Escape From Sex in the City, Moroccan Style!
8 days / Year Round
Pricing: Pricing is based on group size and seasonality, please check with us to secure the best pricing.
Highlights:
• Explore the ancient city of Marrakech, including its timeless souk and fortified medina.
• Trek through the Atlas Mountains, and get to know the proud and beautiful Berber people who call these mountains home.
• Enjoy a hot air balloon ride above Marrakesh.
• Arrive at a luxurious oasis on camelback!
• Learn to cook Moroccan food and enjoy a private spa.
Day 1: Arrival in Marrakech
Welcome to Marrakech! We will pick you up from the airport and bring you back to your luxurious hotel (known as a riad in Morrocco). After you check in, you will enjoy a quiet dinner in one of the most ancient and beautiful cities on the continent. We suggest you plan to retire early because you’ll need all your energy tomorrow!
Day 2: Balloon ride,
tour of the medina and the Souk
Get your first look at the unique city from a unique vantage point with an early morning balloon flight. Watch in breathless wonder as the majestic architecture and beautiful landscape of Marrakech glides beneath you. After we land, we’ll take a tour around the Medina and the Souk. Go back in time as you walk through the fortified ancient city center of Medina. We’ll trace narrow bustling, maze-like streets, hear the muezzin call the faithful to prayer, and get a real taste of what has made this one of Africa’s most vibrant cities for centuries. Then we’ll tour the Souk, the largest traditional market in the country. It throngs with people -- not just purveyors of spices and fruits, or silks and rugs, but also acrobats, storytellers, water sellers, dancers, and musicians. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to encounter the real scents and flavors of the city.
Day 3: Water adventure and Alpine high wire
In the morning, we’ll get away from the city with a water based adventure. Depending on the season, we will either choose heart pounding rafting or some high adrenaline canyoning. In the afternoon, we’ll explore the nearby Atlas Mountains with an alpine high wire (Zip Line).
Day 4: Berber Village of Imlil
The Atlas Mountains are ancient and storied, renowned for their fierce beauty and proud peoples. We will get a chance to discover this lovely landscape in an intimate way as we head out to the Berber village of Imlil. The Berbers are the original people of North Africa and their way of life is ancient and tranquil, a soothing respite after the vibrant bustle of the city. From the village of Imlil, footpaths and mule tracks wind through lush, irrigated terraces, apple orchards, and walnut groves to other villages. Here the way of life has changed little for centuries and traditional values and hospitality are unaffected by the outside world. Our hotel is a luxurious riad with a policy dedicated to preserving the local ecology as well as the culture of the Berbers. Food is local and organic, energy is solar when possible, employees are natives, and much of the proceeds are returned to the community through the Education for All Morocco Association.
Day 5: Trekking in the Atlas Mountains
Get an up-close-and-personal look at the mountains and the way of life that they inspire with a full day of trekking through this beautiful and rugged landscape. A local guide will offer insights as you go. We will enjoy a picnic lunch en route, and spend some time getting to know natives and learn about their day-to-day life before we return to Dar Imlil.
Day 6: Azni
After breakfast, we’ll bid farewell to Imlil and head down the mountainside to Azni, taking a 4x4 to get there. We’ll cross the high plateau and head down to a lake, literally forging our own path as we travel off road across this stunning landscape. We’ll cross the “desert of Marrakech” to visit a small and unique oasis encampment that isn’t open to most tourists. We’ll arrive in the oasis, as many have done for centuries, via camel. Once we’ve washed off the desert dust, you’ll luxuriate in the beauty of the oasis and enjoy the traditional cuisine.
Day 7: Marrakech
In the morning, we’ll return to Marrakech for a cooking lesson at our riad, so that you can take home the taste of Morocco. After a delicious lunch, you’ll wash away the last of the desert with a luxurious spa session before spending the rest of the afternoon doing whatever you wish: shopping in the souk, visiting the sights, or simply soaking in the sights and smells of the city.
Day 8: Departure
After a leisurely breakfast, we’ll escort you to the airport for your return flight.
Our chosen hotel has a long tradition of sustainable tourism, one that dates back to before the phrase was coined! Our partners in Morocco have consistently demonstrated their dedication to the country through unwavering respect for Morocco’s nature, traditions, lifestyle, and people.
• We and our partners support “Education For All Morocco,” an association that provides lodgings and support to girls from remote villages in the Atlas who wish to pursue secondary education. The organization helps to improve the welfare and living conditions of the local Berbers. They have helped fund and organize a system of rubbish collection and disposal as well as an ambulance for the use of the villagers.
• As part of this effort, all staff members are recruited from neighboring hamlets, so you know your money is returning to the community you are visiting. In addition, all food is organic and grown on local farms. Much of the energy is solar, too!