lunch was at the iconic Rick’s Café where we toasted to an amazing trip with new found friends.
The highlights, as per the ladies, were the camel ride in the desert and the cooking class. The most popular purchases on this trip were carpets, leather goods and argan oil products.