09/04/2024
๐น๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ค๐ ๐ช๐๐๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐
๐ซ๐๐๐๐
๐ฉ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ 2024 ๐๐๐๐
๐ป๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ค!
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ Carolyn Fedler Batzofin ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ David Batzofin! ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ข๐ด๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ-๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ: ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต.
**๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ:
Morocco Bucketlist Tours
& Things
"It had been a bucket-list dream of mine to visit Morocco for a long time. When I found Morocco Bucketlist Tours offering the exact itinerary I wanted, a mixed tour group and at a reasonable price, I jumped at the chance. Although fully booked at the time, Linda and Abdoul managed to accommodate both myself and my husband in the group!
The tour exceeded my expectations in that the accommodation was authentic (we prefer to experience countries the local and traditional way), and was very comfortable. What lacked in the rooms was provided with a smile and a willingness to please. The riads and ksar accommodation were a sensory feast on the eyes; I could not stop looking at the mosaics, hanging lamps, hand-carved paneling and painted ceilings. It was "Arabian nights" for me every night!
Breakfast was mostly continental, offering an assortment of pancakes, cakes, croissants, pastries, cookies, fruit juices, olives, wrapped cheese pieces with eggs on offer sometimes. It was more than satisfactory. Lunches and dinners (there were numerous options to choose places to eat at) we covered at own cost except for 2 dinners - the Merzouga desert camp and Ait Ben Haddou, both of which were delicious.
Our wonderful driver Mourad drove us a full 2,200km with care, and I felt very safe being on the bus in the middle of nowhere. The bus trip within the Southern Morocco area is long, but well worth it as the scenery is magnificent. When we visit again, more days will be included to break up the trip. Linda explained from the onset that the 11-day itinerary was a taste of Morocco, and therefore a lot packed in, and there was a LOT to see and do. This left me with a general sense of what Morocco has to offer, and more specifically, which places we would like to go back to spend a few more days exploring next time we visit Morocco.
We found Casablanca to be underrated, as it is a beautiful city with fewer tourists, while Chefchaouen (so well worth the trip to the north!) was a blue tinted mountainous delight, and
having a full day to explore was more than sufficient. As it was pouring with rain and too muddy, we decided to give Volubilis (on our way to Fes) a miss. We were reimbursed the Volubilis entry fees 3 days later with a delicious chicken tagine lunch at a rural apple farm where we went out in the fields to have mint tea - what an idyllic setting.
Fes was particularly special as we had our first exposure of staying in a riad and were treated to a traditional dinner at a family riad. Our superb local guide Hakima navigated us through the maze of the old Medina to visit mosques, the old Koran university, the oldest tannery, King's palace and a well-known ceramic and mosaic factory (half a day is needed there to observe and decide what to buy/order. When we visit Morocco again, we would like to do 2-3 full days as there are other places to visit including the Mellah, and to spend more time getting lost in the medina and browse around.
The long drive to Merzouga took the whole day and we arrived late but in time for a short camel ride. That was such a highlight, and it was a pity that it was so cloudy and we did not have a proper sunset. It was indescribably special and I would have loved to have spent more time in the desert to chill out, as we had to leave early the next morning for another long bus trip. Although the desert camp was magnificent and luxurious, it was a bit too rushed for me; I was too tired to attend the singing and dancing after dinner. Again, it is the design of the short duration of this type of tour regardless of the tour company used, that prevents spending more relaxed time in this bucket list setting.
I particularly loved the southern Moroccan route as it is so beautiful with the desert to Todra Gorge, Dades and Rose Valleys, Atlas Mountains to Ksar Ait Ben Haddou route, and the scenic route of natural beauty and rural Berber areas was breathtaking and fascinating at the same time. Break it up over 5 - 7 days instead of 2 very long days would be recommended.
