While my time abroad is coming to an end and think about all of the trips I have gone on during this experience, I still reminisce about my time in Morocco. I started at Marrakesh and during my short 3 days there we went all way to the Sahara Desert and back. If you are thinking about going to Morocco while during your time abroad, I could not recommend it more.
All of the days are filled with a ton of driving to the Desert, but it is well worth it once you get to your destination. On our first day was filled with driving through the mountains which had incredible views and we stopped at a place where they told us the history of argan oil and exactly how they turn the nut into oil. We got to try all the different products made with Agran oil and even taste argan oil honey. Our next stop was in a town called Ait Benaddou which is where they filmed some of the Gladiator movies as well as Game of Thrones. A guide was able to take us on a hike where we stopped at the shop of a local artist who paints with plants and tea and then put the paper over a flame to turn the tea and plant mixture he painted with different colors. Back in the day here, they would use this technique to send secret messages to others in the village.
The next day we drove to a Berber village in Gorges Du Dades where we went on a walk through the valley and went into a shop where they sell authentic Moroccan rugs. They showed us a demonstration on how the wool is prepared and how they weave it to form the rugs. Our tour ended in the gorge with beautiful views. After our stop, we drove until we hit the desert where we rode camels to our campsite in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Once we made it to our campsite we went sandboarding and had some authentic Moroccan mint tea before getting ready for dinner and having a campfire.
On our last day, we were able to go 4-wheeling in the dunes and they took us to one of the tallest dunes to watch the sunrise. We 4-wheeled back to our busses where we then had a 9-hour drive back to Marrakesh before our flight back to Barcelona.
Reflecting on this trip, it was such a cool and life-changing experience, and definitely got to check some things off my bucket list. I am so grateful for this experience and to be able to see the world in this way while studying abroad.
