Some camels have beautiful eyes.
This was a discovery I made on a short drive south from the coastal city of Essaouira, as part of a 10-day fam trip across Morocco with Exodus Adventure Travels.
I was kneeling just a few feet from a one-humped dromedary — also known as an African camel — and doing my best to take a photo that captured the fuzzy creature’s striking eyes. African camels have double rows of long, bushy eyelashes to help keep the sand out, but it was the pale, nearly blue hue of this particular camel’s eyes that had me snapping so many shots.
Camel Crossing
A short while later, our fam group’s 10 travel advisors all climbed our own surprisingly tall camels to head out on a guided ride, sauntering over a collection of sand dunes on our way to the Atlantic Ocean.
You feel like you’re in a movie on a camel's back, going over the dunes and then out to the beach and the sea.
On the roughly 90-minute tour, we traversed the rose-colored dunes in the last light of the day, arriving at the beach as the sun set over the Atlantic, painting pastel pinks and purples across the sky while our camels waded in the gentle shore break.
“I loved the camels,” Aiste Stanley — owner of Trabeona Travels — told me during an interview toward the end of the trip. “That was definitely my highlight.”
Stanley has been selling travel for eight years, but she’d never been to Morocco before. She did note she was a little worried prior to our camel ride, mentioning pre-existing concerns about how the animals might be treated and how they might behave.
“But the ranch where they are kept is very nice, and it's more like a sanctuary,” she said of Ranch de Diabat, just outside of Essaouira. “And the camels were very friendly and well-trained. Everyone was comfortable and calm from what I saw. … And you feel like you’re in a movie on a camel's back, going over the dunes and then out to the beach and the sea.”
Morocco’s Natural Beauty and Rich Heritage
Mike James, Exodus’ operations and customer experience director, told me the tour operator ran its first trip to Morocco in 1976, and he said the destination remains one of the company’s best-selling destinations today.
“It’s on the edge of Europe but so different from Europe,” James said of the country’s tourism appeal, adding that Exodus has been offering trekking and cycling tours there for quite some time. “The culture makes it so appealing.”
The old quarter medina in Marrakesh is a highlight of Exodus products.
Credit: 2024 Exodus Adventure TravelsThe destination showed off its remarkably diverse blend of natural beauty and rich heritage during our group’s visit in fall 2024, when we made stops in the High Atlas Mountains, overnighted in the Sahara and had a chance to wander through the spice-filled, twisting streets of the historic old quarter medinas in Essaouira and Marrakesh — both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
“Morocco is a good fit for many different clients,” Stanley said. “For those looking for adventure, there’s certainly plenty of adventure, which we experienced in the [Atlas] mountains. Or for someone culturally curious coming from the American market, everything in Morocco is different — the food, the religion, the traditional clothing. It’s terrific for someone looking to immerse themselves in something completely different.”
High Atlas Appeal
One of my own favorite stops was the fam tour’s two nights in the Imlil Valley region of the High Atlas Mountains, where some of the small villages sit at an elevation of more than 6,000 feet. A sharp contrast from the desert imagery I was imagining prior to my arrival in Morocco, the often-snow-covered peaks towered over green valleys, which were home to a vibrant collection of deciduous trees sporting red, orange and yellow autumn leaves.
North Africa’s highest peak — 13,665-foot Toubkal — revealed itself from behind the clouds during our chance to hike a bit above the valley, a half-day excursion that featured showstopping mountain vistas and occasional encounters with some of the village’s free-foraging sheep and goats.
Exodus offers trekking products in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains.
Credit: 2024 Exodus Adventure Travels“The mountain villages were an awesome experience,” Stanley said. “And the scenery was gorgeous."
James noted that Imlil’s relatively close proximity to Marrakesh is another distinguishing feature.
“It's just an hour-and-a-half, maybe two-hour drive,” he said. “It’s pretty rare that there’s an attractive city with an airport and then big mountains that close by.”
Balanced Authenticity
Trabeona Travels’ Stanley and I both agreed, meanwhile, that another stellar standout of this particular Exodus fam was our wonderful guide throughout the trip, Mohamed Saggout, who was raised in one of the Imlil region’s Berber mountain villages.
Meeting his family, eating a home-cooked meal and seeing the way they decorate — that gave us such an in-depth look into the hospitality and kindness of Moroccan culture.
“He was a true representation of Morocco,” Stanley told me. “He was so passionate about the culture and history of his country, and he really shared that with patience and authenticity.”
James said Exodus works hard to provide customers an experience that showcases Morocco’s highlights, while avoiding the “super touristy.”
Exodus executives say authentic cultural experiences are a key component of their Morocco products.
Credit: 2024 Shane Nelson“We think we do that pretty well, in part, because we have a really well-chosen guide team,” he said. “They get to know customers. They get to know what works, what doesn’t. … Using the same guides week after week, we get to know exactly what the customers enjoy.”
James said Exodus wants to provide a highly interactive Morocco experience, but balance is critical.
“You don't want to spend three hours on a culture experience when actually maybe an hour is the right length,” he said. “You might challenge customers to throw off their Western shackles and try and understand the local culture a bit, but it doesn't need to be uncomfortable. It needs to be enjoyable."
Stanley pointed to a specific example where she felt our guide’s approach really exceeded expectations.
“When he invited us into his home, that was a true highlight in terms of what Morocco is all about,” she recalled. “Meeting his family, eating a home-cooked meal and seeing the way they decorate — that gave us such an in-depth look into the hospitality and kindness of Moroccan culture.”
