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 My 21 year old son and I spent 8 days in Morocco during this past March, 2005. For those who might be searching for an experience which is more customized than a standard "tour," I recommend the outfit which guided us: Berber Tours. While not inexpensive, the tour we had was quite personalized [just the two of us, using as our guide one of the owners of Berber Tours, Daoud Bouhaddou, in a nearly new Toyota 4x4]. Even though we knew we were "tourists" the attentions and knowledge of Daoud and his family insured we did not feel like such.
We arrived in Casablanca [only because of using frequent flyer miles. the city is perhaps the least attractive I have ever been to and ideally we would have preferred to arrive in Marrakech], were met outside customs by Daoud and immediately left for Marrakech. We spent two and 1/2 days there, exploring the city, the souks and immersing ourselves in the life of the Jemaa el Fna (which is the heart of street life in Marrakech, a huge square or open space between the souk (market place) and the Koutoubia Mosque (completed in 1158) that is a magnet for foreign and Moroccan tourists alike).
From Marrakech, we embarked through the High Atlas mountains, following an old road used for hundreds of years as a trade route to the interior of Africa, and arrived in Zagora, in SW Morocco near the border with Algeria.
Once there, we went into the desert for 2 days using camels [again, only my son and I, plus a guide from Daoud's family and the camel herder] and experienced what few "tourists" undergo. We then explored more of the southwest part of Morocco, having meals with Daoud's family, being guided through various souks and sights/sites, and having the desert dust eased from our pores in a "hamman" in Ouarzazate. This, in my son's opinion, was one of the best experiences we had: with no westerners around at all. We were washed, scrubbed, stretched and invigorated, all the while laughing and smiling with other bath attendees without understanding a single word they said. yet feeling accepted.
During our visit to Morocco we felt welcomed, totally safe and quite often embraced by the people. Each place we visited [be it Marrakech, Ait Benhaddou — where portions of Gladiator were filmed — Zagora or places in between] we were exposed to how the locals lived, felt and thought. As we left Morocco for our return to the U.S. we reveled in the knowledge that we had experienced the country and the people. It was a wonderful vacation and I highly recommend our guide(s) and their company.
Jon Shastid
USA
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