We had an absolutely wonderful trip in Morocco! My children both said “I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t this. This was awesome!”
From the very beginning, the service from you and Amy was wonderful. All the paperwork was very thorough and informative. I can’t say enough good things about our driver, Tarik! He was always punctual, helpful, polite and friendly. He went out of his way to accommodate our requests: my son asked him to drive to a park in Fes at a very early hour so he could do his training run (he’ll be running the NY marathon in a couple of weeks). It was the only place he couldn’t run directly from where we were staying. I asked Tarik to drive us to the street where my house was when I lived there as a young child. Alas, the villa is gone, replaced by an apartment house and the street name is changed. I also asked Tarik to drive us to the Church I attended. We went twice – once, it was locked, and once when I was able to make arrangements for someone to open it for us. This was the day before we left Morocco and was the icing on the cake for me! Tarik was always mindful of timely rest stops and meals. He really went above and beyond what his normal driving duties were. We were very grateful to him for that. My brother is coming next year in October and I would like to request Tarik as his driver as well.
Our favorite city was definitely Fes. We had a fabulous guide, Jammal, who was informative, thorough, funny and definitely a true gem! For the rest of the trip, we couldn’t stop talking about Jammal and how lucky we were to have had him as our guide! Our least favorite city was Marrakech. Too many tourists, too much noise, too pushy salesmen. It was better when our guide showed us around the back streets where there were real craftsmen and he led us to an out of the way shop where we had a delightful shopping experience.
All our hotels and riads were wonderful: comfortable rooms, delicious food, beautiful décor, and very attentive staff. Our favorites were the Riad Myra in Fes and the guesthouse Les Jardins de Skoura, although that took some careful driving through back roads to get to. The tent in the desert was amazing! A hot shower and bathroom facilities in the desert?! We couldn’t have imagined it and were so grateful for it. Tarik did tell us in the morning that we should only take an overnight bag to the desert, but as we had already packed, we had to quickly repack an overnight bag enroute.
Inevitably, everywhere we went, hotel staff and shopkeepers would ask “Is this your first visit to Morocco?” My children would answer “yes, but our mom was born here”. That would start curious conversations, suddenly lower prices, and several people would say “Your name is Fatima!” My children found it amusing, but it made everything extra special for me.
You may be asked by clients about cell service while in Morocco. We had T-Mobile and the cell and internet service was always available to us without having to do anything extra. We actually had better service in the middle of the desert than we have at home! We definitely think T-Mobile is the way to go when traveling.
I wish the trip lasted longer, but for now, our pictures bring us back to Morocco and the wonderful places we saw and the great people we met. I hope to return one day with the rest of my family!
Thank you for everything!
Irene
September of 2018