Experience Morocco – 10 Days

Depart for Morocco

Board your overnight flight for Morocco.

Arrival in Morocco

Arrive in Casablanca and then transfer to Fes.

Here, students will get a glimpse of the rich culture and spirituality that is Fes. Fes is also known as the culinary capital of Morocco.

Our first activity will set us up well for the trip ahead; we will participate in a beginners Arabic class.

Equipped for conversation and cultural exchange, our next stop is at a cooking school. Here, students will head off to the souq, where we will begin to bargain with spice vendors and purchase all the ingredients we need for our typical Moroccan meal.  Afterwards we’ll return to the school, we’ll be instructed as we cook our meal and then enjoy it for dinner.

Fes

This morning, we will participate in a pottery class in Fes. We will spend the entire morning learning about traditional ceramic techniques inside of the medina, where we will tour small-scale factory facilities and be led in creating our own clay piece. Afterwards, we will be able to take it home as a unique hand-crafted souvenir.

Continue our explorations of the Medina after lunch by visiting some of the tanneries and learning about other artisanal crafts of Morocco.

In the late afternoon and early evening, we will have leisure time to continue with some shopping and local cultural and language exchanges. After dinner, enjoy an Evolve-led activity to summarise and reflect on the different customs and cultural immersion we have experienced so far.

Fes > Errachidia

This morning, we rise early for the travel day to Merzouga. Load the buses and head towards the desert. We will stop in the late afternoon and check in to the hotel in Errachidia, our stop en route to Merzouga.

Errachidia is a picturesque town surrounded by both dry desert valleys and irrigated green fields of date palms. Visit Musée des Sources de Lalla Mimouna to get an insight into 16th Century culture and history of the region, with lots of artefacts and interpretative displays focusing on Arab-Andalusian and Moroccan art. Spend the evening tasting the local delicacies and then head to bed after a long travel day.

Errachidia > Merzouga

Today, we get a full Saharan experience. From Errachidia, we will be transported further into the desert to Merzouga. We will stop along the great sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, where we will take a camel ride across the dunes and eventually set up for our night of bivouacing. Watch the sun set over the ochre coloured sand dunes at Erg Chebbi, with only the Tuareg (Berber nomadic pastoral community) and their camels for company. Tented camp.

Sand Boarding, Todra Gorge & Dades Gorge, Swimming

This morning, we’ll be able to rise with the sunset to grab some photos before hopping back onto the camels for the short ride back to the hotel. Once there, enjoy a shower and breakfast before heading on the road. Stop at a sand dune and participate in a sand boarding activity. We will hurl ourselves down a 300m hill on our boards.

Depart to the Todra Gorge: a massive fault, rising to 300 m in a narrow valley thick studded with palmeries and Berber Villages. After lunch in the gorge, continue on to Dades Gorge, where we will check in to a hotel for the night. Enjoy the swimming pool at this hotel and relax for the evening.

Ouarzazate, Ait Benhaddou, Marrakesh

Additional local English-speaking guides will join us at our hotel to begin our drive out of and through the Atlas Mountains. While we trek through the windy roads of the Atlas Mountains students will admire the houses built into the edge of the mountain. Pass through Ouarzazate where we will visit a souk and Taorirt Kasbah. We will stop for lunch and tour the World Heritage Site of Ait Benhaddou. This famous kasbah was used as a backdrop for more than 20 Hollywood films. As we head over the Atlas Mountains, the terrain transforms from dusty plateaus and bizarre rock formations to snow capped mountains.

We will take the opportunity today to visit a local charity that spearheads women’s empowerment, artisan and weaving support, youth education and sustainable agriculture projects in the Atlas Mountains.

In the evening, we will return to the urban environment and check into our hotel in Marrakesh. Enjoy dinner and an evening stroll to get acquainted with this historic city. We will get full cultural immersion through our stay at a traditional riad, or small palace with interior courtyard and garden.

Marrakech

After breakfast, we will enjoy a full day of sightseeing in Marrakesh. Students will be guided through the city by an expert local guide, checking out everything from snake charmers to refined palaces. Our guide will enlighten us to different architectural styles and will make sure we have plenty of stops for photography, highlighting different angles and light so we get the best shot!

We will have lots of time to visit the souqs which sell all kinds of wares, and the medina (old town) which contains nearly two miles of secret passages. We will also visit the outside of the Koutoubia Minaret, the largest mosque in Marrakesh; Saadian tombs which date back to the 1500s; and the Dar Si Said Museum, housing the very quintessence of Moroccan art. Visit Jemma El Fna square, where we get a henna; a temporary design applied to your skin in a brownish paste made from powder.

In the late afternoon, we will visit a local arts collective and community arts space, such as the Queens Collective, to deliver an arts workshop to Moroccan youth aged between 6-13 years old. Enjoy the opportunity to exchange with multidisciplinary artists here, as well as learn about their methodology of artistry as activism.

Before sunset, we will enjoy the tree-lined pathways and burbling streams of the Jardin Majorelle, which is one of the most visited sites in Morocco.

For dinner, head to a cooking class with a non-profit organization which benefits disadvantaged women through restaurant training and job placement. We will learn skills and techniques of Moroccan cuisine with these women aged between 18-35, who are participating in the organisation’s economic development programs. Learn how to make a delicious tajine or cous cous dish along with Moroccan tea, made with herbs you will pick from the garden!

Casablanca

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and transfer to Casablanca.

In the afternoon we will participate in a guided walking tour of Casablanca (no bus tour). We will also have an opportunity to do some last minute shopping to buy gifts or souvenirs.

We will end the tour at the Hassan II Mosque, which is an imposing architectural feat and the largest mosque in Africa.

The group will have a chance to go to the beach in Casablanca this afternoon.

After a long but fulfilling day we will return to our hotel and eat a dinner as a group to reflect on all that we have learned over the course of the trip.

Fly Home

Board your flight for home after an amazing trip to Morocco together.