September 18 - Saturday
NYC to Casablanca
Depart JFK
on a non-stop flight to Casablanca via Royal Air Maroc.
September 19 - Sunday
Casablanca – Volubilis
Upon arrival, you
will be greeted at the airport and escorted to the city of Volubilis – a drive with beautiful vistas dotted with small
Berber villages. Visible for miles, Volubilis was a Roman settlement built on what was most likely a Carthaginian city
dating from the 3rd century BC. Your hotel, Hotel Volubilis, has a magnificent view overlooking the valley of the city’s
ancient ruins. Here you will have some time to rest before meeting up with the group again in the afternoon for a walk
through Morocco’s first Islamic city, Moulay Idriss, named after the prominent Moroccan saint, a direct descendant of
Muhammad. Your guides will provide an initial introduction to Moroccan society and spirituality, as you explore the
city’s labyrinth-like streets and local markets. After dinner, you will have a brief introductory session about
Sufi music by Hamid Mernissi, co-founder of the Fez Sacred Music Festival, followed by a rhythmic mystic Hadra dance.
Meals: Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Volubilis
September 20 - Monday
Volubilis
– Moulay Idriss
You will spend your morning exploring Volubilis, complete with a meditation session at the
Basilica. Walk back to your hotel through an ancient olive tree grove (so beautiful that Martin Scorcese chose it as
a filming location for the Last Temptation of Christ) up the hill and to the caves that have served as shelter for many stoics
and Sufi masters who have shaped the spiritual backbone of the Moroccan society. At the hotel, enjoy a Kebab lunch in the
gardens, overlooking the Roman ruins. Later, you are treated to an hour-long drumming workshop including an introduction
to the local trance dancers and Hmadsha Sufi drummers.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
& Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Volubilis
September 21 - Tuesday
Volubilis – Fez
In the
morning depart for Fez, where you will check into your hotel, a Moorish Riad (walled home) in the Medina (ancient walled city)
in time for lunch. The afternoon is devoted to an historic tour of Fez. Stops will include the Mellah (the
Jewish quarter), the King’s palace, and the Bat’ha Museum of Moroccan Arts, then up the Merinides hill to see
the best panoramic view of the Medina with its multi-colored rooftops and countless 12th century minarets. Then head
into the ancient world of the Medina on foot (no vehicles; only donkeys, mules and horses are allowed inside), which remains
as it has been for centuries. You are immersed in the sights, scents, and sounds of craftsmen, market places, and vendors.
You’ll watch cobblers, saddlers and blacksmiths who have provided leathers goods for centuries to caravansaries and
tribesmen who come from the surrounding areas to trade as they ply their trades. Wind through the squares as you take in the
bustle of the marketplaces, watching the rhythmic tapping of metalworkers working with copper and brass, bookbinders creating
with local leather, and the ebb and flow of trading happening all around you. After a break for lunch, continue exploring
the labyrinth of the Fez Medina, as you admire silk dyers and yarn spinners, souks selling spices, Foundouk Tetouani a medieval
trader’s warehouse, the shrine of Sidi Ahmed Tijani, then on to Foundouk Lihoudi where a family will host you to traditional
mint tea in their home.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Riad el Yacout
September
22 - Wednesday
Fez – Zallagh
Your morning is free to do as you please. In
the afternoon, you will attend an introduction to Jajouka rhythm followed by an excursion to Mount Zallagh in the Rif Mountains.
You will meet a mule caravan, which will accompany as you explore the mountains, escorted by the Jajouka musicians and dancers.
Afterward, you will enjoy a mint-tea party at the shrine of Sidi Ahmed Al Barnoussi, a sanctuary for Sufis from all over Morocco,
as you watch the sun set over the rooftops of Fez.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Riad el Yacout
September 23 - Thursday
Fez
This morning is devoted to shopping in the Medina, where you will find a variety of wares from carpets to leather
good, fabrics, musical instruments and other artifacts. In the afternoon, you will attend a workshop about Issawa Drummers
at the house of Moulay Ahmed Drissi, followed by dinner and Sufi chants.
Meals: Breakfast
& Dinner
Overnight: Riad el Yacout
September 24 - Friday
Fez – Taza /Bab Boudir
Travel east to Bab Boudir and the town of Taza. Here you will check into the hotel, visit a few of Taza’s highlights
then on to Bab Boudir to meet the tribal chief and families with whom you’ll be planting fruit trees. Five farming
families with the smallest plots – and therefore the least income – will be the recipients of the group donation.
