Morocco Mystery

You will depart on an overnight flight from the U.S. to Marrakech, Morocco. We recommend your arrival to be tomorrow (October 20), by 3PM, in order to take part in the planned events. PLEASE NOTE: Your international airfare will be booked multi-city, Home/RAK, and CMN/Home.

You will be transferred from the airport to the hotel upon arrival. Meet this evening for an introductory meeting followed by welcome dinner.

Traveling back in time 2,000 years, we’ll see snake charmers, magicians, acrobats, and dancers, delighting children and adults alike. Enjoy another day in this imperial city that has been almost continually occupied since Neolithic times, and was once the Berber capital. Capture a glimpse of daily life, as we stroll the narrow streets. Late this afternoon you will meet everyone in the hotel lobby for a brief introduction and off you go to a photo shoot, the famous Djemaa el-Fna Square, perhaps the greatest open-air spectacle in the world, where one can see the colors and feel the pulse of Morocco. Overnight MARRAKECH RIAD. (D; B, L)

Your destination for the next two evenings is a renovated kasbah hotel, providing an ideal location for private photography in the early morning and late afternoon. The setting is the middle of a palm grove with lush greenness and olive tree branches, the hotel also offers a garden all its own. Skoura provides a respite from the busy medinas of Fez and Marrakech. Ron will provide photography presentations during the middle of the day or evening at the hotel. Overnight KASBAH SKOURA. (B, L, D both days)

Today your destination is the Sahara where you will have two days to capture the sunset and sunrise over the dunes.  After enjoying lunch en-route, continue to Erfoud, an oasis region at the edge of the Sahara. The next day you are invited to enjoy Sudanese music and dance at Khmlia, where we learn about life in the Sahara (participants can take donations of school supplies to the Sudanese school). If there is time this afternoon, enjoy your camel ride for sunset photography, or perhaps rise early for sunrise. Camels will carry us to the Erg Chebbi, Morocco’s only genuine Saharan Erg – a huge, drifting expanse of sand dunes that typify much of the Algerian Sahara. The dunes themselves are fascinating, especially as the sun reaches the horizon and the colors change from pink to gold to red. This will be your most extraordinary and unforgettable desert experience. Don’t forget to pack your bathing suit in your overnight bag. Overnight AUBURGE DU SUD. (Accommodations are in the lodge or in typical Berber tents with mattress and blankets, which now have their own bathrooms and dining tent) (B, L, D both days)

After sunrise photography in the desert, have breakfast and drive north to Fes. Your escorts will take into account the interests of the group and stop for photographic opportunities they feel appropriate and timely.

Fes, arguably the symbolic heart of Morocco, as all the great dynasties have left their mark on the city; it has, however, retained its Arab identity. The medina, Fes el-Bali, is one of the largest living medieval cities in the world. Its narrow, winding alleys and covered bazaars are intricate in their design and are awash with brilliant colors – a veritable assault on the senses as you squeeze past recalcitrant donkeys and submit to the sounds and smells of this jostling city. The dye makers, hills of spices, tannery vats, and palaces of merchants will beckon us. During a visit to a tannery we can watch the tanners as they work in the varied colors of this land. Your lodging in Fes are just within the medina walls, providing an excellent location for photography. Overnight FEZ RIAD. (B, D; B, L)

From Fez, arrive late this afternoon in the Rif region of Northern Morocco and the town of Chefchaouen (shef-shau-en), built into the mountainside. The town was founded in 1492 by Moorish exiles from Spain, often called Chaouen by Moroccans. Chefchaouen was known as the hashish capital of Morocco and has been a favorite haunt of backpackers for years. Hash has been grown since the fifteenth century, and is called Kif, the short version of the Arabic word for pleasure.

In the medina, people sell all sorts of vegetables and fruits amid the narrow-cobbled alleyways of whitewashed walls and blue doors. Chaouen offers many native handicrafts that are not available elsewhere in Morocco, such as wool garments and woven blankets. The local goat cheese is also popular. Pack mules are still led throughout the streets carrying many of the handcrafted goods and supplies as they have for centuries. The eager merchants are more than willing to discuss their merchandise and engage in the time honored art of negotiation. The homes are painted white, azure blue, indigo, and purple and have blue shutters and elaborately decorated doorways. Notice the small squares, ornate fountains and ochre tile. Overnight CHEFCHOUEN HOTEL (B, D)