Transported to Another Place and Time

First off, I want to say that our whole experience with Authentic Morocco was great. Our trip would not have been the same without the experience you afforded us and I feel that the itinerary you created for us, based on what we said we were looking to experience, really allowed us to explore the country in a way that I suspect most visitors to Morocco never get the chance to do.

I really appreciated how patient you were in answering our ‘thousand-and-one’ questions, not just by email but also over the phone. The fact that you were open to me calling and running questions by you over the phone made the planning part of the experience that much more personable, and also made me realize just what an amazing experience we were in for.

Our driver/guide was fantastic! He was very quiet when he came to pick us up at 6:30am, taking care not to disturb the other guests, and was wonderfully patient whenever we wanted to stop for photos; we came back with over 900. Throughout the days we spent with him he was genuinely happy to explain things and, when our plans were suddenly thrown into disarray by the flash floods, he was great.

He stayed calm when we reached the flooding and immediately looked for an alternate route; in the end there was nothing to do but wait for the waters to recede and, when we did manage to cross, the water was as deep as the floorboards in the 4×4. The delay meant that we could not start our camel trek that evening, which was disappointing because my heart was set on watching the sunset over the dunes and spending a night in the Sahara. It was suggested that we could spend the night in a hotel and camel trek the next morning before continuing on our way, but I explained how much I wanted to spend one night camel trekking in the Sahara.

What my wife and I thought was really fantastic was that the itinerary was rearranged so that we spent the next day exploring the desert and, late in the afternoon, we set off on our overnight camel trek. It was obvious to us, from the way this was handled, that whatever we wanted to do or experience was more important than ‘sticking’ to the itinerary and the camel trek was one of the absolute highlights of our trip.

Your suggestion about the Gnawa musicians was fantastic; I was blown away. Sitting in the mud walled room, with the light streaming in from the windows and feeling the drum beat literally in my chest and seeing their faces … I was nearly overwhelmed; it was that moving and intense. I felt like I was transported to another place and time.

In short, our whole experience with Authentic Morocco was great. With you on the planning end, and such a fantastic driver/guide on the ‘execution’ end, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. We will definitely recommend you to anyone who is looking to have a more personalized and truly authentic adventure in Morocco!