Morocco Adventure - Women's Expedition with Intrepid & Alice Morrison

I was lucky to win a competition recently, to take part in a Women’s Expedition Adventure to Morocco with Alice Morrison, organised by Intrepid Travel. Intrepid Travel is a small group adventure travel company that I can book with. They offer affordable travel packages, travelling in small groups meaning you experience travel the local way. Alice Morrison is an adventure, a TV presenter and writer. Alice has taken part in many challenging events, including racing her bike from Cairo to Cape Town, The Marathon Des Sables, the Everest Trail Race. Alice now lives in the Atlas Mountains, so was joining us on this trip. I travelled to Gatwick to meet the group, there were 14 of us, all working within the travel industry. We flew to Marrakech which was a 3.5 hour flight. From the airport we were met by a local guide and the minibus we were to use throughout our trip. Our guide, was Sara, a female tour guide with Intrepid, who is from the Atlas Mountains and is a real inspiration to women in her community. We visited a local woman Amina in her home, and enjoyed a wonderful homecooked dinner. We were warmly welcomed and served traditional mint tea on our arrival. A typical Moroccan tea ceremony is a time-honoured tradition. After dinner we were entertained by traditional Moroccan Houariyates music. The Houariyate are a female music band, and their songs support and praise women and evoke taboo subjects. After we said our goodbyes to Amina, we travelled to our accommodation for the night. We were staying Riad Alijazira a traditional guesthouse that has a central courtyard or garden inside. Early the following morning, we were woken by the lovely sound of call to prayer. After a local breakfast of coffee, mint tea, chapatis, local cheese and honey we had a tour round Bahia Palace. Nestled in the hear of Marrakech, the Palace is a stunning monument to Moroccan architecture. Built in the late 19th Century, the palace offers visitors a chance to explore the beautifully decorated rooms, tranquil courtyards and lush gardens. After a lovely lunch, we visited Al Nour Association. The Association provides social services to women with disabilities in Morocco. This association enables women to participate in employment opportunities by providing transport, health care benefits and childcare. After we travelled to Imlil, a small village in the Atlas Mountains. On the way we stopped in Asni, to visit a project called Education for All. This project build and run girls’ boarding houses near secondary schools so girls from rural families can continue their education and have a brighter future. Our final stop before reaching our accommodation, was to visit Alice in her home, where we enjoyed tea and traditional sweet treats whilst chatting about Alice’s adventures and our following days trek. We were spending the next 2 nights at our Riad, Jnane Imlil, at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. Meals were served family style, sharing food together and getting to know one another was one of the many highlights of the trip. The next morning after breakfast, we set out on an exhilarating trek through the Atlas Mountains with Alice. We spent the day trekking, with our local guides and Alice, taking in the breathtaking views. It was a wonderful day, trekking and connecting with one another. Dinner this evening was such a giggle. One of the ladies in our group, had recently started to take up standup comedy. So we were treated to a performance, we all laughed so much. I could even hear the laughter from my room across the Riad when we went to bed. Our fourth day, and after breakfast we travelled to The Ourigane Valley, and met a local guide who took us for a walk. This walk was very special. We were taken into the Berber villages, to see how villagers live a traditional way of life. We visited the salt mines, where local villagers mine salt using traditional methods, pulling buckets of mineral-rich water from wells up to 20m deep and pouring them into evaporating pans in which salt crystals slowly form. During our time here we saw some of the devastation that was affected by the 2023 earthquake, and the work being done to re build these communities. After lunch, we travelled to the Agafay dessert. I was excited to be staying in the desert and to see our accommodation, we were staying in. The ‘tents’ were amazing. They were extremely comfortable which everything you need, even air conditioning and a small fridge! After meeting at the pool bar. where we enjoyed our first alcoholic drink of the trip, it was time to leave for our Camel trek. I won’t mind admitting that I was a little scared about this. I've never seen a camel before and I was a little afraid of getting on and riding this huge beast! However, it was a magical experience, walking through the dessert as the sun was setting, amazing. Later, we enjoyed a lovey dinner and local entertainment followed by an astronomy night while camping under the stars. The next morning, I went for a run through the desert, to see the sun rise which felt amazing. After breakfast we had some free time, to lie by the pool before we left at midday to head back to Marrakech. Once we arrived in the city, we spent some time at the Amal Association, which is dedicated to supporting women by providing them culinary training, after a lovely meal, we went to visit Intrepid Office, for tea and a chance to discuss recent updates and future projects. We checked into our Riad, for our last night, which felt rather sad. However, we still had a few more wonderful experiences to share together. One of these was to take part in a henna ceremony. I had a beautiful design on my hand, using the plant, Henna. After it dries, it leaves a lovely pattern which lasts about 5 days. After the ceremony a couple of us went to the Souks in search of gifts to take back home. I managed to haggle a bit too!! Our farewell dinner was spent at Al Fassia, an esteemed restaurant operated by women. After a wonderful few days together, it was time to leave for our flight back home. We had a great time, the conversation flowed, and we built up a supportive camaraderie between us. This was a unique trip that was put together for us, however there are other itineraries with Intrepid that give opportunities for clients to experience the local community and culture. If you'd like to find out more, either on Morocco or the Intrepid tours, please contact me.