Our next destination was Marrakech. This is the tourist capital and there were foreigners everywhere. This is where one can do any kind of shopping and spoiled for choice too. Our riad was located right in the medina, between the Jemaa el Fna square and the Mellah, which is the perfect location for shopping, sightseeing and experiencing the night coming alive with the bustling food and fruit juice stalls and live entertainment in the square. We spent the morning exploring the Mellah and it was very sad to see the after effects of the earthquake but slowly and surely, it is being rebuilt. Linda helped me source some magnificent high quality Moroccan lamps, I went for a henna tattoo at the Henna Art Cafe and visited the le Jardin Secret, a magnificent 19th century palace complex with pristine traditional Islamic gardens with an interesting water irrigation system, where I also recognized some South African trees. We loved the traditional dish - tagia โ a lamb stew cooked over the course of the day in an urn shaped vessel with handles, served upside down onto a plate in full view of the dining patron. We had a spectacular meal on a rooftop restaurant and were blessed with a magnificent sunset at the same time. What a magical memory!
The one thing I appreciated most about Morocco Bucket Tours, is their support for local women's co-operatives. During our 2-day desert drive, we stopped at Rose Valley to see how roses are harvested and processed to produce rose oil products of high quality. Loving rose oil, and having much looked forward to this day, I bought a whole range of wonderful products! At Ait Ben Haddou we went to a rural women's cooperative making traditional woolen Berber carpets and I couldnโt resist buying 2 small ones for our bedroom back home. Just before Essaouira we stopped at a local womenโs argan oil cooperative - what a fascinating tour of how argan oil is produced! While none of these co-operatives are cheap, I prefer to support local rural women and itโs comforting to know that all products purchased are of high quality.
Essaouira was a treat but alas, the weather was not conducive to hours long wandering along the lovely coastline. The medina is so picturesque and is a lot less chaotic than Marrakech. I found it to be a quirky mix of the Greek Islands (blue and white buildings, Muizenberg (as it was SO windy) and Kalk Bay in South Africa (fishing boats and seafood stalls). It is beautiful and I definitely would want to go back for a few more days. One night is not sufficient and this will motivate us to come back for more and I cannot wait!
Our last stop was Casablanca, where we wanted to visit the Hassan II Mosque, but the office got the times mixed up due to the Ramadan time change that day and thus the last mosque tour of the day was already in progress. The rest of the group left the following day but on Lindaโs recommendation we stayed an extra day for my birthday. This provided the opportunity to simply stroll around the magnificent and fascinating old city, markets, shopping centre, and had a wonderful traditional lunch at La Sqala (again recommended by Linda). We came across the iconic Rick's cafe while strolling, and for the price of a very expensive drink, we were able to go inside to enjoy the ambience and imagine Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman together.
I am still processing what we experienced in 11 days and 2,200km travelled. Last but not least, the one memory I will cherish is meeting all the friendly cats of Morocco. I am a dedicated cat lover, and there were a few moments where I had to refrain the urge to bring some of them back home. Being strays, some locals are gratefully feeding them.
I cannot recommend Morocco highly enough, and look forward to travelling to certain selected places at a much slower pace next time.
Thank you, Linda and Abdoul from Morocco Bucketlist Tours, for exposing us to what Morocco has to offer. I look forward to using your services and valuable advice again. If your goal is to travel Morocco at your own pace and time without having to accommodate other people in a tour group, then I would suggest considering hiring a RV to drive at one's leisure, or arrange a personalised/customised itinerary with your own driver. Linda and Abdoul will happily arrange this, as they also offer customised tours".
https://travelandthings.co.za/2024/04/are-we-going-riding-on-the-marrakesh-express/?fbclid=IwAR0-67Dt3sDLHQbE8WYXu4S9tW4r2az-eQZgp6qfxxTPyAB4CjiXltIptBM_aem_AfYMr1ZXRHEN8LVpp7iyqvt2C4nKP3lREqWU7NfTjw49zwkjgj2iZ4_4GAtfQGZmJMq_nK1q1gr20ZY9dwhHb56D
ย ย ย This is a Docker motorcycle transporter. Could THIS be the elusive Marakesh Express? This form of transportation is used extensively in Morocco, however, I had also seen them during my extended stay in Cairo in 2023. I wish we had something similar here in South Africa to use for suburban t...
