Morocco cultural tour

Environment

Whilst using public transport is the most sustainable way of traveling, in Morocco it’s not always easy to. Aside from good train connections between the major cities, it’s often tricky to travel to more rural or remote areas by public transport. On this trip we use private transport in a few places, but wherever we can we jump on public transport. For instance, our journey from Marrakech and Essaouira uses a local bus. Not only is this a very comfortable way of traveling, but it’s also a scenic ride. As this bus is used by people living or working between Essaouira and Marrakech it offers a great opportunity to chat freely with the friendly Moroccan people. The bus also stops once or twice at local roadside restaurants where you can snack on Moroccan delicacies and enjoy a local coffee.
We also suggest that passengers use refillable water bottles, and our leaders will suggest purchasing bigger bottles of water to store in our vehicle whilst on the road.
With the help of our Moroccan suppliers, we also contract local specialists to run all our activities on this adventure. Before signing them up, we’ll always make sure that these individuals share our philosophy and stance on important environmental issues. Therefore, you can be sure that your local guide in the Atlas Mountains will never contribute to the problem of waste management. Hardly any waste collection takes place in the High Atlas, but our guides will always carry their rubbish back with them to Marrakech, something we actively encourage our passengers to do too.

Community

We provide our travelers with advice on responsible travel behaviour and encourage them to share their cultures with the people they meet as a way of improving understanding of our two very different lifestyles. The trip begins with a brief language lesson to learn a few words of Arabic (or Berber, depending on the background of your leader), which will enable to you talk to locals when at shops and restaurants or exchange some words of Arabic with locals on the bus.
Our leaders are all Moroccans from a wide variety of backgrounds, and they are very proud to share their country and culture with their groups. Throughout the trip, they will share with you their favourite local restaurants and food specialties, from cous cous and tagines to berber pizza and picnic lunches with food bought from roadside markets.
Throughout this fantastic trip, there are many opportunities to really experience how Moroccan people live, eat, and travel. We stay in locally run hotels, dine in local restaurants and use public transport whenever possible. Life is always locally flavored, whether it be by drinking an avocado juice at a local bar, or trying Kefta (minced lamb mixed with spices and then grilled) at a roadside stall. The emphasis on this trip is on building and enjoying relationships within the communities we travel and throughout the trip you will stay in a variety of accommodation, all of them locally owned and run. We enjoy a homestay and home cooking in the Atlas mountains and a small family-run riad in Essaouira.
We have our breaks at local cafes selling mint tea or café au lait and if we are feeling hungry, we can snack at street stalls selling chickpeas, nuts and even snails. Souqs (markets) sell olives, preserved lemons, dates and spices and our desert safari sees us sharing a meal with the Berber people. Even when we go shopping we like to get our travelers to shop at cooperatives where the artisans receive a fair price for their wares, therefore cutting out the middle man.
This trip also supports various organisations along the way. In the Middle Atlas mountains, we visit Kasbah Myriem, an organisation run by Franciscan nuns who educate and train local women to weave and use traditional patterns for their carpets and other hand-made products. Their mission is to give unmarried woman an education and guaranteed paid employment, and have the support of the local communities since they buy all their wool and dyes from nearby farmers. Passengers learn about the project and have the opportunity to buy some of their high-quality products.
In Tinerhir, we visit our foundation's supported organisation which works with physically and mentally handicapped people who learn to read, write and work with computers at school, and learn the basic skills to function in day-to-day life. They also receive professional instruction by local artisans on weaving, ceramics, woodwork and metalwork, so that they can become useful and valuable members of society and earn an income of their own.