Thank you for arranging a wonderful tour of Morocco for us. I feel like my husband, Ira, and I had a true feeling of Morocco during our entire trip. Each place we visited gave us a new and unique experience.
Our first evening in Chefchaouen was enchanting. Our glorious blue room at the Lina Ryad was beautifully appointed, and the lady who greeted us was charming. We dined on a private roof top terrace to a delicious meal while listening to the echoes of the calls to prayer. The following day we enjoyed the tour of the beautiful blue city.
Our two nights at the Riad Myra were also lovely. I enjoyed staying in a place with such beautiful architecture and stunning tile work. The service and food were also very good.
The Kasbah Xaluca was nice with its beautiful pool area. However the restaurant dinner and breakfast was not as good as other meals we had. I loved the camel ride and the night in the tent in the desert. The dinner and breakfast in the desert were both good along with very good service. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
We enjoyed the High Atlas Mountains and the gorge very much. And the stay in the Kasbah Xaluca Dades was also very nice. I loved the African influence in the décor of both the Xaluca lodgings. The food was, however, better at the Dades.
We changed our plans, electing to skip Essaouira, and instead spent 3 nights at the Riad Arabe, which was absolutely lovely. Jamal was very helpful in making the arrangements. The rooms at the riad were absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed the lovely terraces with views of the pool and the beautiful foliage. The food was outstanding as well. The truly exceptional thing about this riad is the service. They provided some of the best service we have ever had in any hotel in the world. People are always the one factor that makes you love a place.
This brings me to the most important reason I loved our trip to Morocco so much- our driver, Jamal. When we arrived in Casablanca it was very late, we were tired and I didn’t feel well. I was ready to take the next flight home when, at about 2:00 am, the desk clerk told my husband that he had a call. It was Jamal making sure we had arrived safely and assuring us that if we needed anything at all to just call him. By morning I was rested and feeling better when this young man arrived with a bright smile and excitement about showing us his country. On our way to Chefchaouen he asked us about the type of things we liked to see, what we liked to eat and much more. When we told him we really wanted to see how Moroccans lived, ate and worked much more than just seeing the tourist attractions, he listened. We toured most of the spots scheduled in our itinerary and enjoyed them immensely, but we felt that Jamal customized each day just for us. We ate at local restaurants at our request, sampled foods from the markets, and saw how local families lived and worked. It gave us a great understanding of the Moroccan people and culture, both Berber and Arabic.
I love animals and Jamal showed me sheep, goats and donkeys everywhere. He let me pet them and told us how they are raised and about how important they are to the families. We are still laughing at how quickly Jamal caught a baby sheep for me to pet.
Jamal was also very knowledgeable about the sites we were going to and chose wonderful guides for each area. He always made sure that the guides knew the type of things we would enjoy during each tour, which made each tour seem special to us. When we told him that we like antiques, he took a detour and took us to this fabulous antique shop which we really loved.
When we went to the desert Jamal also accompanied us, since he was concerned with my husband’’s need for electricity all night for his breathing machine. He quickly talked to the authorities and made the necessary arrangements. He made the much anticipated desert stay possible.
When it was time to leave he helped us purchase another suitcase so we could bring our many purchases home, and also helped us make all the arrangements at each shop to have things shipped home. We are looking forward to displaying our Moroccan treasures in our home, but the real treasure will always be our memory of a very special young man who shared his love of his country with us.
Thank you Morocco tours for employing such a special driver and for choosing him for us. We will return to Morocco one day soon since we have fallen in love with Jamal’’s Morocco.
Sincerely,
Donna & Ira (USA), May 2014