When I first started planning our trip to Morocco, naturally I began with accommodations. I LOVE a good four or five star boutique hotel and utilize TripAdvisor heavily when researching new destinations for Adventure Life. Sure, reviews tend to trend either super positive or super negative, but if you see a bunch of negative reviews, so you bet that something is amiss.
One of the first things I noticed about the hotel options in Morocco is a word that I had never come across when planning previous adventures. This word was “riad." I noticed that about half of every well-reviewed hotel in Morocco was not a “hotel” but a “riad”. I honestly thought the only difference was that a riad had fewer rooms and more of a boutique feel than a larger hotel. That is about 50% correct. A riad is actually a guest house that is typically located within the walls of the medina (old-city).
When staying at a well-run riad, you definitely feel like you are part of a family. After a few nights, you know all of the staff by first name. We came back to the same riad in Marrakech four separate times, as it was the base for several different trip segments. Because of the intimate atmosphere of the riads we stayed in, Morocco didn’t seem so overwhelming. We knew that we had a peaceful, quiet place to retreat to when we had enough of the bustling medinas. Our hosts were always there with mint tea to refresh us and advice on everything from restaurant reservations, hammans and shopping. Without the staff at the riads, we would have felt like strangers in a strange country. Instead, we just felt like bumbling tourists in a vast, complicated maze of medina alleys. A shout out to Riad Andallaspa in Marrakesh and Riad Chabanate in Essaouira. If you go, check them out!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.