DESTINATIONS ACTIVE & ADVENTURE HOLIDAYS |MOROCCO
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Chouara tannery; market in Fez; Erg Chebbi sand dunes; Atlas Mountains PICTURES: Paul Philpott; Alice Barnes-Brown
with bottle-green rivers, date palm oases and, finally, unforgiving desert dunes. As we drove, I noticed some women in the villages
wore a distinct style of headscarf called a tahruyt. Tour leader Lahcen Hamyouy – Lah for short – explained that Morocco’s population is a mix of Arabs and indigenous Amazigh communities, and women’s clothing often reflects their ethnic group. “Some tribes have white fabric, some yellow, some dark blue or black, but usually all feature coloured embroidery. Only Arab women wear pure black”. The Amazigh make up most of the population in
Morocco’s deserts and our rustic inn at the edge of the Erg Chebbi sand dunes demonstrated Amazigh hospitality: we were welcomed with drums, mint tea (poured dramatically from a height) and copious amounts of piping-hot tagine. Without Wi-Fi or the trappings of modern life to
distract us, Lah took us to watch the sun slip past the horizon of the Mars-like landscape. The sand shifted with every step and grains carried on the whistling wind gave our skin more than a little exfoliation, but we were assured the hard work was good for us. Plus, the sight of sand as far as the eye can see – punctuated by the occasional shrub – was a powerful visual.
ROCK THE KASBAH En route to Marrakech, we made stops at two natural wonders: the steep-sided Todra Gorge and the Valley of Roses. Both lie along the ‘Road of a Thousand Kasbahs’, but arguably Morocco’s best-known kasbah
44 1 MAY 2025
The sand shifted
with every step and grains carried on the whistling wind gave our skin more than a little exfoliation
collection can be found at Aït Benhaddou; a historic, fortified adobe village used to film Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and more. Though most of the locals have moved into bigger
houses across the road, Lah added that three families still live within Aït Benhaddou’s mud-brick walls. We climbed higher and higher towards the hilltop, passing shopkeepers tending to their wares. “It's great for the locals when a movie comes to town,” Lah said. “They get two incomes: one payment from being forced to close their shop and another from working as extras.” Speaking of Hollywood, Marrakech (where we
rounded off our adventure) was as beautiful as a movie set, featuring a plethora of Moroccan hallmarks – from the rainbow of zellige tiles and stained-glass windows in the 19th-century Bahia Palace to the woven carpets and hand-painted tagine pots in the medina. As we sat down to a gala dinner and swapped stories with agents on the other itineraries, I reflected on a trip that was intense and informative in equal measure. This adventure was a fascinating insight into Morocco where every building, object and street has a story – and I returned with a few travel tales of my own. TW
BOOK IT
Exodus Adventure Travels offers a 15-day Highlights of Morocco itinerary from £1,025, including breakfast, some meals, ground transfers, riad and desert camp stays and listed excursions, but excluding flights.
exodus.co.uk
travelweekly.co.uk
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