We had a fantastic trip to Morocco. From the Atlantic beaches to the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert, and all the places in between, Morocco was a delightfully diverse destination. It is impossible to pick a favorite location or experience, but here are some contenders:
- The medina in Fez, the "medina of all medinas". Sensory overload is the best way to describe a visit to the Fez medina. The sights, sounds, smells, and tastes are something one does not forget. Not to mention the history. The Chouara Tannery in the medina has been in operation for over a thousand years, in the same location, using the same methods. That is a true living history experience.
- Chefchaouen. A gorgeous small town in shades of blue. Visually stunning, but also bustling with activity. A vibrant market, a great central square to people watch, all set amongst the backdrop of the Rif Mountains and surrounded by small farms.
- The expansive Sahara sand dunes. There are sand dunes many places in the world but to stand on top of a tall dune and see nothing but undulating golden dunes extending to the horizon is a special experience.
- The delightful coastal gem, Essaouira. Not nearly as old as Fez, Meknes, and Marrakech, Essaouira still has history and it's own charm. The pace is slower, the compact old town is easy to walk and fully explore, and of course there is the beautiful sandy beach.
I could go on and on as each place we visited had a unique cultural, historical, or scenic highlight. I think the variety is what made the trip so enjoyable overall. When I asked Karen, she identified Chefchaouen as the highlight of the trip.
At the beginning of the trip I promised a review of the Intrepid experience. The positives:
- Great itinerary. A good sampling of the diversity of Morocco, and a good balance between structured activities and time to explore on our own or with others on the tour with similar interests. While I personally could have done without most/all of the stops for "shopping experiences", I know that is an important item for some travelers and I think Intrepid & Nabil did a good job of finding a reasonable balance of providing these shopping experiences but not having them take too much time.
- Great traveling companions - pleasant conversations, everyone respected each others time by being prompt, etc. Zero issues. It enriched the experience by traveling with people from different countries (9 total), different ages (20s to 70s), and with different life experiences. While we were in many ways very different, we all shared a love of travel and a desire to learn more about the people and places that make up the planet we live on. Every trip like this I learn not just about the place I am visiting, but also learn about what people from other countries think about world events, and it is an opportunity to learn about political, economic, and cultural aspects of the countries of your fellow travelers. I definitely think the trip is better with a mix of nationalities rather than traveling just with Americans.
- Good weather - other than the rainy day in Rabat the weather was good. Obviously you cant control the weather, but based on our experience April was a good time to visit Morocco.
- Good tour leader. Nabil did a great job of managing all the logistics, insuring everyone was safe, etc.
- "Tipping kitty". Moroccans expect tips for almost everything. We agreed upfront to each contribute a fixed amount into the "tipping kitty" and our leader used that to tip the drivers, porters, local guides, etc. This system worked very well and allowed us to focus on enjoying what we were doing while insuring great service was properly rewarded.
- Having a tour guide rather than a tour leader. Nabil provided a little bit of background on what we were seeing, but not much. We did have local guides in a few places like Meknes, Fez and Essaouira which were very knowledgeable. Even if Nabil was not a certified guide it would have improved the experience if he had been more knowledgeable and/or shared more knowledge about the places we were going and the things we were seeing. Ultimately I resorted to either reading our Lonely Planet guide book or downloading web pages with explanations of the places we were going and their history to fulfill my desire to learn more about what we were seeing and experiencing.
- Nabil's communication sometimes was not succinct. There were times when he told different people different meeting times, and we had to ask him again. Also, he never said he didn't know the answer to something. Perhaps this is cultural, but we prefer someone to say they don't know versus giving a wrong answer. There were a number if cases when someone would ask about something and he would say "yeah yeah" even though what they had asked was not correct. We also often had to ask the same question multiple times, with a question like "is dinner included or do we need to buy dinner our self?" being answered "yeah yeah". Which is it, A or B?
- Marrakech hotels were a disappointment in how Intrepid handled them. We arrived early in the morning and spent 2 nights there in the middle of the trip, and one night at the end. Unfortunately we were told after dinner on night 1 that we had to change hotels for the second night. Many people had done laundry and had wet items hanging to dry. We were also told we had to go as a group to the new hotel at noon. So on day 2 (our only full day in Marrakech) we were limited on what we could do as we had pack, conservatively plan where we were going to visit in order to insure we were back to the hotel for checkout by noon, walk to the second hotel and then wait to check in because rooms were not ready. It cost us 3-4 hours in sightseeing time by having to come back to the hotel, pack, move hotels, check in, and then get back to sightseeing areas.
- Marrakech hotels part 2. This didn't affect us, but some people were extending and spending extra time in Marrakech. They asked what hotel we were returning to and were told repeatedly we would return to the second hotel, the Meriem. So, they booked extra time there and left some extra items in storage. We then find out later that we are not returning to the Meriem. People tried to cancel their extra nights there (so they would not have move again) and were told they could not cancel.
- Marrakech hotels part 3 - as mentioned above, some people left items in storage at the Meriem. While everyone got their things back, the hotel did not mark any stored items or provide claim tickets. Instead when people returned they were allowed to take whatever they said was theirs. It would have been very easy for someone to take items (intentionally or accidentally) that were not theirs, and the hotel had zero accountability if a bag was not there as a guest had no claim check to even prove they left anything. It seems like a recipie for disaster.
- The hotels were generally what we expected. Some nice places, and some old places with "character". We generally don't care much about the hotels as we don't spend much time in our room or at the hotel, but there were some cleanliness issues a couple of places. From my perspective it is fine if the towels have holes, the carpet is worn, etc. but even the most basic hotel can (and should) be cleaned so the next guest doesn't have to deal with hair, etc. from the previous guests.
- Intrepid only includes limited meals with the trip, breakfasts and a couple of lunches/dinners. The rest of the meals you need to pay for yourself. That is fine and we knew that and budgeted accordingly. However, some things that we were charged for were a bit ridiculous. For example, in Meknes, our lunch of camel burgers was included. We sat down, they gave everyone tea and a camel burger. No one was asked what they wanted nor given any options. A couple of hours later as we were finishing our tour of the city the local guide told us the tea was not included and we needed to each pay 5 dh because we had left without paying for the tea. The money (about USD 0.50) is not the issue, it was lack of communication. People should not be given something (which they might not have wanted), and then been told after the fact that it was extra. If Intrepid paid for the lunch they should have included the tea or people should have been told upfront that if they wanted tea it was extra. It seemed a bit ridiculous to be charged for some of these minor items.
Likewise, the hotels are a mix of quality levels. If you want 3+ star hotels and insist on a private bathroom, then the trip is not for you. We did have private bath facilities all but 3 nights, and had some nice hotels, but others were fairly basic. The overnight train requires sharing a sleeping car with someone else, unless you come as a group of 4.
The trip was also fairly fast paced, with some long travel days. We preferred that as it allowed us to visit a lot of sights in the time we had. If you are prepared to be active for ~12 hours a day, change hotels on most days, and want to see lots of things then this trip is for you. If you want a slower pace then you should consider a trip that covers fewer destinations.
Bottom line - we had an awesome trip, great traveling companions, and would recommend Intrepid tours overall, and the Morocco Encompassed trip specifically. Just read the details on Intrepid's website to make sure the style if the trip matches how you like to travel. Now it's time to plan the next adventure ...
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