A Wonderful Experience!

A Wonderful Experience!
There are many tour companies in Morocco, but we found one that made our trip fantastic from beginning to end. We are a middle-aged couple from the suburbs of Washington, DC, taking our first trip to Africa, but having done significant previous travel in Europe and Asia. After much research on tripadvisor, we chose www.moroccoexpertours.com , just recently rebranded as Morocco Expert Tours, for a 4-day guided trip from Marrakesh to Fez in the middle of March 2012. We have only the highest praise for this organization.

Youssef #1 (the owner) provided us with Youssef #2 for a prequel -- a day-long guided tour of Marrakesh. We had some last-minute changes we wanted to make in terms of what we saw, and he was completely accommodating and gracious. He was also quite knowledgeable about the city and the country at large, and his English was excellent, thanks to a graduate degree.

On the second day, Youssef #3 (we teased them that half the men in Morocco seemed to be named Youssef) picked us up at our hotel in a spotless large Toyota AWD SUV. His English is also excellent. He was our guide and driver for the next 4 days -- through the mountains, through the desert, and through the cedar forests on the way to Fez. Throughout, he was well-informed, and very proud of his country and what it has to offer. Even more important, he was a truly wonderful person, joking with my husband (who loves to engage via offbeat humor), and even taking us to his own home one afternoon for Moroccan pizza. We felt truly honored. I had some concerns about what it would be like to spend such long periods of time with a stranger, but Youssef made it easy. He talked with us about how hard he works to understand what each client wants -- quiet? information overload? lots of photos? frequent bathroom breaks? And he was very willing to discuss the cultural mores of Morocco and had real curiosity about life in the US. We felt it was a real cultural exchange. He was also a very careful driver, which made me happy, given the often mountainous terrain.

Finally, we had a 3rd guide -- Mohammed this time -- for our day in Fez. He did an academic degree in English Literature, so he was fluent. We learned that he has been written up in Travel & Leisure magazine as a top-notch guide, and this certainly proved true for us. He seemed to know everyone in the souks of the medina, and he took us to a tannery, a weaving store, a silversmith, a woodworking shop, and though narrow passages that even a GPS device couldn't have found for us. The medina in Fez is a complex and fascinating place, and he brought out the richness of it for us.

Throughout the trip, we were completely comfortable, both physically and personally. The hotels they chose were quite nice, scrupulously clean, and the food was always good. The highlight of our trip, which they arranged for us, was a trip on camels into the desert followed by a night in a tent in the Sahara (the stars!! you will not believe it!!) and a sunset and sunrise of a lifetime. This excursion was based out of a terrific hotel in Erg Chebbi owned by -- you guessed it -- Youssef #4. Very comfortable, loads of character and a very personal touch.

You should have no qualms about hiring this company -- they were beyond responsive on the emails to arrange the trip, and did exactly what they promised to do, but also added an "extra" -- they said this is their hallmark and they always try to exceed expectations. For us they certainly did and we recommend them without any reservation.