Most Inspirational Moment
The stunning scenery and rock formations observed throughout the 32km hike to Lake Temba at back. The refreshing and cold swim in Lake Temba with a countless number of little frogs.
Thoughts on Group Leader
The main tour leader, Haussain was very good at organising the group and looking after wellfare and safety, along with protecting our belongings. On the walks he was very good at pacing the speed to accomodate the slowest members of the group. Instead of imparting information regarding the fauna, flora or geology while on the walks, he would wait to be asked specific questions by members of the group. I felt a bit more dialoque would have helped during the walks. The guide (Mohammed Azim) for the city tour of Marrakech was poor. His explanations were far too long and rambling. He would walk a few yards then stop and tell some story about his family or Father which was neither interesting or relevant. These frequent stops were also in the full heat of the sun and not in shaded areas. The visit to the spice and potion shop was very interesting and a very much a welcome interlude from Mohammed. The brief visit to the outskirts of the souks was also a dissapointment, being taken to yet another shop which was supposidly selling better quality goods than other shops, no one in the group wanted to purchase anything anyway. Please find an alternative guide for the tour of Marrakech.
Advice for Potential Travellers
When in the souks, don't believe the locals when they say a place is closed, it is just a "friendly" way of disorientating you, and asking them to guide you (for a fee). Try friendly banter with the shop owners in the souks, that way you are less likely to be over hassled to look at their goods. I found this worked very well, along with smiling and no, merci. If you can, avoid the summer months, I was there at the beginning of August and it was hot in Marrakech and also hot in the mountains, until the last day, when it was cool with a wind and rain, ideal for the 32km round walk to Lake Temba. For some of the walks, stock up on snacks (e.g. cereal bars, chocolate bars), to allow for the five hour gap between breakfast and lunch. I found I was running out of fuel in the stomach with about one and half hours to go until the picnic lunch stop.
Reply from Exodus
We are pleased that overall Neil enjoyed his trip to Morocco. The points he has made about the local guide in Marrakech have been passed on to our local office as we appreciate that guides should not be stopping for long periods of time in the heat of the day; we have asked that they move to shadier areas to speak to our groups and we are confident that this has been taken on board.
Simon Clifford – Trip Manager for Morocco