Itinerary while in Morocco

Morocco is a gateway to Africa, and a country of incredible diversity. Here you will find vast mountain ranges, prehistoric cities, wide deserts and warm hospitality. Culturally, it is a blended nation, with Berber (Amazigh), Arab, West African and European cultures on the northern tip of Africa. It is a stable, independent nation with close ties with European and African nations, so the country is a pivotal area for cross-cultural opportunities. 

For our two-week program, you will be living and working in Azrou, Morocco, immersed in the vibrant community of the Atlas Mountains, where you will work with artisans in their workshops and volunteer with English learners at a local cooperative. While we will be based in Azrou, we will have day trips to Rabat and Fez as well as a weekend excursion in Chefchaouen, “the blue city”. Your faculty leader, Shelby Myers, went to Morocco with another Kirkwood group in 2019.


Our Itinerary, July 7-22, 2023: 

  • Day 1 - Arrive in Casablanca where our in-country guide Mohamed Mhmmoudi will pick us up. We will first visit the beautiful Hassan II Mosque, the only mosque open to non-Muslims in Morocco. Drive to Rabat, stay in a hotel there. 
  • Day 2 - Visit the Rabat Medina (market), the Oudaya Kasabah that dates from the 12th Century.  and the Mohammed V Mausoleum which honors the resting place of the royal family of Morocco. Finally, we will visit our first artisans stop – a pottery village.
  • Day 3 - Drive to Azrou, our home base city for most of our trip. We will get set up in our Auberge Denier de lion de L’Atlas guest house and have a city tour. Azrou is a mid-sized city in the Atlas Mountains. It is a very welcoming and safe city with few tourists so we will be immersed in the community and culture. Our evening meals in Azrou will be at the home of our other local guide, Khadiga, a local chef who has published cookbooks. Khadiga’s home is an easy walk from our guest house and will allow us leisure evenings for a meal, conversation and other outings in the community.
  • Day 4 - Visit the weekly souk (market) in Azrou where local farmers, artisans and others come to sell and trade their livestock, goods and more. Visit the Artisans Cooperative in Azrou where we will have our first service work experience, partnering with some of the artisans in their studios to assist and observe their work. They work on traditional and contemporary Amazigh crafts and art in weaving, pottery, wood carving, painting and more. 
  • Day 5 - Volunteer part of the day at the Artisans Cooperative. In the afternoon, we will do a short hike in Cedre Gourard Cedar Forest where Barbary macaques roam and enjoy the mountain views.
  • Day 6 - Volunteer work part of the day at the Artisans Cooperative. In the afternoon, Mohamed, will have a lesson on Intro to Islam.
  • Day 7 - Volunteer work part of the day at the Artisans Cooperative. Depart for Chefchaouen, our weekend excursion.
  • Day 8-9 - spend the weekend in Chefchaouen “the blue city” in the north. We will have a guided tour of the medina then a guided hike to the Akchour Waterfalls, outside the city. 
  • Day 10 - Back in Azrou at our guesthouse. Volunteer work today begins at a local language school, the Assad Cooperative, helping older children and adults with their English. Mohamed and Khadiga will teach Arabic language lessons and more on issues for women in Morocco.
  • Day 11 - Volunteer work at the Assad School. Afternoon of more language classes and cooking with Khadiga. 
  • Day 12 - Take a day trip to Fez (Fes), a UNESCO World Heritage site. Fes is known for its medina which began in the 9th century. We will tour the market, madrasas, palaces and mosques within the medina. On the way back to Azrou, we will stop in Ifrane for dinner.
  • Day 13 - Volunteer work at the Assad School. Visit a women’s art cooperative outside of Azrou. 
  • Day 14 - Last day of volunteer work at Assad School. Have our final feedback meeting, then music and fun for our last evening in Azrou. 
  • Day 15 - Travel back to Casablanca for our flight home.

    • Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Arrived in Chefchaouen

    Image
    Hey everybody this is Reilly! Salaam!  Today we started our day with breakfast, then continued our lesson on Islam with Mohammed. It's Friday, so we had beef and vegetable Cous Cous for lunch, and it was so good! We started our 5 hour journey to Chefchaouen in taxis and stopped to see Dromedary camels. Dromedary camels only have one hump, whereas other camels have two. They were on the side of the road and we got to touch them and take lots of pictures.  We arrived to Chefchaouen at sunset, settled into our hotel, walked around, and ate dinner. This city is famous for its blue walls, and we will see more of it tomorrow!
    Read more

    Sunrise, sunset

    Image
    One our our favorite parts of being here is the sky and hearing the call to prayer as the sun rises and sets. Muslims follow the lunar calendar so they base their prayer times and holidays based in the moon.   First prayer is just before the sunrise. Midday payer is when the sun is above you when you can’t see your shadow. Afternoon prayer is when your shadow is even with you. Sunset prayer is just before sunset and the final prayer is when it is dark, based on the stars. The shops open and close based on prayer times. In the summer, the most active time for the community is between sunset and final prayer. Everyone is out, shopping and socializing late into the evening. In Azrou, we have our usual stops - places to stop for water bottles or ice cream. Our teaching time at the language school is between afternoon and evening prayer. On our last day we had a little party with the kids.  We have our meals and outings scheduled by the call to prayer and where the sun i...
    Read more

    Bisalama (goodbye)

    Image
    On our 30-hour trek home, we came through this hall of international flags in the airport in Chicago. It reminded us how far we'd come and how the world opened up to us during our Morocco experience. We are grateful for the learning moments gib and small that we experience while in Morocco. Casablanca, Rabat, Azrou, Chouen and Fez will all be imprinted in our minds with vivid color, and our senses will always remember Khadiga's cooking and hospitality. Bisalama friends! 
    Read more