Travelling in Morocco

Much thought went into ensuring that our activities would benefit the local community as much as possible. The experiences we offer support traditional ways of life: clients walk, use horse-drawn taxis, bicycles, donkeys and mules in preference to motorised transport, and our itineraries involve only short journeys by road (unlike those of most other operators).

The first welcoming event for visitors is always the serving of mint tea, ceremoniously poured from a great height and accompanied by snacks. Intoxicating smells soon seep from the kitchen, where a tajine is prepared for dinner in a terracotta dish with a distinctive conical lid. The meal comprises delicious combinations of eggs, nuts, vegetables, dried fruit and meat, mildly spiced.

I always leave feeling grateful for having seen how much joy the simple things in life can create, and wondering how we Westerners could integrate some of that into our own lives. Some of the less palatable aspects of Western “civilisation”, such as the products of the multinationals or pesticides banned in the developed world, have clearly reached this part of Morocco, but the further you penetrate the mountains, the less society is affected.