Our trip to Morocco was nothing less than amazing starting with our initial search for a tour company landing on Experience It Tours website. Your website attracted us because we are not fans of the hustle bustle hurried pace of large tours (6+ is my definition). During the planning stages, Experience It Tours answered all our questions promptly and kept us fully apprised of all aspects of the tour, reaching out whenever there was a need.
Having never been to Morocco, we had no idea what to expect. When we met our driver Youssef at the hotel on the first day of the tour, we knew it was going to be a fun tour as we hit it off instantly. Youssef was nothing less than exceptional and we were fortunate to have him as our driver. He is extraordinarily passionate about his country, its history, languages, culture, and religion, ready and willing to expand on his comments when prompted by any of us. We had a good time and lots of laughs with Youssef and will miss him.
All the accommodations on this tour were very good to excellent, notably L’ Ma Lodge and its beautiful gardens, where we enjoyed the best Tagine of the tour – lamb, noodles, and pears. We were tired that day and could have easily stayed an extra day hanging around the gardens and pool catching up on some reading or doing absolutely nothing.
We enjoyed every aspect of this tour, particularly the people of Morocco who warmly welcomed us wherever we travelled. I can’t say we had a favourite place on this tour as we enjoyed all the locations on the tour. As for highlights the winding narrow roads through the Atlas Mountains were breathtaking. The Sahara was magnificent where we experienced a short camel trek to our accommodations. When we arrived at our tent, I thought there would be no way of sleeping because of the heat, but by 3AM we were piling on the blankets as it was chilly in the tent. Unfortunately, the night sky was polluted by a half moon, but after the moon set in the early morning hours, the infinite stars left us in awe with many constellations popping out like we’ve never seen. Our driver / guide that took us to the camp stopped by a Bedouin home along the way to Riad Madu where we spent some time with the family in their tent having tea and snacks. At one point, Youssef stopped along the highway to show us numerous connected underground (now dry) water wells deep under the sand. The primitive technology was astonishing. We left the Sahara with memories never to be forgotten.
We enjoyed all the locations on our tour for different reasons. Marrakesh was sensory overload in everyway and it was where I convinced myself to try sheep brain and barbequed liver in the market. I was pleasantly surprised. Fes and their artisan products and our cooking class would be another highlight on this tour. Our wallets were pretty much emptied in Fes buying high quality leather goods, a painting and large camel hair carpet. Chefchaouen is stunning in its beauty as many photos will attest.
As you know we did this tour in reverse ending the Experience It Tour at Tangier. Our intention was to spend three days in Tangier and take the train back to Casablanca and spend our last three or four days in Casablanca before going home. Instead, we cancelled our Casablanca hotel and stayed three nights in Tangier at Riad Tingus booked in advance before our tour with Experience It, then three nights in Asilah at Al Alba (booked as a last-minute addition). Asilah has four very good restaurants which we visited for either lunch or dinner.
Youssef dropped us off in Tangier but before leaving he set us up with a reputable tour driver / guide for Tangier and transport to and from Asilah. At the end of our trip, we took the high-speed train to Casablanca – another memory to take home given the train topped out at 320 km/hour at one point. What a smooth fast ride!!
We have one suggestion for you and that is to include Tangier on your tours, maybe as an addition by creating an 18 – 21-day package should there be a demand for such packages. We found that three weeks in Morocco was not enough time. It is such a beautiful country with an abundant of cultural and geographical diversity to absorb in our 14-day tour + 6 days on our own.
Gord.
(May of 2022)