Our beneficiaries primarily will be families headed by women – widows or single families. The afternoon will be
devoted to meet with these families and get to know each other. Enjoy dancing and celebrating with them and a few Tsouli
Haiata drummers native to the area before returning to the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast &
Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Dauphine
September 25 - Saturday
Bab Boudir
You’ll get
an early morning start to begin planting fruit trees in the coolest part of the day. Lunch will be with the families in the
field very much the traditional way called Twiza. The afternoon will be devoted to visiting the natural sites and hiking
to Friouato cave. Later on, we’ll participate in a Ghiata and Tbbala ceremony, where the haunting sounds of Oboes
and drums fill the air and welcome everyone to dance.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch &
Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Dauphine
September 26 - Sunday
Bab Boudir
After breakfast,
the morning again will be devoted to your project helping these families of small farmers. After completion we will
all pause for lunch in the last orchard. Scribes from the Sufi retreat of Sidi Abdellah will join us for a universal prayer
for all and meditation and Samaa singing will follow. Ladies will be offered a henna ceremony in the fashion of the
locals. A couscous offering will be our lunch for all as the tradition calls for and a fond farewell to your new found
friends.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight:
Hotel Dauphine
September 27 - Monday
Taza –
Guercif – Midelt – Erfoud
In the morning venture into the majestic Atlas Mountains. Your first
experience with the Atlases may surprise you, since the hills of the Middle Atlas seem oddly un-Moroccan. Passing by Imouzzer,
with a stop at the Swiss-like town of Ifran, you will soon come across the first real town of the Middle Atlas, Azrou, an
important market center for the region’s Berber tribes that is located at a major junction of mountain routes.
Your driver will take a little detour in the forest of cedar to introduce you one of the oldest inhabitants of this region:
the Berbery ape. Should we encounter a nomadic family, we may be invited into their tents for mint tea. At Midelt,
the Middle Atlases give way to the High Atlas Mountains, whose peaks are visible through the haze, soaring to over 12,000
feet. You’ll stop for lunch taking in this dramatic sight before you. Continue on to Erfoud, one of Morocco’s
most delightful southern regions consisting of a dry, red belt of desert and a sudden drop into the lush valley of Ziz complete
with copious date palm groves and flowing streams.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Belere
September 28 - Tuesday
Merzouga Dunes – Rissani – Erfoud
You
will have the morning at your leisure, followed by an excursion to the holy city of Rissani after lunch. Your journey
continues to Erg Chebbi where you will meet your camel caravan. Ride your camels to the dunes where your tents are pitched
watching the sun set behind the spectacular Merzouga dunes of the Sahara, a sight so beautiful that words cannot describe
it. Afterward, you will have dinner with the Tuaregs, followed by the tribal Rokba Tagmount Dance. You will spend
the night camping in the dunes.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Camping in the Dunes
September 29 - Wednesday
Erfoud – Tinghir
Only fifteen kilometers from
Tinghir, are the highest, narrowest gorges in the region: the Todras. Traveling through the Dades valley, you will find
thousands of rose bushes acting as hedgerows to divide plots of land used for local produce. Along the Dades River,
thousands of majestic Kasbahs appear, timeless in their beauty.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Hotel
Kasbah Lamrani
September 30 - Thursday
Tinghir
– Ouarzazate
Depart Tinghir and journey through El Kelaa De Mgouna and Boumalne, exploring the Dades Valley
as you continue onward to Ouarzazate. Ouarzazate is defined by one large Oasis that intercepts the flow of water between
the Dades, the Draa valleys, and the majestic High Atlases. In the afternoon you’ll take an easy hike in the Dades
Valley.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Diwane Hotel
October 1 - Friday
Ouarzazate – Marrakech
In the morning depart
for Marrakech, traveling via Taddart and the Tizin’Tishka Pass. The Pass, at an elevation of 11,000 feet, divides
the mountains into two totally different aspects. The first side acts as a shield, protecting the hinterland from the
Sahara’s harsh, dry climate. The second side is soft and evergreen, collecting moisture brought by the Gherbi
winds from the Atlantic Ocean. You will arrive in Marrakech where Southern tribesmen and Berber villagers bring their
goods, spend their money, and find entertainment. For tourists, Marrakech is perpetually fascinating, sitting majestically
before the soaring Atlas Mountains. Lunch is at your hotel, followed by a visit to the bustling Jemaa El Fna Square.
Meals:
Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight: Royal Les Jardins de la Medina
October
2 - Saturday
Marrakech
The morning is devoted to discovering the many historical sites that Marrakech has to offer, followed by lunch at La Paix
Restaurant, a French restaurant with an art deco theme. You will have a farewell dinner at a Jewish restaurant in the
Mellah, followed by festivities complete with Andalusian and Sepherdic music.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Royal Les Jardins de la Medina
October 3 - Sunday
Marrakech
to Casablanca
In the morning, you will leave your hotel for Casablanca airport where you will board your plane
for the transatlantic flight back to New York’s JFK on Royal Air Maroc.
What’s included:
- Round trip airfare from New York (JFK) to Casablanca
via Royal Air Maroc
- 13 nights’ accommodations in hotels & 1 night camping.
- Half board (breakfast and dinner daily)
- 4 lunches as indicated
- Land transportation in an air-conditioned four wheel drive vehicle
- Services of English-speaking
guides and tour leaders
- Entrance fees to monuments and museums
- 10
fruit trees per traveler to donate to the farming families
- Hotel taxes and service charge
What’s not included: Meals not mentioned in the itinerary, personal
expenses such as laundry, phone calls, beverages; accident and health insurance; tips to the tour guide.
Package price: $3,995 per person based on two to a room.
Single supplement: If you’d prefer a room of your own, add $700
Itinerary & Price are subject to change
