Travel| 10 Highlights from My Trip to Morocco Part 1

I’m all about a good travel deal and going to different places to explore the world. When it comes to traveling I’m a tad bit adventurous. I don’t just like to sit on the beach and have cocktails only. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for that, but not for the entire duration of my trip. So I was excited when I booked my trip to Morocco because it wasn’t a place to do “the norm.”

I spent 7 days and 6 nights in Morocco. Marrakech was my “home base,” but I did visit Ouzoud, Ouarzazate, Essaouira, and Zagora. It was a week full of adventure and LOTS of driving. We booked excursions with Your Morocco Tours. Jana was EXTREMELY helpful and accommodating when it came to booking excursions. She worked within my time frame and it was budget friendly. We had an excellent tour guide, Abdou, recommended by my friend Kim since she traveled to Morocco a month before I did. So those are the location logistics, but here are my top 10 highlights from my trip.

1. Riad Charme d’Orient- This place was amazing. I don’t usually write reviews on sites like Trip Advisor or yelp, but I had to for this place. The riad was nestled in the “Back Blocks,” as I’d like to call them, away from the craziness of the Jemaa el-Fna square that was a short 7 minute walk away from the riad. The hospitality we received from Laurence and Saiid was unmatched. They answered all of our questions, gave us tips on where to visit, and provided other accommodations that most hotels would not. I took me a long time to find a place to stay. I read hundreds of reviews, but I was happy that I decided to stay at the Riad Charme d’Orient.

2. The Mint Tea- I LOVE tea, and peppermint happens to be one of my favorite. While doing my research for the trip I kept reading about the “Moroccan Whiskey,” which was the mint tea. It is a blend of green tea and mint leaves. Depending on where you go, there may be other spices or herbs that are put in like sage. The best mint tea of my trip was at Riad Charme d’Orient. Whenever we came back from an excursion I would sit in the lounge and just drink mint tea. My boyfriend called me a fiend. I made sure I had mint tea everywhere I went lol.

3. Goats in Argan Trees– I saw a few pics doing research and was like wow this is crazy. On our drive to Essaouira our guide said we will stop to see the goats. I was excited because I needed to see this with my own two eyes. My picture generated a lot of conversations on Facebook and Instagram. It was truly a site to see. If you follow me on snap chat, you would have seen the video. No the pic is not photoshopped, that’s really me standing in front of some goats in an argan fruit tree. Everyone kept asking why there were goats in the tree, well they eat the argan fruit and people collect the goat poop to get to the argan nut to make argan oil. Luckily we do not have to wait for goat poop anymore for argan oil.

4. Women’s Cooperative for Argan Oil- I will never complain about the price of Argan oil again. It is expensive, yes, but the women who help us get this oil work HARD. I was able to experience some of the work and after 30 seconds my arm was hurting. Visitng the cooperative not only taught me more about the benefits and types of argan oil, I also go to experience how it’s made.

5. Essaouira and Ouzoud Waterfalls– We did two day trips, on to Essaouira where we got to experience a calmer side of Morocc0 with great scenery by the beach. We had lunch by the beach before the torrential rain came, but it was a beautiful site to see. the Ouzoud Waterfalls was almost a three hour trip, but words cannot express all of God’s beauty in that place. We started at the top (Sorry Drake) and walked our way down to the bottom and go to see the waterfalls from different sides and angles. At each level it was something even more spectacular to see. I was just in awe of the sites.

The Journey 2 Joy  3 Lessons Learned Part 1

1. There is beauty in everything….even goats in trees

2. Good things come to those who work

3. Sometimes you cannot capture the beauty of God’s creations in a photo so just enjoy the moment

There was a lot to see on this trip, but you’ll have to wait to see part 2! I didn’t want to overload you with all of this awesomeness in one post so stay tuned!