MOROCCO 2019
My decision to explore Morocco and take groups back with me each year has been a good one. Each time I return I view this fascinating country with new eyes and I have been collecting and reading books on its people, history and culture. This year I have two small groups; one doing the original itinerary that includes all the major cities – Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech and a second group going to the Sahara and the coastal city of Essaouira.
Smaller groups work well for my philosophy of travel. Not only does it encourage a bonding as there is an opportunity for everyone to really get to know each other; it simply makes the logistics of getting around so much faster and easier.
I have a disdain for large-scale mass tourism, not just because of the impact to the environment and on the people who are unfortunate enough to live in popular international destinations, such as Venice or Rome. It’s also the quality of the experience for the tourists themselves when being herded around in their hundreds. It’s impossible to really get a strong feeling for a place you are visiting when you are seeing it from the comfort of a seat in a bus with sixty other people. Imagine the time spent just waiting for a lunch or toilet stop, especially if there is a convoy of two or three buses doing the same tour. It feels like a nightmare to me.
I always include walking as an integral part of every tour. On the ground, on foot, we gain a stronger insight into where we are and how it all works. Interactions with people and animals and the way a place feels and smells, all our senses need to be involved to try and understand and appreciate. Instead of looking down and out from behind a pane of glass we are in the midst of it. Part of it but not in an overwhelming or invasive sense. Given the size of the tourist industry worldwide it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ‘tread lightly’ but I am determined to continue venturing out with an attitude of keeping it small and low-key.
Perhaps the most profound revolution I have observed over the decades is the intrusion of the internet and social media in travel. During my early years we were often completely out of range of all communication in regions where villagers lived without electricity and relied on news and messages being conveyed by word of mouth. Gradually satellite dishes started popping up and this of course brought tremendous improvements in the life and safety of those living in remote regions. However for tourists surely the opportunity of leaving behind some of our sophisticated modern habits should be relished. A time to button off Facebook and Twitter and switch over to observation and learning.
Day one of a trip when we all meet our local guide and driver for the first time, I feel a need to remind people to maximise their enjoyment and memories of the places we will see by not viewing the entire trip through the lens of a camera or a phone. We will recall what we have seen with our eyes and heard with our ears much more vividly than anything we might capture on a smart phone. In Morocco there is so much to soak up and absorb. In each Imperial city we have a specialised local guide willing to share a wealth of knowledge and insight. This year, for the first time, two of these guides are local women and this adds an entirely new perspective. In a group such as ours we have the privilege of being able to hear every word that is spoken and to ask questions. It’s a rich and enduring exchange.
The icing on the cake is spending some time in the High Atlas Mountains, staying for three nights or more in a Berber village house and doing day walks through the fields and over the high peaks from where the views are sublime. Following the locals on donkeys to a Sunday market and buying fresh fruit for our picnic lunch by the river. I treasure these moments for their gentle pace and calming mood. Surely travel doesn’t need to be all rush and bustle? Slow food, slow gardening, slow travel. Bliss. Very few tourists up here; no buses, no traffic, no worries.
The trip down to the Sahara is my first and quite an eye opener. It takes two days by small bus and then four-wheel drive to reach the dunes, but it’s worth the time spent for the views. At the suggestion of our local guide we only carry in sufficient gear for overnight and although we are given comfortable tents with proper beds I view the episode as camping. Late afternoon we arrive in time for mint tea before heading up to the highest dune to gaze at the setting of the sun. The stillness and the fading light captivate us. It’s another moment that will stay with me.
Sahara sand is powder fine and invasive. Our drivers wrap our heads in traditional scarves and we quickly appreciate the practical benefit of this, shielding our ears, noses and mouths from the insidious fine golden sand. It seems to be everywhere – in my pockets, my socks, eyebrows, and down my knickers.
We sleep deeply in our warm tents and leave for the Atlantic coast the following morning, on the way staying overnight at an astonishing old ‘resort’ and having a hammam (a traditional steam bath) where we strip naked and are scrubbed from head to toe by gorgeous women who delight in throwing buckets of steaming hot water over our heads. I absolutely love it and feel cleaner that I have ever felt in my life. It gives soaking up the experience a new dimension.
Travel in this sense opens our minds and hearts to other worlds. It’s such a beautiful feeling, not standing on the outside looking in but jumping in, boots and all.