Incredible Window Into Morocco for our Family

Morocco | Mar 10 - Mar 20, 2023

My family of four (my husband, myself, and two sons ages 8 and 6) just returned from an incredible 10-day tour of Morocco with Kim Kim and Original Travels. Our itinerary was Casablanca > Chefchaoen > Fes > Merzouga > Ait Benhaddou > Marrakesh > Essaouira. Kim Kim did an excellent job of helping me start the process of planning the trip. Original Travel, and my contact Said, were meticulous, helpful, and responsive in suggesting an itinerary, answering my questions and concerns, and above all planning an amazing trip. They provided extraordinary service and attended to all our needs. When I had a credit card mishap and delay, they extended the payment deadline to accommodate my needs. Said, my contact, even went out of his way to meet with us at our Marrakesh hotel with one of the owners to offer us a personal welcome and ask for our input on how things were going. He was eager to hear any of our suggestions for improvement, of which we had very few! The itinerary was amazing, featuring some of the places that I had requested and others I wouldn’t have known to request but would have regretted missing.

The hotels were well chosen, curated to give us a sense of the best of the country and its hospitality. A couple of the hotels were some of the most exquisite buildings I had ever stayed in after four decades of travel over six continents. The tours were comprehensive and engaging. The pinnacle experience of many was the overnight stay in the Sahara desert. Riding camels for 2-hours into the dunes over sunset to stay in a luxury camp with full bathrooms in fancy tents, eating delicious fresh grilled food and then gathering around the fire for live music played by our hosts is a memory I will not soon forget.

Besides the incredible scenery and the introduction to a vibrant and beautiful culture, the standout of our experience was our driver Abdelhadi. He was kind, caring, professional, prompt, personable, and helpful. He provided outstanding service as a driver-guide, sometimes taking the lead in interpreting the towns and sites we visited, and sometimes taking backseat to another local guide. In all cases, he made us feel utterly taken care of. He was always ready when we needed him, checking in every morning and evening via What’sApp to see if there was anything we needed and to coordinate our plans for our next meeting. He was our boon companion for 10 full days, sticking around when needed and giving us space whenever appropriate. He also had a preternatural ability to anticipate all of our needs and provide for them before we realized that we had them. He was gifted in relating to people, making people feel comfortable, and most of all in engaging with our children. He bought them treats and toys and was always making sure to converse with them. By the end my kids were hugging him every morning. My kids insisted on staying in touch with Abdelhadi! My 8-year-old son made sure I included the following quote about Abdelhadi in this review: “He is amazing and we will miss him.” It takes an incredible range of skills to be a driver for a foreign family for 10 full days and be just the right balance of present and respectful of our needs.

I highly recommend Original Travel and their Morocco tour. My only complaint with our experience comes down to my own ambition: I wanted to see everything in the ten days we had. I ended up asking to do too much in too little time! For anyone reading this, we could have done the same itinerary in twice the time, giving us more time to soak in the experiences and be sure to have enough down time so that we could enjoy one incredible cultural destination after another.